Yup. FINALLY!!! Taking the Charger down for a few passes in Montgomery, AL this coming Sunday. I don't have drag radials. I have a PI 3200 converter. Any tips and advice for a total drag strip rookie???!!
DO NOT go through water box. Lightly warm your tires. Just as smoke is forming from tires... Stall to no more than 1200rpm's DO NOT mash the gas out of the hole. Go about 1/2 throttle until the 100' mark, then mash the gas. Hold on and have FUN! Oh yea, keep it in "D".
So go around the water box? And I assume that's the "staging" area where they condone burnouts? And how do the hell do I know 100ft?? Count til 2, lol???!! I know I'm a dumbass.....I just don't want to look like one out there...... Piss off
THUMP!!!!!! *legmaker picks himself up off the floor....* wow chase, read the title and fell off my chair!!!! you really going to run your sled??? wow, a tear is coming to my eye to see our very own chasey popping his cherry....... as for tips.... - park in the pits, pop hood and let her cool down for about 30 - 45 mins. - take this time to walk up to the staging lanes and look around. look at the starting line, see what points of reference you can use to know where the staging lights are. it is VERY easy to look like a total ass and drive right by the staging lights.... they can be a little tough to see at some places if they are not clearly marked. basically just watch what some of the other racers are doing. you will see where the water box is, get an idea if you can actually drive around it or not, etc. just hang out at the starting area to get a "feel" for what goes on. - leave the car in drive - one touch the esp - small burnout til you just see some smoke - stall to about 1000 - 1200 rpm - sloooow roll into the throttle. its like counting "1,2,3" as you are rolling your foot into it. with 500+ to the wheels, on street tires, you will blow them off if you mash the gas!! - hold it straight and look to the finish line. - keep your foot to the floor until AFTER the traps. a lot of times there will be a light on the wall / fence that will tell you that you have gone through the lights. - ease into the brake and bring the car down to speed. turn off at the end of the track..... if they have early turn outs, just go to the end......easier on the brakes and the guy in the other lane if he is not expecting you to exit early!! lol - slowly drive back on the return lane and look for the little booth with the time slip.... - close your eyes and then look at the slip..... if it is higher than 13.0....... drive striaght home and pretend you never went!!! dahahahahahahaha just have fun, relax, and enjoy!!! trust me, once you do this, it will never end!
Yeah let it sit for almot a good hour and go watch a few passes get as close to the staging area as you can and see what the others are doing, look for the "GROOVES" in the lane you choose and get into those. Also walk down to the end of the track and see exactly where the end is there will be small boxes that are the laser beams that catch your time as mentioned before do not brake or let off the gas until you have passed those. If the lanes exit to the left and your in the right lane and you are ahead of the car in the left lane WAIT for them to exit first or vice versa never cross their track path in front of them. TAKE A HELMET. Your Will is updated right??? Just asking!!! JK you'll be fine but traction is gonna be your enemy. Seriously resist the urge to stay in it if it get squirrly at the launch, let off completely dont brake just take your foot off the gas and don't over compensate if you do get sideways. let me find that grinner video he did for newbies BRB Watch this http://videos.streetfire.net/video/Drag-Racing-101_156905.htm
also keep in mind that our boy is on low profile 22"s brudda your gonna have a hard time with those asanti's hahahahaha you'll be fine big daddy...and yeah the water box is about 20 yards in front of the tree...maybe a little more...water wont help you.... the first time your up...just know its your first time and dont worry about it... biggest thing for me was.... DONT WORRY ABOUT REACTION TIME! if you have a .001 reaction time or a 2.303 reaction time...your 1/4 mile time is the same....clock doesnt start till you break the line....so make sure you are ready to go cause that lights gonna hit you quick your first time....especially if theres lots of people there as they try to keep it movin pretty good....at least they do in etown... other thing on a similar note...do NOT pay attention to the guy in the other lane...your not running him heads up...and you generally have no say on who your running.... first car i ever ran against at englishtown was a 1975 Lincoln town car that ran like a 23 second 1/4 lol...the next one...was an 8.xx turbo mustang....just worry about your run! you'll get the feel of the difference in grip between the track and the street pretty quick...hopefully youll get more than 3 runs in lol.... your whole run is gonna be in the first 100 feet....cause as they said...after that your gonna be mashed....so key is learning how your setup is gonna deal with the initial umph of power lol....
not all tracks go through that much on teching in my track you just fill out your tech card and hand it to the tech guy, he puts a number on your car and thats it your ready. If Dookie shows up most likely he is going to be tipsy dont let him talk you into making a pass in your car just tell him its too slow for his taste and its not worthy for his ass to grace the seat of your car!!!
When you get there you're probably going to pay at the gate, then follow everybody to "tech". Probably fill out a form, then somebody will ask you a couple of questions about the car and they'll look at it to see if you meet the safety regs and maybe assign you a class. Then you're going to go to the pits/waiting area. Probably a more of a marked parking area maybe with numbered lanes? They usually run cars in groups. Empty these 2 lanes then empty those 2 lanes whatever. When your group goes they'll take 2 at a time and fire them off one after another. This water "box" thing is likely to be some guy with a hose who sprays a puddle of water a few car lengths before you get to the tree. They should be leaving enough room (just barely at Infineon) for you to drive around the puddle without getting your tires too wet. They wave you up when it's your turn and you do whatever. At Infinion the water box is just before the tree. If you drive around it there isn't much room left before the tree to do a burnout and they don't want you to back up -- can you guess why? (haha, here's a hint -- nobody stands behind the cars when they take off). Then you creep up to the tree. When both lanes are staged get ready. Go on the last yellow. It'll be green by the time the car moves... probably. The less time you have to buckle your helmet the longer it takes. The guys at the tree are pretty laid back. They're stoned from the fumes and stunned from the sound. If you're not sure what to do just stare at them long enough and you'll get hand signals.
he doesnt have any power adders (Nitrous, SC, Turbo) and his time is high enough to not warrant much safety requirements short of a helmet (you do have a helmet right chase?) I would say that he will get by with the "heres your number...have fun"
to add ... - dont look in your mirrors .. just focus on you. - it gets sideways .. just ease off the gas, straighten her out then roll into the throttle again - if your return road runs parallel to the track, turn your headlights off to make sure not to blind any guys coming down the track after you .. just a courtesy and only applies at nite .. - at the line .. control your breathing .. your hearts going to be pumping.
My advice.....borrow some drag radials if possible! You'll be running 2.3 second 60' without them with all that POWER Oh and turn on HEATER whenever ur car is running before and after to excavate heat and drop down temps quickly
Don't hit the wall. Everything else was already said above. And good luck! First time out, focus on fun and safety with your ride not killer times.
Paul, he's going to be trying to figure out where he's supposed to go and why the people behind him are honking... Maybe changing wheels and stuff for next time. Chase, make friends with the people parked around you or in line with you. A universal drag strip code phrase for newbies to break the ice and not be embarrassed by saying they're a newbie is "I'm surprised they let your piece of shit through the front gate". Then the guy knows you're new and will help you out.
Today is my first time racing my Charger as well. I consider myself a rookie b/c I havent been in 2+ years and before I would just bang the limiter and dump the clutch. Cant exactly do that with this car... My DRs didnt come in today. I have a set of 17x9 Cobra wheels with 275/40/17 Goodyear F1s (80% tread left). Should I run those instead of my stock 245 RSAs? Figure I'll get a little help from the smaller tire in gearing if anything....1/8 mi track.
