Do you feel like that ’ s something becoming more prevalent in this sport , where you can come and compete , and do well without a massive budget ?
When we were at TI my car got a lot of attention , and the reason I think it got attention was because it ’ s relatable . It ’ s something that the average person could afford to own and you don ’ t have to be a millionaire to own that car . I think that ’ s really cool because it ’ s competing with some of those cars that do cost several hundred thousand dollars . That ’ s awesome and to be even at the same event with some of those guys is huge for us . Somebody with a $ 20,000 car can go out and race , and play with the guys that have $ 50-100,000 cars and I think that ’ s huge to keep the general population involved . If it goes to the point that you have to have a $ 250,000 car , you just dwindle down the number of people who can actually afford to do it , and then it ’ s not a hobby anymore . To me , several hundred thousand dollars wouldn ’ t be a hobby . It may be to some of those guys , but to me it wouldn ’ t be .
It ’ s certainly a thrill to be racing and competing at this level . But as a fan of the cars out there , how exciting is it just to see some of these performances ?
Sebastian Robles bustin ’ out 220 ( mph at the Texas Invitational ) – that car is just insanely fast . I went to Runway Rivalry two years ago , which is TI ’ s little brother basically , and I went there with a Camaro I had that made 700 horsepower . I had so much fun there , that ’ s why I sold the Camaro and bought the Corvette . I knew I wanted to go to the Texas Invitational , not only to race in it , but I wanted to go see it more than anything . I wanted to see those cars go 200 mph . That was the biggest thing to me . It ’ s crazy to see them . They are just absolutely , insanely fast . It ’ s exciting to see somebody break the record and go 220 mph . It ’ s incredible .
With a solid season behind you , what ’ s next on the agenda during the off-season ?
I think the biggest thing we ’ re going to do for the winter is get the car sorted out . The car has been a lot of fun , but we got the car back and three weeks later we were at TI . We went from there to the Street Car Takeover and that ’ s real tough on the car . We haven ’ t had any downtime to sort the car out 100-percent where it was right . The biggest thing we ’ re going to do is take some time and go through all the little things and just get it sorted out and straightened out . We ’ re going to put nitrous on it , so that will help . My goal is to be able to compete heavily , if not win the 175 Trap class at TI in the spring . I think we trapped 168 ( mph ) on one run . The car was running good and was getting close , but it just didn ’ t have enough out of the hole to beat those GTRs . We ’ re going to freshen up the motor , put new bearings in it and get some spray on it , see if we can get it out of the hole quicker .
With all that on deck , what ’ s the expectation for your car ?
I want an 8-second pass . I want an 8.9 or an 8.8 . I just have to get my 60-foot down , which is one of the big things we ’ re going to work on . I at least want an 8.99 this next season and I would really love to win the 175 class ( at the Texas Invitational ). But it ’ s going to take some doing to beat those GTRs .
Lastly , what do you enjoy most about having a car like this ?
It ’ s always fun competing , especially when you have a car that ’ s fast . But you know what I enjoy the absolute most ? I enjoy taking that thing and driving it to dinner , I really do . With a parachute hanging off the back on your way to dinner , the look on people ’ s faces when they see the car and they hear the car , it ’ s great . They ’ ll wave or give you the thumbs up and that ’ s pretty cool . It ’ s a 2007 Corvette that ’ s 10 years old , so that ’ s my favorite thing . I love pulling that thing up to the restaurant . People are just like , “ Holy Cow !” It ’ s relatable and something that somebody else could actually afford . It ’ s pretty neat . I definitely enjoy any car driving down the street with a parachute hanging off it , that ’ s for sure .
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