"First time racers" Drag Racing 101

[Jim Demmitt Jr]

From team SBR (Drag racing made easy)

This is for you first time Super Coupe racers drag racing 101


A drag race is an acceleration contest from a standing start between two vehicles over a measured distance. The accepted standard for that distance is either a quarter-mile (1,320 feet) or an eighth-mile (660 feet). A drag racing event is a series of such two-vehicle, tournament-style eliminations. The losing driver in each race is eliminated, and the winning drivers progress until one driver remains.

These contests are started by means of an electronic device commonly called a Christmas Tree because of its multicolored starting lights. On each side of the Tree are seven lights: two small amber lights at the top of the fixture, followed in descending order by three larger LED lights, a green bulb, and a red bulb.

Two light beams cross the starting-line area and connect to trackside photocells, which are wired to the Christmas Tree and electronic timers in the control tower. When the front tires of a vehicle break the first light beam, called the prestage beam, the pre-stage light on the Christmas Tree indicates that the racer is approximately seven inches from the starting line.

When the racer rolls forward into the stage beam, the front tires are positioned exactly on the starting line and the stage bulb is lit on the Tree, which indicates that the vehicle is ready to race. When both vehicles are fully staged, the starter will activate the Tree, and each driver will focus on the three large amber lights on his or her side of the Tree.

Depending on the type of racing, all three large amber lights will flash simultaneously, followed four-tenths of a second later by the green light (called a Pro Tree), or the three bulbs will flash consecutively five-tenths of a second apart, followed five-tenths later by the green light (called a Sportsman, or full, Tree).

Two Separate performances are monitored for each run: elapsed time and speed. Upon leaving the staging beams, each vehicle activates an elapsed-time clock, which is stopped when that vehicle reaches the finish line. The start-to-finish clocking is the vehicle's elapsed time (e.t.), which serves to measure performance. Speed is measured in a 66-foot "speed trap" that ends at the finish line. Each lane is timed independently.

The first vehicle across the finish line wins, unless, in applicable categories, it runs quicker than its dial-in or index (see glossary). A racer also may be disqualified for leaving the starting line too soon, leaving the lane boundary (either by crossing the centerline, touching the guardwall or guardrail, or striking a track fixture such as the photocells), failing to stage, or failing a post-run inspection (in NHRA class racing, vehicles usually are weighed and their fuel checked after each run, and a complete engine teardown is done after an event victory).


(Handicap Racing)

NHRA uses a handicap starting system to equalize competition in certain categories. In essence, this system enables vehicles of varying performance potentials to compete on an equal basis. The anticipated elapsed times for each vehicle are compared, and the slower of the two cars is given a handicap head start equal to the difference of the two e.t.s. By using this system, virtually any two vehicles can be paired in a competitive drag race.

At NHRA national events, a handicap system is used in Competition eliminator, where the handicap is determined by national indexes, and Super Stock and Stock, where drivers are allowed to "dial-under" the national index, or select an elapsed time quicker than the national index. A driver selects an e.t., or "dial-under," that he or she thinks the car will run.

Here's how it works. If car A chooses a dial of 16.00 and car B chooses a dial of 14.50, car A will get a 1.5-second head start. If both vehicles cover the quarter-mile in exactly the predetermined elapsed time, the win will go to the driver with the best reaction time, or whoever reacts quickest to the green "go" signal on the Christmas Tree.

If a driver runs quicker than his or her dial, he or she is said to break out and is disqualified. If both drivers run quicker than their dials, the win goes to the driver who breaks out by the least. A foul start, or red-light, takes precedent over a breakout, so a driver who red-lights is automatically disqualified even if his or her opponent breaks out.

[decipha]

*my contribution*

the m5r2 is a crap trany, it eats blockers daily and is hard to find parts for
my theory, give it hell, race it like you stole it and when it brakes replace it with a t56

^^sorry im having synchro issues on 3 of my super coupes so im a bit partial to the t56

[fturner]

Unless you go with a totally built up t56 (HUGE bucks), your going to have way more problems than with the M5R2.... Our cars will chew up and spit out a stock t56 in a heart beat.

Other folks seem to be running the M5R2 without a alot of hassle.

Frit

[ricardoa1]

The cobra puts out some pretty impressive stock #s and the modded ones I dont even have to mention. I do not hear of too many problems with the T-56, I did not think it was the as smooth as everyone makes it out to be but I did not have issues.

[decipha]

thanks for the comments guys but lets keep this thread on topic
back to: "First time racers" Drag Racing 101


when racing a standard, practice launching the vehicle. Most will attest that the m5r2 equipped s/c's have a wheel hop issue when leaving the line at high rpms. I recommend to practice launching. Some of us have discovered that launching off a tad higher than idle will give us the best traction. Others have braced the rear end enuff to all but eliminate wheel hop. Try different tires if you can not launch on what you have the way you want. Don't forget that tire pressure plays a role in launching as well. A lower tire pressure will generally give you more traction when launching but make it that much harder for the car to accelerate. More tire pressure will cause the tires to brake free that much easier but slightly improve acceleration due to less drag.

Speed shifting can improve your ET's if done correctly. I don't recommend it for the faint at heart as it does add extra stress to the trany and drive-line. Synchros don't like speed shifting either. Also, the earlier model 89-93 m5r2's have the 2nd to 3rd "cliff" dropoff. You may want to experiment with reving up more in 2nd to find 3rd in a better rpm range when shifted. We all have our own way of racing standards. Don't be afraid to ride the clutch on take offs. Most will agree that if your off the clutch before the 60' your coming off too quick. Again though this is all personal opinions. Do what works best for you. We don't all have stock supercoupes nor do we all have the same driving abilities. The key here is to practice, practice, practice.

[f1rocco]

I always liked the pc program with the different trees to practice on...Pretty fun to get used to the exact tree timing your local track uses....Some of these free programs are real nice with real looking tres...

My first couple times driving motorcycle at the track I staged at the line but realized that I had to wait cause I was quicker then the other guy....

So what did I do both times.....

I revved early off the other guys tree..A quick 8k rpm blip of the throttle....Once he red lighted and another time another guy sorta glanced at me to see if I red lighted and he screwed his reaction time up....Tried it another time but some other guy wasnt goin for it....

[decipha]

thats right F1, here ya go

http://www.mariettascientific.com/boss/nhratree/