After 3 weeks of rain,we finally get a chance to run.No test and tune,but our typical 2 hits to dial in prior to eliminations. Yes its bracket,but its what we have,so we run it. First,a little on my car,02 corvette,402 twin turbo,6 speed,full trim street car on 26x11.50 DOT slicks. And yes,I am probably outclassed but thats not the issue for me,I want to enjoy my car and it can normally be competitive. Now,recap the runs real quick and hopefully someone with more experience can tell me why I played chase your tail all night long ! Anyway,first qual run,launch at 4700,5psi boost,15psi in the tires. Wiped the tires out,banged the rev limiter,track very green.Ran about 11flat( I know weak !)with a poor 60 ft(we are currently working on the front half,as the car has tons of top end)
Second pass,drop the 2step down to 4400,tires to 13psi,still spins badly but 60s are 1.66??? and runs a 10.66 (still on low boost) decide to pull a little more out of the 2step,leave the tires(BIG mistake)not realizing they are spraying the launch pad with VHT between rounds. OOOPS ! Go to my first elim round,line up with,yes,a Gremlin !Dialed a 10.55 and added .5 boost(I can always let off,thats easy)Launch with a near perfect RT .001 and LOST ! car bogged badly,track finally came around and I was NOT prepared for that. We had pulled the 2step down further to 4200,should have bumped it back to 45 and brought the tires up to 15(normal for my car) ran another 11,to his 10.64 with a miserable 1.8 60ft,lost the whole race at the line. So obviously to me,I was not prepared for the track to bite,totally expecting another bad spin off the line.
What would an experienced driver do,or rather how would you read/compensate for this issue ? Hindsite is easy,but seems like perhaps I should have picked something up on this ? Comments,criticism and input is most welcome !

 

I lay back when there is a track issue. Down here it's the heat. I watch the other cars to see how they are hitting their dial. If they are slow I know the track is still poor and compensate. If they're running their numbers, I should too.

If you don't know what's going on, you really need to sand bag a bunch. He ran 10.64 on a 55 dial and should have been easy pickings. Hope this helps.

 

Sorry,I think I confused things a little. He dialed a 10.36 ran a 10.64 .21RT . I dialed a 10.55(which is slow for my car) and ran 11flat with a .001 RT and a horrible 60ft. As a side note(and possibly the cause) I switched out my slicks this morning,check PSI in them and they are at 11,NOT 13. I think my "helper" added a little bit of extra "help" to my launch,not realizing how badly my car reacts to low tire pressure.I typically run 15-16 psi and spin 3-4 feet on the launch.I was unable to watch the rest of the class,I did watch the sportsman,but no one seemed to be hitting their dial.

 

Good to see you're out again. Great R/T, FWIW!

I can relate to the frustration. Early in practice, the track is poor so you soften up, to find it's perfect when it counts. I guess bank on the track being there for eliminations. Did you bog at 4200? I always thought 4500 was conservative and if it dead hooks, mine bogged a bit. When you're looking for consistency maybe thats not a bad thing.

Maybe stick with 4500 wether it holds or not, and average the times. Your tires the next day will have different PSI since they cooled off and such. Going really low on the psi never helped me much either. I went down to 9psi cold and still blowed off. The 26" tires need ideal conditions to work, otherwise they're just OK.

Next time maybe stay consistent with your setup. 4500 chip and 15psi tires, pedal if you have to. With R/T like that you'll go some rounds! Maybe think about sandbagging .1sec instead of being optimistic. Then lift at the end if it's close.

 

Yup,I am thinking the same way( NOW) conservative dial and pedal if I have to. Sucks cuz its raining again today,supposed to tomorrow and we have a 2-day meet next Fri/Sat.Once again,no practice,although with the Nitro cars running,the track prep should be awesome ! Oh,and being back in the car,running is great ! Car is putting down the same numbers on lower boost with good tune/Meth. Should be high 9s on a good track with high boost.Sorry,I cant catch you,still got the six speed.Maybe next year.

 

Lots of time for going all out. With any luck you improve your time from last season.

We're just making final touches on the auto tuning. Doing some brackets and trying to run within the regulations of 10.0/135.

 

Yep,thats why I got the boost down. These damn turbo cars trap too high ! I found if I tune for the first 330,I can still run the number and keep my traps down(well right at about 134-135 anyway) Best of luck to you,still working on bringing my car up to run with you .

 

Traction issues off the line are compounded by the stick. Going to a glide would really help. I respect your wishes to keep the clutch however I wanted to put that up front for others. Ok, some of my opinions

1. You made a bracket racing mortal sin, made not 1 but 2 changes right before eliminations.

2. IMO dial what you know what the car will run not what you think. You knew it would run 11 flat and thought it would run 10.55. Dial the known and run it out to 1000’ and if necessary bang on that middle peddle. Take your old data logs and see what the split times are and you can figure what the run would have been running it out the back door.

3. Go to a 28” diameter rear tire. This will give you more side wall and absorb the shock on launch. Going from 26” to 28” will require you to jump 2 in rear gear ratios. (26” tire and 3.73 gears = 28” tire and 4.33 gears)

4. Do as I say and not as I do. Hang back and get into the end of the line for eliminations. This will let you watch the other car and get a better idea of track and weather conditions.

5. Pick a hitter or 2 and watch them in time shots and elimations. Get to know what they usually run and dial. Again this will give you a hint of track conditions. Might be best to try to find someone who has a similar setup to yours but it’s not necessary.

6. Make friends with someone at the track (unofficial team). I pit next to a friend and we openly share data. If either of us misses the time shots we can dial off each others time slips. I go to the front of eliminations and he hangs at the back. This gives him the advantage of knowing what I ran in time shots, what I’m holding in the bank, and what I just ran. I watch his run and do the same.

Hope this helps a bit. Last thing is the other guy may not of been off his dial that much. He may have been backing in and closing the MOV. Well good luck. And by the way you have a fast car.

 

I already said that Kaz but he says I missed the point he was trying to make. I thought he was asking how to compensate for the car. I agree with you about making changes. Two time shots is not the time or place to be making them. You run what you brung and deal with it.

 

Basically,what your both saying is,dont mess with the setup on race day.Run what has worked in the past(or my typical setup,launch rpm/boost/tire psi) and dial around what the car runs THAT day. I have a lot to learn about being competitive in bracket racing,and I appreciate the straightforward comments/remarks. I spent last season getting the car semi dialed and getting used to the tree/launching without blowing the tires away,and smooth shifting. Looks like this year I need to focus on basic bracket racing techniques and strategy (that is if I want to make it past the first round) I was surprised at how a little change in my car made such a big difference in how it ran,wont do that again ! I wish we had more T&T to sort things out better. Thanks so much for taking time to respond,I really appreciate it !

 

Ya just need more seat time Highpockets. It's not easy out there but it's like any other sport. Golf is a good example. If ya don't play much you're not going to play well.

The stick is hurting you but if you can cut a good light, hold back a couple and play the top end you can win races. Good luck to ya.

 

Welcome to the brutal world of bracket racing. It's a different mindset that trying for a new personal best. Racers don't talk about the first 2 numbers. They say things like ran a 34 with an 8 or held 2 and was 3 over... They can have a 14 second car or 9 second car. It's all about cutting a good light and being able to run dead on the number every time out. I would recomend that you stabalize the launch and get to a point where your 60' times are consistant. Don't worry about what the 60' numbers are or what you ET. Once that is done you can work on other aspects of bracket racing. We've only scratched the surface here. Again good luck.