Going Racing
Thread Starter
Melting Slicks
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 2,187
Likes: 7
From: Chetwynd B.C.
Going Racing
After putting new heads in the car this weekend I am going racing next sunday. Our local car club uses the airport runway 1 weekend a year for some local racing. This will be my first time racing. What kind of advice can some of you give me?
Running a 68 coupe with a 454 4 speed and B.F. Goodrich street tires. Should I do a burnout with street tires before racing? How should I launch it? I'm worried I will spin too much. Any trick with the lights I should be aware of? Anything else I need to know?
shmoky
Running a 68 coupe with a 454 4 speed and B.F. Goodrich street tires. Should I do a burnout with street tires before racing? How should I launch it? I'm worried I will spin too much. Any trick with the lights I should be aware of? Anything else I need to know?
shmoky
Racer
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 455
Likes: 0
From: Buffalo New York
shmoky...
I am by no means an expert and hopefully someone will chime in with more experience, but I am going to the track for the first time this year on Wednesday, so here are a few thoughts.
With street tires you only need to do as much of a burn out to get any stones or debris out of the tires.
I would granny launch the first run and short shift, especially with new heads. Make sure the car is running well, get a baseline time and then on the second, third...etc runs open it up a little more each time.
You will get the timing of the lights with each consecutive run. Since I don't go to the track often my sixty foot times tend to get better as the night goes on.
Just have a good time, don't loose to any Mustang's and most important, be safe with that '68!!!
Good Luck!!!
I am by no means an expert and hopefully someone will chime in with more experience, but I am going to the track for the first time this year on Wednesday, so here are a few thoughts.
With street tires you only need to do as much of a burn out to get any stones or debris out of the tires.
I would granny launch the first run and short shift, especially with new heads. Make sure the car is running well, get a baseline time and then on the second, third...etc runs open it up a little more each time.
You will get the timing of the lights with each consecutive run. Since I don't go to the track often my sixty foot times tend to get better as the night goes on.
Just have a good time, don't loose to any Mustang's and most important, be safe with that '68!!!
Good Luck!!!
Race Director
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 15,175
Likes: 86
From: State of Confusion
On a Christmas Tree, the 3 Amber (Yellow ) bulbs flash exactly .5-seconds apart, followed by the Green light another .5-seconds later.....
most human-reactions take .18-seconds for the eye to tell the brain what it saw, for the brain to tell the hand/foot to react, and that limb to do-so:
that leaves another .32-seconds for the slack in the drive-train to stiffen-up, brakes to release, and the car to roll-forward through the stage-beams, and very-few street-driven cars are powerful-enough that they can redlight, IF you leave off the bottom-bulb.
I'd also run a full tank of fuel for your first runs, to ensure traction..... nothing will be as-frustrating as spinning your tires and acquiring no-data on your first time drag-racing:
once you are sure the car is hooking-up, you can run less fuel-loads in future visits to the track.
Last edited by Glensgages; Aug 6, 2007 at 04:34 PM.
Thread Starter
Melting Slicks
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 2,187
Likes: 7
From: Chetwynd B.C.
Thanx for the replies.
I'm taking notes. 
I like that idea about going on the last yellow light. What's granny start? Any other advise on coming out of the hole? I guess I just need some practice.
shmoky
I'm taking notes. I like that idea about going on the last yellow light. What's granny start? Any other advise on coming out of the hole? I guess I just need some practice. shmoky
Race Director
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 15,175
Likes: 86
From: State of Confusion
While unexciting, your best-bet is to come-out cautiously, NOT becuase your car is dangerous, or because you can't handle it, but to 'sneak-up' on how-hard you can leave the line w/o tire-smoke:
you can play-around in a safe-place on the street (vacant/abandoned parking-lot, etc., using First Gear ONLY!!!!! ), to practice different launch techniques, but realize that a prepped starting-line is different than 'bare' concrete.
Understand that leaving on the last Amber (Yellow ) WON'T result in a quicker Elapsed Time (E.T. ):
the E.T. clocks start when the trailing-edge of your front tire clears the stage beam, shining across the starting-line, irregardless of WHEN you leave.....
Reaction Time (R.T. ) is what will change, it R.T. is shown on your time-slip/E.T.-card in thousandths of a second ('.xxx' ), and the R.T.-clocks stop when the car clears the beam, and shows how-long after (or, in the case of a Redlight, before ) the Green light flashes until the car clears the beam:
in other-words, when the tire clears the beam, the R.T.-clocks stop, and the E.T. clocks begin.
There is a sticky atop the Drag Racing Section page, with many good pointers from the members of this Forum:
some of them are technical/strategies for bracket-racing, but others may help you better-understand the timing-system, track-etiquette, and accepted-practices.
you can play-around in a safe-place on the street (vacant/abandoned parking-lot, etc., using First Gear ONLY!!!!! ), to practice different launch techniques, but realize that a prepped starting-line is different than 'bare' concrete.
Understand that leaving on the last Amber (Yellow ) WON'T result in a quicker Elapsed Time (E.T. ):
the E.T. clocks start when the trailing-edge of your front tire clears the stage beam, shining across the starting-line, irregardless of WHEN you leave.....
Reaction Time (R.T. ) is what will change, it R.T. is shown on your time-slip/E.T.-card in thousandths of a second ('.xxx' ), and the R.T.-clocks stop when the car clears the beam, and shows how-long after (or, in the case of a Redlight, before ) the Green light flashes until the car clears the beam:
in other-words, when the tire clears the beam, the R.T.-clocks stop, and the E.T. clocks begin.
There is a sticky atop the Drag Racing Section page, with many good pointers from the members of this Forum:
some of them are technical/strategies for bracket-racing, but others may help you better-understand the timing-system, track-etiquette, and accepted-practices.
