3rd Annual
Nationals
Monday morning arrived and so did we. It took 2 days and a lot of rain but we made it. Welcome to Pocono, PA, well actually Pocono Manor, PA. We pulled into the Pocono Manor Resort and looked for a place to unload and get ready for a long day of detailing the car. Monday morning wasn't too bad, I think the temperature was around 90-95 degrees and the humidity was about half that. I would come to realize that was not a normal day as the humidity would exceed 90%, and I thought the humidity back home was bad. Monday was spent cleaning the car and generally getting ready for the car show. We did have one thing to worry about and that was getting a new tire for the trailer as we had a blow out on the way up. Once that was out of the way the rest of Monday was spent detailing my Impala SS.
Day 1 Tuesday - Car Show In the Judging Lanes
Tuesday came to quick. The car show started at 8:00 and if you were not in by then you would not be allowed to participate in the show. That would not be a problem as I was up at the crack of dawn to finish some things left undone the day before. This year there was no organization to parking and you were allowed to park anywhere. That would have left me by myself, but luckily the IndipalaSS (who I've caravanned with to MI for the 2001 Dreamapalooza) invited me to park with them. It was great to see them again and hang out with everyone! Too soon I had to take my car over for my 9:00 scheduled judge time. This year again they decided to have drive thru judging. This is where you have a scheduled time and you drive your car over to the judge. Unfortunately, due to things beyond our control the judges were running behind about an hour.
I was a little disappointed with the car show. There was no organization to the parking and I don't think everyone showed up. I feel that some drove in for the judging and left because I know there were some Impala SS & Caprice's I really wanted to look over and never saw them in the show. If they were there, they didn't stay through the whole show.
Shortly after the show I took my Impala SS to the Dynamometer. A chassis dyno that is! This is a chance for Bryan Herter with PCMforLess to dyno tune my car and get max out of it. After a few pulls just by making some adjustments to my PCM I went from 237.4hp & 281.3lbtq to 247.4hp & 293.4 that's a 10 hp & 12 lbtq gain by just making a PCM adjustments. That's rear wheel horse power. Also make note, this is in the Pocono Mountains approximately 5200 feet above sea level. Not bad for a stock engine with only a few bolt-on mods. I was even able to capture them torturing my car on the dyno on as a movie file...
Tuesday evening was the Drag Races. I decided not to go. I could give a half dozen reason why I didn't want to run my Impala SS down the strip, but I just didn't. I was more then happy to go to bed early that evening and sleep in the next...
Wednesday morning. Autocross day. I decided against running in the autocross event also. Weather would have a negative affect when my class would have raced, and I mean the sky's opened up an poured! Not that I can predict weather, it just happened I was lucky and left my car behind for this event. The few times I've autocrossed I enjoy it. It's just the sleep was starting to make it's self present and was just to tired and I enjoyed sleeping in! These events need to be broken up a little as this is supposed to be a vacation! We eventually made our way to the location to watch a few others run thru the cones. I was really looking forward to the modified class stepping it up a little and that's when the rain came, then clouds really opened up and poured down on us! Did I mention the wind and how hard it was raining? A friend brought over his canopy and almost lost it in the wind. If it wasn't for my Dad going back to help him, it would have been destroyed in the wind. I didn't get many pictures of the rain as I was soaked to the bone after running to get the truck. Not to mention I didn't want to ruin my camera!
Day 2 After the Rain = HUMIDITY
Wednesday after the rains came and went it unfortunately left behind the humidity. I mean 100%, hard to breathe, foggy, etc. We returned to the hotel dried off and just relaxed for the rest of the evening.
Day 3 - Welcome to Pocono Raceway
Thursday was the day I was really looking forward to. ROAD RAGE, I mean Road Racing! Here we are pulling into the tunnel entrance/exit for the Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, PA. How exciting is this, I get to race my Impala SS on a NASCAR race track! I pull into the pits and check the tire pressures, add a little and mark my tires to see how much tire roll-over I get. We get 2 practice sessions an then our timed runs will be made (sometime after lunch). Due to the modifications I've done to the car, I am placed in the modified class. I think that kind of funny since most of these other guys have much more motor then I do.
Day 3 - Chad on Track - My Road Racing Day 3 - Others Road Racing
I feel good about this course. Should be pretty safe, even if a few get off course. A quick outline of the course; Start from the exit of pit lane and enter corner one and upon exit of the corner one you transition from the banking to the flat back stretch and make a hard left into the infield, then a another left, small straight and a hair pin right thru a slow left and then on the gas hard as you come back onto the track entering corner one (1).
I was not one of the faster cars on the track, as I herd some reaching over 120 MPH. I managed to see 102 on my speedometer, but I was concentrating so hard on the track that I didn't get a chance to look at my gauges again. What I lacked out on the main track, I must have made up for in the road course, as my time was 1 minute 7 seconds. That's 67 seconds. The fastest run (who runs a race version, remember I'm in modified) ran the course in 58 seconds. The fastest modified ran the course in 01:00. I feel I could have done better, with only about 8 practice laps (below my speed), I never did get the right braking points figured out and was braking way to early. I sure had fun though. I would love to do that all the time. I was able to capture my running thru the course using my digital camera. Scroll to the bottom of the Chad on Track page and feel free to download the movies and watch me run thru the course!
Day 4 - Breakfast & Awards Banquette
Day 4, what can I say, it's almost over, just the Awards Banquette left and then a 19 hour trip home. So we all get in around these tables and finish breakfast. After breakfast we have our club meeting and then start the awards presentation. I really think that I am not even going to get a trophy this year as my competition would be too tough this year. I patiently wait for my year & class to be called. I am really starting to get anxious. Final they make it to my year & class and they call out first place and no 2nd or 3rd place. I think to myself what about 2nd & 3rd? Why didn't they awards these positions? I turn to my folks and say that's it. No trophy this year. Bummer! About at that point I here the class I was actually in called and I feel all anxious again. Big oops on my part, how could I have mixed up the two?!?!? They call 3rd place, not me, then second place. Whoa, that was my name, I too second place. SWEET!!! I did it again. I'm taking home a second place trophy. YES!!! This is the third year for the ISSCA Nationals and this is my third trophy. How cool it that! Another trophy for my collection! EXCELLENT!!!
Well after I settled down from my high we loaded up the car and headed home.
What a fun trip, what a long trip, what great memories, what an experience, what great people, what a blast! I look forward to the next ISSCA Nationals in Indianapolis, mark your calendars now, July 4th - 8th!
PS: I'm glad to get back to work, cause after this trip I need a vacation!