The staging area and tech filled with cars
By JM Hallas
Marion, TX (January 16, 2016) – If Saturday’s open test-n-tune is any indication of the season that awaits San Antonio Raceway, the future is bright for 2016. Nearly 350 street cars signed in through tech, plus the dozens of bracket racers utilizing their own “X” numbers and another handful of grudge race cars, filled the pits to capacity. The session was originally intended to only run until 5:00 pm, but with the abundance of cars lined up for testing, officials continued running well into the night.
The staging area and tech filled with cars
Early in the morning after a band of showers passed through, it looked like only the brave would venture out, but by midday the sun broke through bringing in cars from all over, along with several hundred racing fans.
Jimmy Inman (Camaro) staying old school
There were plenty of old faces in familiar places while other drivers got a chance to try out new/different equipment with a couple drivers making their debut.
Jody Keys (Mustang) is old school, too
While the grudge guys, as well as several others, ran N/T passes, the best pass for a street cars came from the Nissan GT-R tripping the lights at 160 mph as he was blowing the inner fender out on the top end. The sleeper of the day had to be the Cadillac CTS V station wagon, packing the groceries at 135 mph.
Father and son Todd and Brett Zampese in their dragsters
The Corvette contingent also showed some good top end speeds in the 140 mph range, faster even the Lamborghini Gallardo. The late model Mustang, Camaro, and Challenger/Charger group were pretty close depending on who could keep from the blowing the tires off at the line.
Father and daughter Brian and Krystal Sullivan in their Novas
There were no major incidents despite a stiff cross wind once past the grandstands. Several drivers had their hands full, but kept it off the wall and several others found the weakest link in their drivetrain, the universal joint. Gotta love picking up needle bearings.
Randy Parks gets the wheels up in his Camaro
Test-n-Tune continues Sunday with another day of open testing with gates opening at 10:00 am. Friday and Saturday, February 5 & 6, is the track’s ‘soft opening’ with the season “Back to the Track” opener set for the weekend of February 19–21. March kicks off the Summit Super Series Bracket Racing schedule with a 50K to win No-Prep Grudge Race the on the 11th and 12th. IHRA brings its Nitro Jam show to SAR the first weekend of April along with a Pro-Am. For more info, check the track website or Facebook page.
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