One of the events available to Corvette owners at the Funfest is drag racing!
This is Thursday, the first day of the Funfest, and they're meeting here at the
1910 Garage. And they're gonna go up to Charleston, Illinois, to the Raceway there,
and actually drag race.
To be in it, they had to pay a $26.25 entry fee.
But if you're going to just watch it, it's only $5.
So everybody's lining up getting ready to take off to Charleston. Which is about
40 miles from here roughly.
He sounds like he's ready for a drag race.
If you're gonna be in the race they
give you a tag to hang in your car. It says, "Drag Race Driver'. That'd be fun to be able
to say that, wouldn't it.
I could hardly keep up with that guy with the camera! My bets are on him to win!
Hi. How are we? Good, how are you doing? I'm doing well myself.
Can I get both of you to print and sign for me?
Sure.
At this time, the track is hot. The track is hot.
We're at the Coles County Dragway, and they're getting
ready to start.
The total track is around 1880 feet.
From the actual starting line to the sand traps.
And there's another 70 feet from the starting line back to the water box.
Corvette owners come from all over the country to go to the Funfest
and participate in some of their activities.
And the cars are starting to make their way towards the track to get lined up.
Some of them are gonna do burnouts. Get their tires warmed up.
Here's a Mobile One Corvette.
That's a beautiful engine.
Looks like the first student down the famed 1/8 mile is Bruce Shepard out of Fenton, Missouri.
And it's gonna be the tower side!
How about Bruce Shepard. 8.24, 97 miles an hour.
While Philip goes 8.76 at 88.
An '08 'Vette, who's in heaven, that's what his plate says. And Gale's in a 2000.
Hole shot advantage goes to the Cedar City motor side.
Tower side is grabbing gears and trying to catch him on the big end. And it will be
Matt Gale. 9.26.
9.26 at 78 miles an hour, while Doug Richards goes 9.43 at 76.
There's a Lingenfelter.
Mary just roasted the tires, Doug will take the win. He goes 8.73.
Another tight one on the big end. It'll take the win light.
Remember, while you're here at the race racing facility, please
do not turn your conditioners on, even on the return run.What happens is water will drip out onto the track.
As you can see, Greg out there on the starting line has got the towel going.
Wiping up all kinds of water. And water is not good for tires and racing.
This is a good chance for Corvette owners just to come out here and see what their car will do.
Another tight battle down the big aisle! It'll take the win light. And it is the
Cedar City Motor side. Chuck Richards. 9.46 at 87.
While Bobby Dean goes 9.38 at 68.
Doug got a good jump. He's got the starting line advantage.
But it's Philip Lewis out of Ashworth, Georgia, that takes the win in the '17 06.
How about 7.96. We haven't made too many
seven-second passes today. He goes 7.96 and 96.
Somebody's gonna click that hundred mile an hour barrier.
Now I'm gonna go up in
the tower and see what the view is like from there.
I want to welcome everyone to the Funfest here at Coles County Dragway 2019.
Big thanks goes out to
Lingenfelter Performance Engineering. They are the big sponsors of today's event.
A 2019 Grand Sport.
I can hear him spinning from up here. How about 9.30, 9.30 at 82 miles an hour.
He goes 8.56 at 76 mph.
And you see several cars just doing it by themselves so they can see how fast
they can run.
Here's the finish line.
Easy win for the tower side.
This is David Waller out of Mechanicsburg, PA.,
taking on John Allman.
While spectator side, John, goes 9.15 at 83 miles an hour.
And the drivers can take
as many passes at this as they want, just to keep trying to refine their technique
and lower their times. If you've got a Corvette, and you don't mind running it
through the gears, then come over here and participate in the drag racing.
And if you want to put in some racing fuel while you're here, they can help you out.
And the Grand Sport takes the win!
8.78, 8.78 at 89.
While the spectator lane was faster, 8.37 at 90,
but turned on the old red eye.
They just had their first 100 mile-an-hour run!
I think it was actually 101 miles an hour on this eighth of a mile track.
That's pretty good! It was exciting!
There's been some women
out there driving the cars. Would you like to do that? No! I'm not that brave. No.
And here's how I watch it. Yeah, they're pretty fast!
So you went 101? 101.6 something.
Yeah. 101.6.
7.39. I ran it for 7:45 on motor. Wow! But I was spinning out of
there pretty high on second gear still.
It was pretty slick. No prep track. Yeah.
It had been 6.69 on the 1/8, on the drag race. Really!
So now you're the only one to break a hundred?
Yeah, I guess. There's a 98 mph on the Z06's. Yeah.
That was my first pass.
I'm gonna give it another whirl. Like I said, I'm gonna grab the nitrous a little
bit at the top of second gear. I think it was a little bit hairy up there.
Think maybe you've got the track figured out. Well, yeah,
I ran 6.69 with 102.50. I ran 7.39 there with the the 101.6, so I know there's a better time.
It was 7.45 on motor. I grabbed the button too early, probably. That was awesome!
That was fun to watch! Thanks!
So we had a good time at the drag races.
What did you think about it, Donna? Thumbs up! Yeah! It was hot, but we were
prepared. We brought some cold drinks and we had our shade for our umbrellas.
And this is a great event for the Corvette owners. Lots of fun. And the spectators.
We're not a Corvette owner. No, we're a Corvette owner wannabes,
But we enjoy the events
that Mid America Motorworks puts on for the Funfest. They do a great job.
And on to the Birthday Bash. Stay tuned!