In a message dated 8/2/00 5:10:05 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
amishpimp93@hotmail.com writes:
>
> Friday theirs going to be a junior/street legal drag race thats going to
> be
> happenin at the track near me. I was wonderin if theres any tips that
> anyone can share on how to get that extra speed out going down the track.
> Like changing tire pressure, adatives and stuff. Tires are about 27"
tall,
> 235/70/15. Trucks a cc, 5.2ltr., traction bars, 8mm ignition wires,
autolite
>
> 3923's, dual exhaust. thanks
Drag Racing Techniques ? (just read it. Then say you knew it) .
The following is something to think about after you get good at
leaving the starting line without boiling the tires.
Stage as SHALLOW as possible. This is long but someone has to disect the
drag race.. Here goes. Some people will argue with me, but for you the
driver, the most important set of lights at the track are the staged beams,
or second set of beams on the starting line.. As the driver, you can
"cheat" the timers through smart use of the the "staged" beams "What the
%***% is he talking about?"Well, ALWAYS SHALLOW stage.
At the starting line, each lane has two light beams with photo cells. The
first beam is NOTHING MORE THAN A WARNING that the actual starting line beam
is near! After it lights, FORGET ABOUT IT and concentrate on the next bulb.
The staged light. It is the most important. The starter (unshaven fat guy
with an attitude who runs the tree) waits for both vehicles to roll far
enough forward to turn on the staged lights, then he flips the switch and the
tree cycles down to green.
TIME OUT FOR DEFINITIONS!
ROLL OUT - Term to describe the distance from the point that your vehicle
"breaks" the staged (starting line) beam turning on the staged light on the
tree, to the point (forward) that your vehicle allows the beam to reach the
photo eye again. Track employees occasionally check the ROLL OUT of each lane
with a tape measure and a disk that they roll through the beams like a tire.
I think a typical roll out-out is around 15 inches. Let's say it is for the
purpose of this explanation. That's right! If you BARELY turn on the staged
(second) bulb you are at the beginning of the "role-out-zone". That means you
can accelerate forward 15 inches before the timer starts! That is referred
to as a very SHALLOW STAGE. It is the opposite of a DEEP STAGE. A deep
stage is when you pull forward far enough that the top bulb (prestage)
actually goes out. Remember it is the second light beam that determines you
have left the line and starts the timer.
Now for the part you won't believe. It sounds like an algebra problem but
bear with me.. My friend has a car that travels the quarter mile in 9.75
seconds when he SHALLOW STAGES. If he DEEP STAGES, the same car will earn a
9.90 timeslip. Anyone who has to race against a hard index (7.90, 8.90,
9.90...etc) is VERY familiar with this principle. It allows you to fine tune
your times. With a 9.90 car, the difference between a deep and shallow stage
is 15 hundredths of a second. With slower vehicles, it's MORE. My 10.90 Vega
gave up 2 tenths if I deep staged vs. Shallow. It had 1.45 60ft times. I
bet our trucks give up 2.5 to 3 tenths of a second on a deep stage.. That's
because the slower vehicle takes longer to cover the first 15 inches of track
at the starting line. The bottom line is; if you are careless about how DEEP
you roll into the second beam, with a 13 second vehicle, you could be giving
away one to two tenths of a second easy! It's safe to say you could give
away a little over a tenth, just by rolling into the beams 6 inches too far.
Remember, even if you don't officially DEEP STAGE, but aren't as shallow as
you could be, the principal is always there, so SHALLOW STAGE for the best
timeslip! Where else can you pick up a tenth or two while spending no money
at all? A shallow stage (instead of a sloppy stage) will help your 60 foot
time, your 1/4 mile time, and your consistency (not MPH)... It's like a
legal head start. Experiment with this (after you get over the initial
fear of the guy at the starting line).
HTH's & let us know how ya do.
Mike V
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