Car of the Day

By John Allen – Denton, Texas 9/24/2008

What follows is a detailed acount of a 2004 Saab 9-3 Linear versus a 2004.5 VW GLI.  The Saab is driven by John, the VW by Simon.  The following account is accurate and was written by John.

This is the story of a grudge race that happened this Wednesday evening at the 1/8^th mile track in Denton. These cars have raced a couple times, and although the GLI has the Saab on HP and Torque the 9-3 has managed to win. This is the story of their latest rematch.

It was a cool night. The sour smell of burning clutches hung in the air. The mood was charged with excitement for Simon was getting his rematch. John and Simon raced a couple preliminary heats to get the adrenaline pumping and to shake the jitters out of their bodies. Simon with great exuberance, John however knew it wasn’t the main event and worked on technique.

At 9:45 both men knew it was time. The tension filled the air. The crowd was hungry with anticipation. It was the main event. The final race for the T-Shirt. No quarter asked, and none given.

As the drivers pulled up to the staging area, John felt a calm wash over him. He knew if he could win the start it was over and he was full of confidence. With good reason, he had on his lucky racing shirt and had proved his mettle in the past.

The lights came on and the racers were off in a flash of light and brilliance. (Sort of) John’s cat like reflexes gave him a reaction time of 0.0277, less than three 100ths of a second. The pressure got to poor Simon. His car did not move for 0.2264 seconds, giving the Bronze Saab a 2 tenths of a second head start. But, would it be enough?

At 60 feet John held a strong lead of .2 seconds and felt comfortable in the drivers seat. His tires were sticky on the pavement with no slippage or hopping. The race started to change at 330 feet. Simon was slowly climbing back into it. Even though he had almost no chance he would not give up. He was only 0.0293 seconds behind, and closing.

It was too little to late for Simon. John was the winner by a margin of .0692 seconds. John drove back to the pits and was greeted by his fans with cheers and admiration. His sweetheart was waiting with open arms and a kiss.

The night was John’s, and Simon had to drive home alone, thinking about the next time. (again)

John Allen is a guest writer for “Car of the Day” and is a regular drag racer and Saab enthusiast.