2006 Honda Civic Si - Silver Streaker

I forgot that I had damaged a mount on the bumper over the weekend and had no choice but to repair it dori dori-style with zip ties. After some debate they let us pass. The final inspection was for safety gear. Everything was a go, so they tightened our six-point harnesses and pointed us on. Maybe I was inhaling when they tightened the straps, but I felt like I was giving Kelly LeBrock a piggy back ride (not Weird Science KLB but Celebrity Fit Club KLB). I was short of breath as we rolled up to the line. I was trying to adjust my straps and not hyperventilate as the 30-second count ticked away in front of us.

I launched straight to 8,000 rpm, chirped second back to 8k and then chirped third. Usually at this point on a public road you lift as you scan for cops, but not here. We raced up through forth, taking us up to 103 mph where we had to shift to fifth, our primary gear of the race. Cruising at 110, we went through the first bend with ease. Martin checked our first noted mile marker and saw that we were already 18 seconds behind! Our precise pre-race plan didn't account for the time it would take us to reach 110 mph. No problem for me though, as I was born to go 124 mph. We were more than halfway through the race and heading into the speed trap, where we would record our top speed of the race. I giddily set the cruise control to 124 and watched the cop hit us with the radar without any worry of a ticket.

Forty minutes into the race we entered the narrows. This is the most treacherous part of the course where the normally flat and fast Highway 318 kinks up a bit with a series of quick 90 degree turns, some of which are off camber. We had banked up some time, so we headed in there at 95. The five minutes in the narrows made the last leg of the race the most exciting. The five-foot high, narrow shoulders on both sides of the road only made it that much more nerve-wracking-we loved every second of it. We escaped the narrows and hit the final 11-mile stretch.

The stretch is all about equalizing your time. If you're too fast, you can slow down, and if you're too slow, you can speed up all in an effort to hit your target time. With only five miles left, a Corvette appeared in our rear view. We hadn't seen the guy behind us for the entire race and he shouldn't have been catching up as we were all trying to average 110mph. Apparently our calculations were off yet again, so much so that we thought the finish line was going to appear a mile earlier than it actually was. I knew there were no more speed traps, so I floored it. I don't know how fast we actually went, but the Corvette off in the distance ended up as a spec in my rear view just feet before the finish line. We finished Tenth in our class out of 17 cars. We knew we had messed up, but the pure adrenaline of it was worth the agony of defeat. Running flat out on public roads is like getting a night with Kelly LeBrock. That's Weird Science KLB and not-well you get the idea.