Drag Racing - Assistance Required

Drag racing is much more difficult than you think...it's not just the power your car has, its your reaction time and ability to get maximum traction at launch that allows you to turn the fastest time. I remember the first time I drag raced my former Viper GTS I turned a 15 second quarter because I just couldn't get it off the line without spinning the tires like crazy..after 3 or 4 runs I was able to figure it out and did several runs in the high 12s...

 

It's been a long time since I participated in drag racing (most of it being on motorcycles) but I'll give it a shot.

In bracket racing, we would typically determine an average time based on several runs. That average time became the bracket time for the actual competition. The goal then became beat the e.t. of your competitor in a race without going faster than your bracket time. If you were faster than the bracket time, you "broke out" and lost the race even though you might have set a faster e.t. than your competitor. Looking at it another way, you want to get as close to your bracket time as you can without going too fast. A perfect run, and likely the winning one, would be one where you precisely hit your bracket time. Getting this right during the heat of competition can be lot of fun and a real challenge. To be successful one has to develope a real understanding of capabilities of the car, tires and track (not to mention the drivers skills) at any given time.

Have fun. I miss those days but have some very pleasant memories.

Ciao,

John

 

First a few questions. What car are you using? slicks or street tires? Manual or automatic? Drag racing is far from easy, i can tell you first hand. Getting a car off the line without too much wheelspin while trying to beat the guy next to you is a lot harder than people think. See if you can get yourself a computer SIM and practice using the tree. You go when you see the last yellow light start to turn off but i pretty much never got it right at the track. Secondly if your gonna use your own car see if you can run in an time trial night at the local drag strip to get some practice. That way you'll get a feel for the car off the line and get an idea of that it will run for the bracket race. Also pay close attention to your 60 ft time, that tells you how well you car is coming off the line. Good luck

 

Your best bet is to try to get some practice on the tree with a comp sim. If you've never drag raced you will likely fall sleep at the tree the first time.Also be sure to hold the car against the brakes for launch and whatever you do don't go through the water box to do a burnout. Pointless unless you have slicks or drag radials. With street tires you don't wanna do a burnout at all because that will just get the tires greasy picking up all the junk from the track. Flat punch it depending on the power level of the car, a bog is better than a burn and shift it manually if you can. Let us know how it goes.

 

Having been around it for a long time, maybe I can shed some light on the subject.

Bracket racing gives cars of different capabilities the opportunity to run on the track together by using a handicap system on the tree. You will be allowed to choose the et (elaped time) that you believe you can do most consistently without running quicker than (breaking out)..

Example:
Say that in time trials you run consistently 15.25 to 15.40 elapsed times. You will want to choose an average elapsed time that you feel you can come very close to duplicating (maybe something like a 15.31). That is the time they will dial into the tree to set your handicap against the other car. If they have a 14.70 dial-in, you will get the difference between your 15.31 and their 14.70 (.61 seconds) as a handicap (headstart) at the starting line. Your lite will turn green before the other car and he will have to wait for his green. If your dial-in is lower, he will get the headstart over you.

You do not want to run quicker than your dial-in. If you dial 15.31 and then get really good traction and cut a good light and run a 15.20 et, you will feel good about the time but will be disqualified for running too quick. You want to run as close to your dial-in as possible without the breakout. You will see some racers braking their cars before the finish line if leading and they know they are going to win. They do this to slow the car more before it crosses the finish line to prevent breaking out.

Most new dragracers make the mistake of jumping when they see their opponents light come on (if they have to give the handicap) and redlight. Do not be concerned with your opponents light. No matter what he does, go as your yellow goes out and just slightly before the green lights. It will take you a fraction of a second for the power to go to the ground and transfer into forward motion. If you wait until you see bright green, you have waited too long. You should take a few trials passes as you will become much more consistent at judging reaction times the more passes you make.

As stated above, you will want to power brake your car as you see your stage light come on. You will want to shallow stage. There are two staging lights on each side, a pre-stage and a stage. Pull through the pre-stage slowly and then creep up to the regular stage light. Immediately as the light comes on stop your car. This is shallow staging. By staging shallow you will have a slight edge on the timing the lights because it will allow you tire to roll just slightly more before it breaks the beam. If you stage too deep, you can redlight more easily because you are not giving yourself any room for error.

Make sure that when staging that you do not overstage and go over the final staging beam, illuminating it and then going out. This will give you an automatic redlight and you will not be allowed to restage. The only ones who can go past the final staging light legally are the comp cars who are doing the water burnouts and the momentum of coming out of the water throws them past the line. Funny cars and rails do this consistently.

There is more to the psychology of staging than you realize. You can control your opponents thinking if you are cool about what you are doing. Get them rattled and they will either redlight or go to sleep at the light and miss it completely, allowing you a comfortable margin.

Hope that helps some. Let us know how it comes out..............I might suggest that before you head to the line yourself, pick out a few good drivers and watch how they approach the lites. You can learn a lot by watching them. And you might just gain a little respect for the sport............And I do agree, a good road racer is a more rounded driver.....

 

You will have to make a few passes in time trials to be able to ascertain your dial-in numbers. Do not make a guess at what your car can do. You will be mistaken........

 

Just a little psychology I like to use. Be very patient when staging. Let your opponent stage totally first and then inch your way to the stage light. Like I said, inch up until the yellow stage light just kind of flickers a little before rolling another inch to get the stage solid. While you are taking your time getting staged, your opponent is already on the line and thinking about his light and how long it is taking you to stage. He will be getting antsy. Be ready as soon as your stage light comes on as the starter will begin the tree immediately after both are staged, especially when one has been a slow stager. Your opponent will either jump out too soon or will lose his focus on the light and wait too long before going when the light turns green.

Unless he is an experienced drag racer, I can almost guarantee good results from slow staging. You see the top guys do it all the time on TV and at the races. It works.................

Two free tree simulators are:
www.rbracing-rsr.com/nhraxtreesp.html
www.smokemup.com/games/400_pro_tree.php

You will have your choice of either a sportsman tree (where the lights count down in sequence and you time their sequencing to determine exactly when you want to leave. The green comes on .500 of a second after the last yellow goes out) or a pro tree (all three yellow lights come on at the same time and then the green comes on .400 of a second later)

If you leave sooner than this delay time, you redlight----you lose. If you wait too long, you are caught sleeping----you lose..........Have fun with it.