The Dragtime News January 2016 - On Location at The PRI Show | Page 19

The Bracket Racing 1 01 page of The Dragtime News has real-world advice to help you in becoming a better racer. CLICK this page to go directly to the Bracket Racing 101 section of The Dragtime News. It's All In The Timing, Pt. 1 Everything we do on the dragstrip relates to time. We put a time on our windows, we try to leave on time, and we’ll hit the brakes at the stripe to kill some time. Yet with all of the importance of time to what we do, there are racers who don’t fully understand the timing system of the dragstrip. In my travels racing at Northeast dragstrips I’ve gotten to know Al and Sue Smyth of Portatree Systems. The Smyth family is extremely active in our sport. Al races a stick SS/AH 1 968 Barracuda, son Stephen races a 2009 A/SA Hemi Challenger, and daughter Allison races a C/SA 1 997 Firebird. Practice trees, full competitive drag racing timing systems, and simulators are all part of the products that Portatree manufactures. As someone who founded and runs a company that makes... It's All In The Timing, Pt. 2 In "It's All In The Timing, Pt. 1 ", Al Smyth from Portatree Systems (www.PortaTree.com) helped us dissect the beginning portion of the dragstrip, specifically the timing system at the starting line. Now that we’ve hit the gas and are off and running, let’s take a look at the various increments we’ll encounter along the way. The typical 1 /4 mile dragstrip is wired with timing sensors at 60 ft., 330 ft., 660 ft., 1 ,000 ft., and 1 ,320 ft. In addition to these timing sensors, there are speed clocks at 660 ft. and 1 ,320 ft. Each of these increments are useful to us bracket racers when trying to tune a vehicle or figure out what the vehicle would have actually run if we hadn’t lifted before the stripe... Keep Your Pace To Win The Race One day last season I was having a conversation at Englishtown with a fellow bracket racer. The racer had just lost an early round, and I asked how the round went down. “My opponent double-bulbed me, so I rushed to get in. with time to spare, or arrive as cars are I went red.” being called into the lanes, whether you go up to the lanes at the first call or you Each racer has their own routine and wait until the last, we all race within our pacing when at the track. Whether you own comfort zones. However... like to get to the track early and unload Don't Be Afraid Of The Deep In my columns Take Action For Reaction and Take Action For Reaction Part II, I discussed the two major components that comprise reaction time - the driver’s reaction to the tree and the vehicle’s reaction to the driver. The latter is somewhat easily adjusted: if the vehicle is leaving too quickly or too slowly the driver can leave at a different RPM, change the pressure of the slicks, or change the travel of the front suspension. But in the case of the driver’s reaction time, what can be done if he or she is just inherently slow? Remember, both components of reaction time must equal .500 in order to equal a .000 light (assuming a 5-tenths tree)... Click this page to visit Bracket Racing 101 and read these and other articles in full. 19