Guide to the Drag Strip!

There seems to be an abundance of interest on the forum of Accord owners wanting to learn how to drive their car’s better, most often in search of that faster ¼ mile time at the drag strip. So here’s my attempt at a ‘Drag Strip How-To’.

All tracks are different. Some have one entrance/exit, and others may have separate entrances for racers and spectators. Most tracks have a varied schedule for different types of racing. Often “Test’n’tune” or “Grudge match” races occur on a week night such as Wednesday or Thursday, and host their “Pro model” or competition matches (bracket racing) on Saturday nights. I find it best to go on the grudge match nights, as these are the nights when anything and everything with wheels can have a chance to make a pass, and there are no classes or qualifying to worry about. It’s just heads up racing. You might race a go-cart, or you might race a 9 second Chevelle. As you enter the track, either at the gate, or at the tech station, you’ll be asked to sign a waiver. This is a printed form that basically signs your life away; in the case that something were to happen to you the track is in no way responsible. Some tracks give “tech cards” to racers at the gate. This card has areas for you to fill in your information, ie. Car make and model, your name, hometown, or anything interesting that the announcer might like to share with the crowd. I use this opportunity to be creative. 

Safety:

At some point or another, you and your car will be visually inspected before racing. If the track has a tech station, it will be performed there, if not, it might be done by the guy I like to refer to as the “ringmaster”. This is the gentleman (or lady) who stands between the staging lanes and the waterboxes and directs drivers from the staging lanes to their respective track lanes. Always pay attention to him! The obvious minimum safety requirements are windows that roll up, a seat (durh), working seat-belt, usually long pants, and sometimes a helmet depending on the track. Some tracks may have further precautionary requirements for cars that break a specified speed, or trap faster than a specified E/T (elapsed time). If you think your Accord might run faster than a 13.5 second ¼ mile, by all means, ask about this at the gate so that you don’t lose your entry fee and not be able to race because you lack the necessary equipment. Tracks don’t give refunds.

Entering the track:

So your palms start to sweat, gripping the steering wheel as you turn into the drag strip, knowing that you’re about to put your machine to the test. This is the moment your empty checking account, late nights, and hours of hard work come to a brief (longer for some of us) moment of truth. Will all your work reward you with bragging rights to all your buddies? Or will you go home with the shame that a Dodge Neon just whooped that ***? Or worse yet, could something break on your beloved Accord? But then you relax as you pay the attendant your entry fees and she hands you your tech card, because after all, you just read this ‘Guide to the Drag Strip’, and know exactly what to expect!

Your first stop at this point should be at the “tech station”. This is where an attendant will visually inspect your car for required safety precautions, and assign your car a number, as well as write your number on the windows of the car for identification purposes. Write this number on you tech car before handing it to the attendant. This is how the announcer will know who you are when you stage. This number also distinguishes you on your time slips, which you will receive immediately after your pass.

Ready to Race:

I suggest parking your car and grabbing a spot in the stands near the water box (often just an area with a dip in the asphalt behind the racing lanes, that the track operators keep wet for guys with slicks to clean and ‘losen’ their tires for a burn-out). This gives you the opportunity to see how the ‘tree’ works so there’s no surprises when you get up to race. This is also a time for your car to cool off if you had to drive a considerable distance to the track. Watch at least three cars make their passes. Look to see about where the cars are staging, you may even be able to see the box with holes in it that houses the staging equipment. Also take note of where the track ends. There’s nothing like flying down the track and not knowing whether you’ve passed the finish line or not. Some tracks have it clearly marked, others may not. Take note of how the “ringmaster” calls the cars forward out of the staging lanes, and onto the track. He’ll often just point at the two cars he wants, then signal which way for each of the cars to enter the racing lanes. The ‘tree’ is the stand between the two lanes which holds the lights that tell you when to go. The tree can operate in multiple modes. The most common for test’n’tune days is the “Sportsman’s tree”. In this setup, the three yellow lights and one green light illuminate in succession, exactly .5 seconds apart, in a “3-2-1-Go!” fashion. “.000” would mean you broke through the staging beams exactly on the last yellow light, and .500 seconds later would be the green, thus .500 is considered a perfect reaction. If you go on a standard night when a competition is going on, you’re likely to see a “Pro-tree”. In this case, the three yellow lights illuminate at once, immediately followed by the green, in a “Set-Go!” fashion at .400 seconds apart. Obviously the sportsman’s tree is easier to time correctly.

Staging:

So you’ve got the idea of how the track works, and you’re ready to try your skill? Get in your car, and pull up to the staging lanes. Make sure you’re a/c is OFF. I’ll explain this later. This can be anywhere from two, to ten lanes beside each other. They’re usually numbered, and the announcer will usually make an announcement such as “Cars with slicks, lane one and two. Street cars, lane three and four.” Be sure to pay attention to this before staging, or you could piss off a lot of people around you. You’ll probably have to wait in a line in the staging lanes, as the ringmaster directs cars to do their runs. DO NOT leave your car unattended at this point! When you get towards the front of the lanes, be sure to keep your eyes on the ringmaster incase he points to you. At this point be sure to have your seatbelt on, windows up, and helmet donned if necessary. When you’re directed to your race lane, be prompt, but not rushed. For 95% of the people reading this, you should STAY OUT of the water box. Drive in front of it onto your lane if you’re in the near lane, or swing out and around it if you’re directed to the outer lane. The drivers with higher powered cars will greatly appreciate this! If you run through the water box with your FWD car with street tires, you will pick up water in the treads and take it onto the track. Even if you burn out, you’ll just sling the water onto your fender wells, allowing it to drip back onto your tires and onto the track during your run. This is just as much of a real safety concern as it is a courtesy. A powerful RWD car that runs after you is at high risk of spinning out and losing control on a wet track. As stated earlier, you should not run your a/c before getting ready to stage. This is just another way to introduce water onto the track from the condenser.



The Burn-out:

If you are running true drag radials, you might consider rolling through the water before a burn-out, but this still takes water onto the track from your rear tires. I usually avoid the water box completely unless I’m running all out slicks, in which case it is absolutely necessary to warm the tires with a burn-out. For drag-radials, it’s often necessary to warm the tires before making a pass, but I would do this without rolling through the water box. If you’re using drag-radials, you car is probably plenty of capable of performing a burn-out without wetting the tires. If you’re on street tires, there’s really no reason to do a burn-out. Even with ultra-high performance tires, the tread compound doesn’t very much benefit by being heated. Some individuals might choose to skip the water box, and do a very brief burn-out on street tires just to get any sand or rocks off the tires, but I find this an unnecessary risk of suffering wheel hop. Wheel hop is the number one killer of our cars in racing. The constant loading/unloading of the drive train will snap an axle or CV joint very quickly. On that note, we’ll go on to the launch…

Preloading, and the Launch:

Once you’ve pulled up past the water box, you want to make sure you straighten the car out on the lane. You should be able to see the tire ruts, or ‘line’ in the lane. This is where the high-powered cars have laid rubber on their launches. Use this to your benefit and line your tires up in these ruts. At this point, I’ll explain preloading. What’s involved, and why you should do it. As I stated earlier, wheel hop is the most dangerous threat when drag racing a FWD car. Some cars utilize a setup that replaces the front sub frame called traction bars. This frame changes the dynamics of the front suspension, reducing flex angles and stress, thereby eliminating wheel hop. Unfortunately, these are not currently produced for our 6th gens. Preloading your car is by far the most effective way of reducing wheel hop and reducing the chance of breaking something.

To preload simply means to put a load on the drivetrain and suspension before launching, to reduce the impact on both components. This is done by engaging the emergency brake, while applying slight power to the drivetrain. For manual transmission cars, this is done by applying the e-brake, revving to your launch RPM, and letting the clutch out just enough to put a strain on the car. For automatic transmissions, I recommend this be done using the same method (using the e-brake, since it’s easier to apply a constant brake pressure than holding the brake pedal, and produces a load on the suspension that otherwise wouldn’t occur with the regular brakes). Automatic transmissions of course won’t be able to hold their RPMs as high as cars with a manual transmission, but don’t sweat it. Preloading with an auto should still result in better 60ft times, less wheel hop, and a smoother launch.

The process of staging while preparing to preload is as follows. Pull your car up within five feet of the starting line (the box with the infra-red beams) and stop. At this point, pull your e-brake up. It should be engaged enough to make it difficult to move the car, but still possible to roll forward without locking the rear wheels. Slowly drag the car forward with the e-brake locked up until you activate the first staging light. This means you are “pre-staged”. Just a few inches more and you should activate the second light, meaning you are correctly staged at the starting line. So now you’ve inched your way up to the second beam, and your car is now staged at the starting line. Your e-brake should still be up. Once you and the opponent car have both staged, it’s only a matter of seconds before the lights drop. Before that happens, you need to quickly rev the car to your chosen launch RPM, then let the clutch out just enough so that it catches slightly, and tries to pull the car forward. You will have to give the car a little more throttle to keep it from bogging down below your target RPM. DO NOT let the car actually move forward at this point or you risk “red-lighting”. With one hand on the steering wheel, and the other on the e-brake handle, press the e-brake release button, but do not let it down yet. Take a deep breath and relax as the lights begin to fall. Yellow, yellow, yellow, Go!!

At the green light, you should simultaneously drop the e-brake as quickly as possible, and quickly let the clutch out, while pegging the throttle. If the car starts to wheel hop, then let off immediately, and just continue down the track. Don’t risk breaking something! Roughly 10% wheel spin is ideal for best acceleration. This should feel like the tires are just barely trying to break traction as the RPMs rise, not an all out spin.

The launching technique depends largely on the power and gearing of the car, as well as the quality of the tires and the track. In a higher powered car that can break the tires loose by simply laying into the throttle, you’ll want choose a moderate launch RPM, fully let the clutch out, and feather the throttle to keep wheel spin under control.

A lower powered car may bog down instantly if the launch RPM is too low, but may spin the tires off the line, then catch traction and bog down if the launch RPM is too high. My suggestion for this situation is to launch a bit higher than normal, and feather the CLUTCH to maintain that slight wheel spin, while keeping the throttle floored to keep the car in its peak power range.

As for those with automatic transmissions, your only means of controlling wheel spin is to let off the throttle slightly. If you find the car spinning wildly off the line, then try a lower RPM launch. Most cars with automatic transmissions won’t have problems with wheel spin beyond the launch.


**Side note: Staging can be more than just rolling into position between the two beams. There is a little margin for adjustment between the two beams (6”-8”), because the beams measure only roughly where the tire is located between the two points of the starting line. Any time the tire is blocking the front beam, the car is considered staged. Some racers use a technique called “staging shallow”. For FWD cars, staging shallow proves to be most advantageous. This involves stopping the car precisely when the tire blocks the forward beam (both lights, pre-staging and staging, light up). This distance that you have before the tire clears the front beam is called “rollout”. Rollout is effectively the distance your tire has to travel to exit the starting line. The reaction timer stops when your tire leaves the front (staging) beam. This is also when the elapsed timer begins. The starting line beams are about two inches off the ground. This means the “width” of your tire at that height is usually between 10” and 12”. This all depends on your tire size of course. If your tire happens to be 12” wide at this point off the ground, then your car has to move one foot forward before the reaction timer stops, and the elapsed timer begins. This means that your FWD vehicle can start slightly sooner, without “breaking out”. The advantage to this is that you have a slight momentum when your timer starts, resulting in a faster 60ft, and an overall faster E/T and trap speed, however you must anticipate the green light in order to achieve a good reaction time. Perfecting this is performed by mastering the countdown of the lights, and learning exactly when to anticipate the green light. It comes with practice and patience.


Getting down the track:

Getting down the track is often the simple part. For manuals, don’t miss any gears, and for autos, just sit back and relax. Many people develop their own theories on how, and when to shift.

The term “power shifting” is often thrown around loosely, with no definite method. Some believe it means to keep your foot planted on the throttle while depressing the clutch, shifting gears, and releasing the clutch. I personally don’t believe in this method, unless you’re using a stand-alone engine management system that supports the FTS feature (full throttle shift). I know if I’ve let my car go extremely close to redline, and I depress the clutch with the throttle floored, there’s no way in hell I’m going to be able to shift and release the clutch before my engine is banging itself against the fuel cutoff. Though the stock fuel cutoff isn’t as entirely damaging as it sounds, I prefer to stay off of it, as well as spare my transmission synchros the unnecessary abuse. When I shift quickly, I depress the clutch and release the throttle simultaneously, just before moving the shifter out of gear. Once in the next gear, I simultaneously release the clutch, while depressing the throttle once again. Usually the gas pedal is fully depressed before my foot is finished completely releasing the clutch. When done quick enough, the engine doesn’t have a chance to drop but a couple hundred rpms, if at all. This is how I would define power shifting. The release and depression of the throttle only equates to a quick blip, but it keeps me from beating the heck out of the motor.

As you’re going down the track, be sure to keep your eyes planted in the direction you’re headed. If you can learn to listen to the car, and ‘hear’ when to shift, that will allow you to further concentrate on your lane, and ensure your safety, as well as the safety of your opponent. Keep on the throttle hard until you’ve passed the finish line. You know exactly where the line is, because you watch other cars make their passes earlier right? Once you cross the line, alert yourself to your opponent’s location. When exiting the track, either you or your opponent will have to cross a lane. Be aware of where your opponent is, whether in front, or behind you, and where they are. The person who finised first, generally has the right-of-way. If you finished in front, be careful not to cut in front of your opponent, who may still be zooming down their lane. Likewise, if you finish second, be careful that your opponent hasn’t cut into your lane to exit. This can make for some very tragic endings if someone’s not paying attention.

Once you’ve exited, there should be a booth to drive by, where an attendant will hand you your time slip.


Mission Accomplished:

So you’ve prepared, planned, and executed the race. Take the time to stop and review your time slip before you stage again for another race. The details on the slip can help give you clues as to how to better your times. Your reaction time could tell you whether to anticipate the light sooner, or relax a little. Your 60ft times can directly relate to the rest of the race. Improving your launch can lower your 60ft times by up to a half a second, which can mean almost a full second at the ¼ mile mark.

Drag racing is a sport, and like any other sport, it helps everyone to be courteous and show good sportsmanship. Respect other drivers, and take some time to talk to the vets who frequent the track. Most importantly, enjoy yourself! Learn from your experiences, and do it all over again!

::Reserved for updates::

Great write-up

Microsoft Word margins FTL

wow... really nice... sticky worthy? lemme think abt it with the rest of teh mods

Finally completed! Please share if you have any questions!

Great writeup!! Thanks a ton for all the time and effort you put into writing this.

thanks, ought to help me a bit next season

Great write up

Guide to the Drag Strip

Cool. I may give them a try sometime. I know they are damn good at the strip.I dont have experience with them but from everyone else Ive ever heard from, you are right, Jay.


Ive always heard it as: Nittos are best for the street, harder compound than the other drs but still good traction and will heat up for the track. BFGs are softer than the nittos and are better traction, last much shorter. MT ET DRs are the best traction and also the softest compound and therefore last the shortest.