Why I race the strip (Not the street.. or the circle)
Part 1
We’re doing something a little different this month. With street racing making a comeback, thanks to popular show such as Street Outlaws, we are trying to persuade more folks to get involved in legal racing at the local dragstrip. But we often see hesitation from newbies. This article, broken up into parts 1 & 2, will outline why I choose to race at the dragstrip, and a run down of how it goes down at the strip.
Have you been thinking about running your car down the drag strip but are too nervous about looking like an idiot in front of all those people in the stands? Well, you can ask any of us that race that question and I bet 99% of the racers will tell you yes. The other 1% are lying. In this article I will explain how a drag race works so you will be less nervous. In this I will also explain my experience when I started and why I choose to keep playing in this sport.
Years ago, we had a new class at our local the circle track; So myself and some buddies decided to build mini stock cars. We all got together and built 5 VW cars to race. Well it started out good but by the end of the year tempers started to rise and the politics of that kind of racing were getting pretty bad. Things like, “you’re cheating, you hit me and bumped me out of the race” came up at every event. So by the 5th year I got tired of the fighting and the on going drama of it all, so I was out. On top of the drama, not only were we tearing up motors and transmissions, but we were tearing up the cars- Bodies, front ends, brakes, etc. I found myself working on the car all week just to get it tore up at the next race.
So one day I found myself out at the drag strip with my streetcar. It was a fairly fast streetcar for its day. I was running 14.00 flat at 98mph. I am getting ahead of myself here. There weren’t many cars out there and I asked a guy I knew how does this work. He kind of explained it to me so I signed up. Now, I was as nervous as a cat in a dog pound. I didn’t want to look stupid. The cool thing was they told me I had some practice rounds (qualifying). So up to the lanes I went. I sat and sat until I saw my lane starting to move. Ok this is it. I drove around the water box as I had street tires and was told not to do a burn out with street tires. I stop and looked over. Oh shit, there is a Camero next to me that just did a massive burn out. Sheesh what am I doing up here? This guy is going to wax my ass. Alright, don’t pay attention to this guy just do my own thing. While waiting for the guy to back up after his burn out. I think I made sure it was in first about 100 times. The starter waved his arms for us to pull in. Shit, this is it. I started letting out the clutch creeping in. Damn seemed liked forever to get that first staging light on. I just sat there. The starter finally looked at me and motioned me to pull forward a little more. Ok there is the second light. How in the hell are you supposed to stop, keep your foot on the clutch, rev the motor and go. Hell, I need another leg. Well later I figured out if you gut the e brake that’s your third leg. Ok lights come down and away I went. To say I slept at the light would be an understatement. No one told me you leave on the last yellow. When I did get going wow. The dragstrip has way better traction than the street. I had a tack so I shifted every gear at 7500. Ok so where the hell is the finish line? Seem liked it took forever to get there. I was lucky in that the Camero was ahead of me and I just watched to see when he let off. Ok pull around and follow the Camero down the return road. I pulled up to the ticket booth only because the Camero in front of me did. They handed me a slip. I took a look. Wow I thought I was going way faster then that. I hate when reality sets in.
I went down the track two more times, feeling better about it each time. Then came eliminations. What the hell am I supposed to do? Being from the circle track world I was afraid to go to another pit and ask. So I went up to one of the staff. He explained what to do and loaned me some shoe polish to put a dial in on my car. First round the other car beat me to the finish line. Guess I lost. Got my time slip to find out he had went faster then the time on his car and I won. Hey this is cool. Second round the other guy beat me as well but hey he red-lit (That’s when you take off too early). In that pass I smoked the clutch anyway so wasn’t going to make the next round. I was in the pits and a guy with a nova came up to me and said “It’s me and you in the final”. I told him I had smoked the clutch. He asked if I had another clutch? Well it just so happened I had my old three puck disc in the car. He offered to give me a hand changing it.. Really? (He wins if I don’t make the call). He helped and we got it changed in about an hour. We went to the line and he beat me fair and square. After it was over and we were in the pits he came over and shook my hand and said good race. I was not used to that. In circle track I was used to when a guy comes over to your pit he is usually swinging. I left that day with a good feeling and couldn’t wait to do it again. After a few races I became friends with the other racers and found that they were so willing to help you.
So the seat time is nowhere near what it was at the circle track, you cant make a mistake and have the time to recover like at the circle track.. But I have to say, I will give those things up because there are little politics in bracket racing and the people are so cool. They’re like family.
Part 2
If you’ve read part one of this article from last month, you’ll know why I stuck with, and am an advocate for racing at the dragstrip. Part two is to outline how drag racing works. I also hope it encourages some of you to go try it out at your local dragstrip!
So you want to try drag racing? There is no step by step manual that I know of, so here’s an outline of what will happen and some tips you might find helpful. First step is to get your car teched. Find out where that is and get line. The staff is going to go over your car and tell you if it is safe to run. If it’s not, he will give you a list of things that need to be fixed. If you can fix those things quickly, they will get you back through tech and pass you. Second, listen to when they are going to run time trials. They usually have lanes for the different classes. If you’re not sure, just ask a staff member and tell them you have no idea how fast your car is. They will gladly tell you what class you should be in if there is one. For a regular streetcar, they will likely put you in some class called sportsman, or something similar. Next, stay in your lane either in or near your car until they start to pull your lane. Never leave your vehicle running without someone in the drivers seat. Make sure when you pull out that your windows are up if you have windows. If you have street tires, just pull around the water box. (If you have slicks, you’ve obviously done this before and know what to do). Stop in front of the water box and look at the staff. They will direct you on what to do next. When he motions you to pull forward, pull up slow. The closer you get to the starting line/ beams the slower you should go. Once you pull forward and light the top bulb it is customary to let your opponent light their top bulb (this is called courtesy staging). Then, inch forward till you light the second bulb. Stop there as soon as the second bulb is lit.. Once your opponent has their two bulbs lit, it’s game on. The tree will come down and you should start to leave on when the last yellow bulb lights (Don’t wait for green). Then you’re off.
In bracket racing, the trick is try and do the same thing every time. Shift the same. Leave the same, etc. When you see the finish strip let off and start to slow down. Look for your opponent. You probably will be turning into the same turn off, the left lane turns first. Make damn sure you do it safely and know where your opponent is. Do not stop and come back down the track, they have a return road. If you think you’re having a problem with your car during the run, slow down and pull over to the side and shut your car off. If it’s not a major problem, idle down the side. It is not a sin to stop on the side of the track. It is a sin to oil down the center of the track the hole length of the track.
After you have run your time trials, get some shoe polish and look at your time slips. Put a number on your car that you think you can run. If you put a number on your car that is faster then what you run then your opponent gets that much of a head start on you. If you put a number on your car that is slower then what you can run then you might go faster and lose anyway. Bottom line, run your own race. Let your opponent screw up. Win or lose it’s a blast and you can count on your opponent to be shaking your hand. Remember its your race to win or loose.
Your local dragstrip will likely put on what we call street legal races. These are great nights to practice at and get your feet wet. At these, you will see regular, not “built” street cars that are just out there to have a good time. This is when we encourage more of our newbies to go give it a try.
Remember, everyone is just out there to have a good time! If you’re nervous, whether it’s your first time out or your hundredth time, welcome to the club.