welcome to the forum, grandamdriver
I have some good news, I think you'll have him. You guys both have the same amount of power, but he's about 300 pounds heavier. It will be close, but your better power-to-weight ratio and less mileage should get him - and I think you too have relatively the same gearing. Here's a few tips for race day: Do some weight reduction by running on no more then 1/4 tank. Remove your spare tire and jack - and a system if you have one. Leave your tranny in 3rd when you're going to race - this will lock out overdrive. If you have ETS or traction control, turn it off - it will kill your launch. When you're launching off the line, left foot brake and rev it to about 1500 RPM's - this will pre-load your torque converter and make your launch snappier - just make sure you feather into the throttle and don't spin your tires taking off. Don't redline your car either - you should be going full throttle, and easing off just after your torque peak, and then gunning it after it shifts - you want to keep your RPM's in the power band as much as possible. If you're not sure where your torque peak is, just go out and floor your car, and wherever it pulls the hardest, is where your torque peak is. I think it's roughly 5800-ish RPM's on your car. The point is though, revving to redline, out of your powerband will result in tons of lost power. Keep all lights, fans, a/c, ect. off in order to reduce drain on the electrical system - you'll have a stronger spark. By the way, if you have enough time before race day, run some fuel system cleaner in a full tank. If you haven't run any in a long time, you'd be suprised what a difference it makes. You should have him my friend, just be alert of how you're operating your car's systems. Good luck.