Second round Vegas Exit doesn’t slow down Ahten

Courtesy of  Ahten Family Racing

Las Vegas, NV – Johnny Ahten came to the SummitRacing.com Nationals at Las Vegas Motor Speedway with the confidence of a winner, having just won a race. He left the track still feeling like a winner, even thought the Island Renovations/801 Racing Dragster didn’t hoist the trophy. After a loss, Drag Racers begin thinking about the next trip down the track. After Ahten was done racing for the day, planning for the next outing was in motion.

Ahten started eliminations from the number ten position. Not exactly where they wanted to be, but they were in the show and ready to run. Up first was Mike Austin. The round was over at the start, when Austin broke. Ahten lifted early to a 5.940/225.52.

The second round saw the Ahten Racing Team preparing for a match up with fellow 801 Racing teammate Cody Perkins.  Johnny Ahten’s crew prepared the car, and towed to the staging lanes.  During the ride, they had full expectations of returning to the pits and doing it all over again. There’s that Drag Racer optimism again. When the light came down, Ahten got the slight advantage. At the sixty foot mark, Ahten’s .936 pace had him in the lead. Then the cup went from being half full to just about empty. Ahten had to pedal the car, and Perkins went ahead for the victory with a 5.503/232.55 to a 5.700/236.80.

“We had a great launch, great 60 foot time, but went into shake/smoke and I had to pedal it, said Ahten. “We didn’t have enough for Perkins, but I finally got a better light, but not by much. I think we had a wee bit too much clutch, otherwise I think it would have ran a low .40. I’m very proud of the Island Renovations Team. It has been two great weeks of racing. They all worked very hard and we got the power back today. We just were swinging for the fence,” added Ahten.

Sometimes you have to swing for the fence. It’s part of a tuner’s strategy. Sometimes it works and you are the hero, sometimes it doesn’t.  This time it didn’t, but then that drag racing optimism sticks it’s head into the room and says, “remember me?” That’s the feeling that Johnny Ahten has as he and the team prepare for their next race. They had some crispy valves, and will be starting the next race with all new heads, valves, and sleeves. That should be a big help mechanically, because mentally, they are optimistically planning for the second round of their next race.