Despite what was incredibly hot weather the cars put down some incredible numbers for the conditions. What was also surprising was just how close the cars performed to one another. They were virtually identical. To have two CLK63 Black Series cars both running 10's at the same time was quite the sight to behold. Apparently others felt the same way as despite Jim and Earl both having their pit area away from the track crowds would gather to find out exactly why these cars were running 10's when everyone else was so far off. To put it in perspective, a new Mustang GT was running 13.4@104 when the car is normally capable of 12's at around 110 mph. The weather was sucking about a half second and 6 mph, conservatively.
If anyone would like to verify the temps or density altitude, that can all be found here. At the time of the first run, which was 11 flat by Earl, the density altitude was 5136 feet. 96 degrees at night with a DA of over 5000. What else is there to say about the conditions? Well, how about no burn box or VHT? It should be clear that this was not the time for record passes yet somehow consistent 10 second runs were produced by both vehicles.
The mod list on the cars is basically the same. Both have Stage 2 M156 supercharger systems from Weistec Engineering. Race gas and slicks were used on both cars. Both have ice reservoir systems in the trunk for cooling the water/air intercooler. Both have aftermarket exhaust systems featuring aftermarket headers. The silver car (jrcart's) has some weight reduction done to it along with suspension work for better weight transfer. It also has a roll cage. The black car (ecampbell's) is full weight stock suspension. The black car actually managed better 60 foots throughout the night than the silver car. Not sure what the reason for this is but both cars were doing 1.6 60 foots consistently later on in the night.
What is also important to note is the driver of the black car, Earl, was at the strip for the first time with this car. How he managed to do so well we have no idea but his reaction time was quick and his launches were also impressive. Jim (jrcart) spent a lot of time helping Earl as well instead of focusing on himself which is commendable. The pro-tree was also a bit of an adjustment for both parties as it definitely is more difficult.
From an observer's perspective what I can conclude with is this. The weather was ridiculously hot, that much is clear. Vegas in the summer is not MIR in the winter. Nobody goes to a desert to drag race when it is at its hottest point, except these guys. Frankly, I thought they were crazy as I never even thought they could hit 10's in that weather. They did, both of them, consistently. The cars opened the eyes of everyone there. People were not even sure how to react. I'm not sure if I knew either as they were so far beyond pretty much everything else there.
We would like to thank Earl in particular for inviting myself and my friend out to Vegas. Earl was and is a complete class act. We would also like to thank Jim for allowing us to hang out in his cabana at the Hard Rock the next day which was very enjoyable. We would like to also thank the makers of Alka-Seltzer for making our hangovers more manageable. The thought of drag racing in the summer in Vegas was never something I considered before or something that could produce great results but these guys managed to do it in stunning fashion. A pair of 10's in 5000+ DA, well done and congratulations (and thanks!) to you both.
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