5/2/2007

Think you are ready for more win lights?

I will try not to bore you too much this month. If you have read my past columns you know I am more than a little passionate about this crazy sport of bracket racing and really, drag racing in general. Some of the aspects of current drag racing get me “up on the tire” as my editor, Jeff Burk, would say but overall the sport is doing pretty good and is still a lot of fun for me.

That brings me to the first point when it comes to turning on more win lights. I have been on both sides of this issue and I am sure that if you are having fun at the races you will turn on more win lights than if you are grumpy, upset because something doesn’t go right or you just spent half the money you had left in your checking account to get to the races. Even if you are serious and present yourself professionally at the track it doesn’t mean you can’t have some fun. Ease up, take your attitude “off the chip” and realize how lucky we are just to be able to do what we are doing. A calm mind will be a better mind to win with.

There is a never-ending list of things that can help you turn on more win lights and the following few paragraphs are ideas and things that I have used over the years to turn on quite a few win lights. I hope you will find some of them interesting, helpful and, if nothing else, make you lighten up a little bit and keep it as fun as you can at the track. Everyone around you will be easier to get along with if you start with yourself being at ease.

I went over car preparation and some basics last month, so when you get a chance look that article over again. When it comes to the actual event there are a couple things you need to know before you get into the racing mode.

What staging lanes does my bracket or class use? How many cars do they pull out of each lane? How much shut-down is there? Where does the return road exit the track, (just in case you need it…) where do they take the money for buy-backs? When do time trials actually end and when will eliminations start? These are all questions that I want answered BEFORE I get the car ready to go. Usually the Main Gate workers can help, the Tech guys should know the track procedures, and if you have to go to the Tower, DO IT! You are the customer and I usually find them helpful in getting you the answers you need. If you don’t know what to expect during the event how do you expect to stay relaxed and focused if it seems like chaos?

Weather stations: Sometimes I use mine, sometimes I don’t. I used to rely on it way too much. I think it became a crutch I could blame if I dialed wrong. They are very helpful and an important tool for racing in dial-in type brackets. Just don’t rely on them to do your racing for you. You can find nice little electronic weather gauges now from $39 to about $79. Race systems with hand-held computers and ET prediction programs start at about $350. The top of the line units mount to the trailer, run data through a mini-computer and actually send data to a pager you can carry with you to the staging lanes. Talk about being “up to date” on weather changes. I still think experience, especially at the local level, goes a long way in dialing your car correctly.

Logging your runs: I have a bad habit when it comes to this. I go in spurts of writing down every little detail about runs and getting it all just perfect in the logbook. Then I will go for a few weeks and never seem to have time to do it. Some of that comes with the fact we usually take two cars to the track and between rounds get a little hectic. I still feel that accurate record keeping can help you turn on more win lights. You will see the tendency of your car to slow down if the trans gets hot in later rounds. You will see that your first time run is always the fast one, or not. You can see if you have a personal inclination to have worse lights as the day goes on. (That could come from coffee in the morning and/or a couple caffeine-laced sodas). Personally, I always have my coffee and if I am racing I just keep the caffeine coming and always drink a lot of water as well. Remember, I am 56 (got my AARP membership card!) and a little caffeine from coffee isn’t a real bad thing. I have a tendency to actually react slower to the lights on the tree at night than I do during the day. This lesson took me about a year to get used to it. Just keep records in a manner you are ease with and they will be your valuable asset other than a great running car.

Staging the car carefully and repeating that procedure run after run: Without a doubt the biggest single error I see in both beginning racers and 20-year veterans alike is the poor staging techniques. I managed dragstrips for 15 years and watched a LOT of good racers and even more bad racers on the start line. Take a half-hour out of your race day and go up by the start line. Watch how the point leader stages, how he gets the car to accurately and smoothly roll into the pre-stage and then the stage beam. What you will see in guys doing this the right way is they never get rattled. They do it the same during time trials as they do in eliminations. The more you repeat it the better you will get at it. Find a method you are comfortable with and stick to it for a while. Don’t worry or be concerned about your opponent, deal with yourself first. This will create better concentration, more consistent ET’s and reaction times.

Fuel: Get your fuel from the same supplier. Power is consistency and if you get a different batch of fuel every week you can expect problems with getting consistent performance.

I know, it seems like easy stuff and it really is. Just practice it and let’s see how you improve. Got a question or comment? Send me an email and I’ll answer them for you. 

 

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