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| Sep 11 2007, 4:31 PM EDT (current) | blizzardND | 646 words added, 1 photo added |
| Sep 11 2007, 4:30 PM EDT | blizzardND |
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Danford1 Danford1
(Login 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
