"However, even with five litres of four cam, 32
valve V8 at the sharp end,
the S4 is no drag racer"- 911 & Porsche World
(May 2000)
"Eat Me" - Stuttgart Airforce (June 2000)
This morning, the below listed individuals decended
upon Seattle
International Raceway to participate in the Hi-Tech
Import vs. American
Muscle drags, in the first annual Pac NW Shark Drags
event. Individually,
these pilots came from far and wide, some driving
long distances (thanks
Chris, Terry, and Louie) to join together as the "Stuttgart
Airforce" 928
Drag Racing Team.
Originally slated for 16 sharks to participate, we
lost half our numbers due
to last minute mechanical problems and schedule conflicts.
The Stuttgart
Airforce is as follows:
Louie "The Professor" Ott -90 GT
Terry "The Enforcer" Redinger - 89 S4 A/T
Ray "The Scalpel" Henson - '88 S4 A/T
Rob "Dolby" Fossett - 85 S A/T
Phil "Gorilla" Wilson - 87 5 spd
Chris "Concorde" Ford - 91 S4 A/T
Tom "Midlman" Middleton - 87 S4 A/T
Pat "Predator" Edwards - 85 S 5 spd
Jim Viglietta and Paul Wilhem were also kind enough
to come by and support
the team.
We all met outside the gates of SIR at around 7:30am.
Nice to see everyone
once again, and we all chatted for about an hour before
deciding to enter
the track for tech inspection. Some new faces appeared
as well. Pat Edwards
was driving his freshly painted 85S with an S4 nose,
revised front air dam,
and 18" wheels. Phil Wilson pulled up in his
Venetian Blue S4 5 speed.
Sorry Phil, I can't remember your model year, is it
an '88?
Before the first dial in run, the general consensus
seemed to be that the
S4's would be pulling in low 15's, Louie thought he
might squeeze a 14 flat
out of his GT.
The very first shark that I saw run was Ray Henson's
'88 S4 A/T. Ray runs
chips, a K&N, and RMB (if I remember correctly).
The tree lit up and Ray
was off. He pulled a 14.342! I couldn't believe
it. That first run merely
set the pace for the rest of the day as everyone thoroughly
trounced the
stock quartermile specs for their respective MY. It
was awesome.
Chris Ford was kind enough to offer me (as did
others, but Chris wouldn't
take "no" for an answer) his '91S4 A/T for a
run since my shark is
currently awaiting a torque tube replacement. WHAT
A RUSH!
I pulled into the staging lanes, and was fortunate
enough to line up next to
Louie's '90 GT. As we started moving closer
to the start I really became
nervous. My heart started racing, hands became
jittery, and then I got
waved forward by the line man. You pull up behind
the car that is already
staged at the tree in your lane, and then back up
slightly toward the
burnout pit. The car ahead of you then gets
it's tree and takes off. Pretty
wild seeing a car smoke 'em off 20' off your front
bumper and take off down
the strip. My turn now. I slowly crept
forward until the top "pre-stage"
light turned on. I waited for Louie to pre-stage
and then crept forward
again until the second "staged" light turned on. Ready
to Rock 'n Roll.
Gear selector is in "2", left foot on the brake, right
foot ready to bury
the pedal.
>From here, everything went into slow motion mode.
The three amber lights
light up sequentially from top to bottom. It
seemed to take an eternity
between each light, although its only half a second.
The rule seems to be
that if you initiate your launch on the last amber,
it will take the car a
half a second to respond and you will be moving
by the time the green light
turns on. It didn't seem possible that it would take
the car that long to
respond. The third amber came on and I hesitated
for just a bit and floored
it. Pedal to the floor, RMB howls, then I hear Louie's
GT roar like wounded
lion and launch out of the gate. The S4 launches
and we're door to door to
red line in first gear. Then Louie's shark starts
to breath and leaves me
behind as I shift into "3". I managed a 14.456 @ 99.09mph.
Not bad for a
stock S4 A/T with an RMB, actually pretty awesome.
You've got a nice ride
Chris, thanks for letting me take it for the funnest
14 seconds of my life.
Four trophies were awarded for the day.
"King Shark" trophy went to Phil "Gorilla" Wilson and
his 5 speed S4 for
getting the deepest into the ladder before getting
eliminated. Phil laid
waste to some fast machinery, including a pair of
Pro-Street 'stangs before
getting eliminated in the quarter finals(!) due to
a miscue at the tree. It
was quite a contrast in his final round to see Phil's
S4 lined up against a
fully tubbed and snorkel scooped camaro. His
third run was very exciting to
watch. He launched first, then the 'Stang shot
out like a bullet and passed
him. By the end of the quartermile, the shark
started to breath and took
the win. As Phil says "these things (928's)
got legs!" As it turns out,
Phil's shark was the last "import" to get eliminated.
Japan's finest were
getting shut down left and right while Phil and his
shark persisted.
"Quick Draw" trophy went to Ray "The Scalpel" Henson
('88 S4 A/T) for having
the fastest reaction time after dial in with a lightening
quick .579.
"Top Gun" trophy went to Louie Ott for having the quickest
e.t. after dial
in with a 13.922. Louie's best run was a 13.546/102.73mph
respectively.
"Eliminator" trophy went to Pat Edwards for consistency
in nailing 14.6
three times before he broke out with a 14.52 in his
first heat.
Also, Phil won the Shark Drag Poker prize by coming
closest to his projected
reaction time, elapsed time, and top speed. The prize,
a copy of Need for
Speed - Porsche Unleashed and a steering wheel computer
controller complete
with shifter and pedals. We'll have to find you a
foot controller with a
clutch pedal to help with starts for next year, eh
Phil? :)
Luckily, no broken half shafts or other major incidents.
Tom Middleton's
'87 S4 suffered a heater control valve failure during
his first heat. Tom
won the round as his opponent broke out, but was not
able to get the leaking
control valve by-passed in time for his second heat
race. We'll get 'em
next year for sure Tom!
It was a real blast to see our sharks out there. We
were a force for sure.
Phil's tremendous feat of getting into the quarter
finals gave us all a deep
sense of pride for our machines and our team.
It appears there is enough interest to make this an
annual event. So, next
year the Stuttgart Airforce willl once again
touch down at Seattle
International Raceway.
Fly safe!
-Adam Birnbaum
'88 S4 A/T