I've seen a lot of videos of folks finishing their burnouts by just continuing it onto dry track. I never did this believing it causes the drive train to shock load when you find dry track and wear parts unnecessarily. I usually roll back into the box just enough so the tires are in. I complete my burnout, stop the tires then roll forward a bit and do some dry hops to clean off the tires.

Am I right or wrong?

 

Everyone has their own way, I think you are wrong, reason being.. lets say you do the burn out your way.. the tires stop spinning.. & if there is a little water on the track in front of you , your gonna drive right over it.

If you do it as I do this cant happen, I drive through the water, get the tires spinning, see smoke & release the line lock, keeping my foot on the gas & spin almost to the line.. then I'm sure there is NO water left on the tires, & any water that may have dripped from the wheel well will also have been burned off..

Also what purpose does the "dry hop" accomplish? After your burn out the tires are HOT. I dont know if you are stick or auto, but if auto all you are going is heating the trans fluid up, & if a stick your burning the clutch..

Dry Hops looked good back in the 60' when Jungle Jim did them.. (am I dating myself) but now they serve no purpose..unless you want to look cool..

Watch any NHRA event you'll never see a Pro Stock, Super Stock, or Stock, Super Gas, etc do "Dry Hops" Even the fuel cars do not do them.. they used to do it to seat the clutch between rebuilds.. now its done in the pits..

But do what ever works for you...and remember longer is not always better..

 

Everyone has their own way, I think you are wrong, reason being.. lets say you do the burn out your way.. the tires stop spinning.. & if there is a little water on the track in front of you , your gonna drive right over it.

If you do it as I do this cant happen, I drive through the water, get the tires spinning, see smoke & release the line lock, keeping my foot on the gas & spin almost to the line.. then I'm sure there is NO water left on the tires, & any water that may have dripped from the wheel well will also have been burned off..

Also what purpose does the "dry hop" accomplish? After your burn out the tires are HOT. I dont know if you are stick or auto, but if auto all you are going is heating the trans fluid up, & if a stick your burning the clutch..

Dry Hops looked good back in the 60' when Jungle Jim did them.. (am I dating myself) but now they serve no purpose..unless you want to look cool..

Watch any NHRA event you'll never see a Pro Stock, Super Stock, or Stock, Super Gas, etc do "Dry Hops" Even the fuel cars do not do them.. they used to do it to seat the clutch between rebuilds.. now its done in the pits..

But do what ever works for you...and remember longer is not always better..

 

I take the burnout a few feet onto dry track to ensure dry tires. no dry hops either. just stage and drop the hammer!!

 

My point is spinning out of the water box seems harsh on parts needlessy. When you're spinning out of the box there will be a point where the tires hook and shock load the drivetrain. Much like a 4X4 catching some air under power the setting back down and twisting an axle.

Imagine if you will you're tires are off the ground spinning under power much like burning out. Then instantly something stops the tires from spinning freely (meeting dry track)

Launching is different because the tires aren't going from 30MPH or whatever, to zero or near that in an instant. You're going from 0MPH to whatever with even ascending load.

 

I drive around the box and back into it, always. I thought everyone did. Why would you drive through a box and get your fronts wet?

Again if backed into the box this isn't a problem.

To guage and clean the slicks and make sure everything is working correctly.

Not to look cool but to test the bite.

I don't run those classes so it doesn't apply. If I had that kind of power I'd probably spin then through the lights also but with no shock load. The tires would stop spinning slowly not abruptly.

You do see what I'm talking about right. There's really no reason to spin way out of the box. THAT'S what I think people do to look cool. Everytime I hear that SCREEEEEECH someone does out of the box I cringe and think about what forces the drivetrain are enduring. Next thing you know when they launch a slick is passing them.

 

I agree that stopping in the water is NO GOOD and could cause you to get water on the tires- resulting in inconsistant launches.

You have to get a feel for throttling back the throttle as the car starts to move forward. This will extend the burnout, through the water, and onto the dry, but is not under full load -should one of the wheels grab as your worried out.

As for the dry hops I have tried both with and without, and I can assure you that with my setup - the car EVERY time will spin the tires like on ice with the first hop, then dead/moderate spin the second, then dead hook at the launch if track is prepped. And if I do no hop at all, I will get massive tire spin on the launch.

I actually hate doing the hops cause I think it puts about 3x as many launches on the rear components, but without them its worthless when I get to the line.

I have found also if it dead hooks on the first hop, then it will hook on the launch with only one. Here is a video of it - this one hooked and worked off the line with only 1. Can almost assure you though if it would have spun that first one, I would have done another till it hooked on the dry hop, then staged.

http://www.azzatochips.com/videos/jes10_48.wmv

 

I think you have it backwards. Launching a 3500 lb car from a dead stop is MUCH harder on the drivetrain then simply spinning the tires as you roll out of the burnout box. There is no load on the tires as they are spinning. And the tires slowly begin to bite so the transition to stopped is not nearly is dramatic as you make it out to be. By your own example, axles snap and wheels fall off when you launch the car, not during a burnout.

I spin the tires coming out of the water box for two reasons; to ensure that the tires are dry; and more importantly to gauge the tracks bite. It's very subtle but the sound of the tires as they begin to bite gives me an indication of how well the tires are going to hook. It's hard to describe but you can almost hear and feel as the tires go from a mushy feeling to condition where they begin to bite. This info would be lost if I abruptly stopped the burnout. But like you said whatever works for you. Maybe you can share some your combination and your sixty foot times with us (I am not trying to attack you, I am just curious).

Many tracks for safety reasons forbid you to ever backup on the dragstrip.

 

For what it's worth, I have seen more breakage on dry hopping cars than those that don't...I spin out of the box...I don't want any water left on the tires if possible...I raced at Moroso in Fl. and they would NOT let us back into the water box...Jersey is like that too, I hear...

 

Why in the world would track officials force you to drive through the water? Seems dumb to me, how bad can be to drive around the box and back up a bit as oppsed to carrying water down the track with the fronts? Most people like me don't run front skinnies, we drive street driven vehicles and that means wide front tires with tread on them.

Oh, as far as showing anything that'll have to wait for spring. They didn't have these new fangled mpeg cameras when I last ran the quarter regularly. VHS Camcorders were the ****

 

I dont know how long you have been drag racing ..but there is a saying called "Murphy's Law"..... It means if something /anything can go wrong.. IT WILL

I have seen guys accidently deep stage, put it into reverse to back up a bit.. & NEVER put it back into Drive.. yep he launched in reverse right into the car in the water box!

I also have seen a newbie.. or nervous racers back into the water box as you describe, & attempt to do a burnout in reverse..

When tracks wont allow cars to back into the box that's the reason... one less thing that can go wrong...

Have you ever seen a driver stage with his rear tires? .. Have you ever seen a guy fishtail off the line & Not Let Off & take the tree down !!

I'm not making this stuff up... its all happened, & the guys who have a lot of track time have all seen it too...

It sounds to me like you prefer to do your burnout in the water box, & stop it there or just in front of it.. thats fine.. & if dry hops work for you.. Hop Away

If Jessie can do dry hops.. & run his #'s maybe I'll start acting like the energizer bunny myself..

 

I hate to admit this but I have tried to stage my rears once. I did one of those long smokey *** burnouts and rolled too far through the lights. Backed up and only untill the rears crossed the lights. The track official was waiving me back further and I couldn't figure out what he was asking me to do. I thought I'd been black flagged or something.

Talk about humiliation, I was a newb, you got to learn sometime.

 

As for the waterbox rules. At E-Town, you are not allowed to back up. Also, you are not allowed through the water box if you have street tires.

They don't enforce either that much, but it's usually self discipline and the other racers asking you not to drive through the water if on street tires.

The only time you are allowed to back into the water is if there was an incident on the track and it had to be shut down for cleanup, they let you redo the burnout since your tires have most likely cooled down.

I don't have any videos handy to show what I believe to be a proper or improper burnout.

 

What is dry hop anyway?

... with street tires, I just load the drive train before the staging area to clean the tires. Just like a launch, but you do it at higher rpm so the tires spin. Let off gas if it hooks.

Is that it?

 

You want to extend the burnout as far forward as possible. You want to make sure you're outa the water and also burn up any water dragged forward by other cars. As Jesse mentioned, you get a feel for it and can feather the throttle to soften the blow as the tires hook.

Jesse what do you think the dry hops are doing for you? If you're spinning on the dry hops and then hooking.....either your tires are not hot enough (or too hot) in the first place or because you're not in the groove yet. As you mentioned, it's putting additonal stress on everything and i dont understand what purpose they serve. Ask any tire mfr, they will tell you not to do dry hops. And you dont see any stocker/superstockers doing them....or any other NHRA class for that matter. If they work for you, keep doin it.......but i just dont get it.

 

You are OK for the weekend events ; but learning to do a slow roll burnout of 10-20 feet, will heat the rears ,and dry the left over moisture from the fronts. The hook or bite when the rear tires chrip, tells you everything is ready. This pretty much works for DOT or slicks.
The instant hook just pulls the engine down , and I have never broken a sprag in a convertor.

If your spinning the tires during a dry hop ; that indicates your burnout is incorrect.

All the drag race tire manufactures will tell you to stage as fast as possible. The operating range of the tire is very short ; the tire bonds to the track when stationary ;and to be honest , dry hops waste time and hook. I want my tires staged , not moving as fast as possible after the burnout.

I run Super Gas in Div. 4 ;we run 400 -600 cars at Divisonal and National races. No one backs into the water box or dry hops; it just isn't necessary.
You and your car will be more consistent ,learning what temp your tires need to be for staging.

What ever you decide or do ; have fun doing it !

 

Wow, 400-600 cars and no one dry hops. Come on now. I've been to Maple Grove several times and see it all the time.

If you can control the spin out of the box great, but that's not what I'm seeing in a lot of vids lately. I'm seeing guys burning out onto the dry track, then there's that point of instant hook. Sometimes I even see it throw them sideways.

You'll never convince me that isn't hard on parts. I simply prefer to do a little test launch to gauge things up after the burn out in a controlled manner. Can't be any worse than shocking the crap out my universals, half shafts and God knows what else.

I'll try both ways this spring though and see what I like better.

 

Ralph.

Not real sure what to tell you as to why it works for me with the hops and why not without.

I thought when I went from the Mickeys to the Hoosiers it would be better, and started off with them not doing the hops, and they were marginal. I then started doing them again, as in the videos and the car nearly dead hooked every time after than, except at Etown - where nothing was going to help.

Corky has also seen the same thing with the first dry hop the tires simply spin - then hook better; then really hook. At dragway 42 its real obvious cause of the way the track is setup, which you have to back into a water box and your straight across from the staging lanes.

As for the burnouts being too long or too short - I have also varied them, and found that I usually do the burnout, watching my tach, and when the tires are at their prime, I will see a reduction in RPMs - at which time I release the brake and feather the car out of the water. Once you see and feel the RPM drop I mentioned its pretty obvious, and I know many others use that method.

I think the key is to do it the way it works for you, and do it consistantly. For me - pulling mid 1.4s I am not seeing many other cars getting those times so I must be doing something right But I really don't like the hops as I think its extra wear and tear, but it seems to work.

 

Rolling it out after the burnout(drag radials)

http://temp.corvetteforum.net/c4/mrm...jotimeshot.wmv

http://temp.corvetteforum.net/c4/mrm...otimeshot2.wmv


Around the water on drag radials

http://temp.corvetteforum.net/c4/mrmojo2//1299run-1.wmv



Mackey in the far lane on slicks, Panuzzo, near lane on drag radials

http://temp.corvetteforum.net/c4/mrm...yvspanuzzo.wmv

On Slicks

http://temp.corvetteforum.net/c4/mrmojo2//kb1-11.wmv




Not rolling out after the burnout(on slicks)

http://temp.corvetteforum.net/c4/mrmojo2//wicked85.wmv

 

ALLT4 -
I stand corrected ; when a bracket class is run in conjunction with a Div. race ; you might see a few ET cars dry hop.
I use to dry hop years ago ; but when I learned what I needed to accomplish with the burn out ,and executed it properly , I stopped.

Go to a NHRA event ; see for yourself and talk to any class racer.