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Danford1 Danford1
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Pop the clutch on the last yellow, not the green light
August 10 2003,7:49 PM

The Christmas tree lights are 1/2 second apart. After you stage , they will flash , yellow, yellow, yellow, green. Pop the clutch when you see the last yellow light glowing. The green comes on 1/2 second after the yellow. You want your car to move forward at the same time or slightly after the green light comes on.

If you wait until you see a green light to go, your reaction time will be 1 second or more. The closer you can get it to .500 seconds the better. If you leave the line before the green light you will get a red light which means the other guy wins provided he didn't red light.

Read this:
http://www.staginglight.com/guide/index.html
It has a ton of great info on drag racing. It has many "hot links" you can click on while you are reading it. They take you to a specific area for more detailed info. Remember to hit your back button to return to where you were before you picked a link.

Other things you can do is don't even look or think about the other car. Watch your tree only. Concentrate on what you are going to do when you see the last yellow, concentrate on shifting at the proper rpm, watch YOUR TACH, forget the other guy. Concentrate on how you will drive the car straight to victory. GO thru this in your head. Then when the tree starts to come down, exeute your plan. Take the win.

Keep records of each run. Temp, humidity, ET, MPH, reaction time, 60' time, make notes how the car came out of the hole. Did it spin? Was it squirelly? make note of shift points, how it felt,list ANY and ALL changes you made since the last run, timing, jets, tire pressure etc. Write it all down after each run. Then later study your notes and learn from them.

Try to get in as many test and tune runs as possible. If you can go to the strip before this "show down" with the Chrysler and Camaro. Go to a different drag strip if possible. Keep your mouth shut, eyes open. learn, Learn - LEARN . Ask other racer questions but make them intelligent questions, listen to the answers. If a particular racer doesn't want to talk, ask another one.

Experience is Extremely helpful. We all had to start somewhere. If you can, this may be difficult as it is very difficult for me, find a place to take your car to practice.
Practice coming out of the hole, practice power shifting, practice shifting at the same rpm or coming out of the hole at the same rpm each time. Take notes. Examine your tire marks. Adjust air pressure. If possible bring a reliable friend, not a big mouth jerk. Bring some one you can trust to give you honest opinions and observations. Have him examine every launch, every shift. Have him time things if possible.

I'm sure you get the picture and the just of my suggestions.

The first time at the strip may not go EXACTLY as you hoped it would. So What ! Learn from it. Learn what went wrong and why. Next time will be much better - trust me. Each time you go, practice and learn... This is why if possible go to the strip before the big show down day. Watch intentally what each of the other racers do, how he does a burn out,for how long, how he stages, how his car comes out of the hole, how it goes down the track etc. Learn from EVERYTHING and Everyone you can...

Ok, I'll step down off the soap box now.
Good luck and Welcome to Drag Racing !

Danford1


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Started By Thread Subject Replies Last Post
Jeff931 tire pressures 0 Sep 28 2009, 1:37 PM EDT by Jeff931
Thread started: Sep 28 2009, 1:37 PM EDT  Watch
what tire pressure would you recommend in a street radial?

I'm running 255/35-ZR20 Nexen 3000 radials on the back of my Ranchero, and they are going up in smoke! My last pass down the track, I was @ 28psi, but still frying 'em.
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jmanley More tips 0 Dec 27 2007, 8:51 PM EST by jmanley
Thread started: Dec 27 2007, 8:51 PM EST  Watch
Use your 60' times to figure out tire pressure on a test 'n tune day. Lower tire pressure (rear) from 14 psi down to as low as you dare (my personal limit is 12 psi but others run as little as 8 psi) and see if your 60' times improve. If your 60' times slow as you get to, say, 12.5 psi, then raise it back up to 13 psi and that's your launch pressure -- at least for that day (everything changes w/weather).

If you speed up a LOT on a cold day, you might want to check if you're running too rich at WOT.

There is no need for a MONSTER burnout. But make sure you warm up in 1st gear, then shift to 2nd gear for at least 3 seconds then let it roll out while the tires are spinning to scrub off the remaining water.

Consistency is key for bracket racing -- an auto tranny with a rachet shifter will help a bunch! Similar with slicks (if your tires are spinning).
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