CHRONICLES OF DRAG CHALLENGE #3 – DWAYNE FLOYD

There is an irresistible appeal to unify one’s right foot with the accelerator and commence the quest for the floorboard! The feeling of liberation and unrestricted independence it delivers will be appreciated when your entire being is overwhelmed with continuous swells of inexplicable, but intensely satisfying sensations! A day at the spa beneath the hands of a world renowned masseuse would not dare to compare to that which I have just described.

Movies have tried to capture this magnetic dance, the frolicking feeling of liberation, but it can only be fully appreciated when you own the experience – do it for yourself, at the race-track and enjoy the magical transformation it introduces to your soul!

This in part possibly accounts for the throng of speed-freaks, which like migrants entering Europe, flock to the environment within which speed-thrills can be safely accommodated – Vernamfield, Clarendon.

Drag Challenge #3

The book which retains local drag racing records is still quivering from what transpired at Drag Challenge #3 in July. It was flung, hurled, rattled, shaken and stirred beyond its pages wildest expectations! But, that deserves its own mention. Suffice it to say that attendance and the competitive energy witnessed, possibly enhanced by copious liters of Supligen, surpassed our already established, Mt Everest-high expectations.

I seek the odd stories and at Drag Challenge #3, they, like race-cars at Vernamfield, were in abundance.

Dwayne Floyd owns a Nissan Sunny B13. It is accepted that the B13 is the ‘poor-man’s race-car’. No debate! A B13 in an excellent state of tune will inflict damage, and I do mean ego-crucifying damage, to a mega-bucks project. And when inspired by a VVL swap and further enhanced by a boost-diet a marauding mercenary is created!

Dwayne Floyd’s path to the 1320ft, however, has been the opposite of  easy. He has traveled every highway that trials and tribulations have built! His list of woes could be read, beginning now and sometime next week we would conclude. He has been there and done more than that, but he is the image of determination and as such he ignores the cracked block, the exploded gear-box and builds again.

Like most drag racers he is a part of a small no-budget crew, but he (they) decided to compete at Drag Challenge #3. He had no ‘get super-sticky when hot’ drag racing-slicks. But he planned to race – using a team member’s street-wheels and tyres!

During my regular walk-around I saw them and asked what was happening. He qualified 15th-best in the 13 seconds class and all was well. I saw the car on track. The car was performing as expected. He won but I made several observations. I spoke to Dwayne, he listened. He understood.

The car went out again. The magic held. He won. Unlike the stuttering speech made by a protesting rev-limiter, the B13, with each pass, spoke fluently in a loud, authoritative SR monitored snarl -it was heading to the finals.

I stood amused by the latent excitement I felt and watched the finals. His final run was not as explosive as was desired and his competitor’s machine dropped no spark. He lost the 13 seconds final.

But, and here is the gargantuan but. Dwayne Floyd and his team went to Vernamfield with few expectations. They were simply planning to compete and accept whatever transpired. His machine was far from the best in the class (qualified 15th). His machine was not a no-expense spared race-car. There were pristine, meticulously prepared heart-stopping piranhas in the class – machines which ooze victory even when parked! A restricted sector of my memory has inserted a typical example – Andrew Palmer’s fading blue/ purple Honda CRX – MACHINE!

But, Dwayne Floyd and his team were not perturbed. The plan was simple – RACE! And race they did. Dwayne Floyd and his team battled the odds and raced to runner up in the 13 seconds class and drove home with ten thousand dollars – prize money!

Incidentally, they didn’t even have a tent. Each time I visited Dwayne and his team they were chilling, enjoying Ken T’s exquisite luxury apartment. Low budget, competed, placed second and collected 10 grand!

I am seriously considering drag racing!

Cecil Munroe Gleaner On-Line Writer