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.
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