Put the slicks on

[chasracer]

Really Cnut if you only knew how stupid this sounds to a drag racer, a tenth of a second difference in reaction time equates to about a car length on big end. I have won or lost many a race in my day with a MOV of .001 or .0002.

Hey markm - you and I live this stuff every weekend. As a note, we raced the new concrete surface at Virginia Motorsports Park this past Friday, the track is green with very little rubber and it will take about a month of races for it to come around. But anyway, right-side groove in the right lane tossed even big-tired dragsters all day long. We were supposed to race Saturday/Sunday but we decided that working on our other racecar was more enjoyable than dealing with traction issues.

Anyway - my point is there is room for everybody and as long as they are squaring off and going at it, even if it's just for bragging rights - I am all for it. Drag Racing is a great sport and bracket racing is a pretty good playing field leveler. It's not perfect but few things ever are. I am glad 55 Tony is having some fun with his car - that's what its all about.

[chevynut]

I find it odd that you feel comfortable telling others how they should live their lives.

That's just the way markm (aka USA1) is. He wouldn't know technology, physics, or math if it slapped him in the face. He stopped learning about new stuff 40+ years ago because he thought he knew all he ever needed to know.

I have no intention of being a "real drag racer". I'm just having a little fun with my car.

That was pretty obvious to me, but markm (aka USA1) thinks you need "real" timers on a "real" track to even think about measuring how your car is doing. Funny though that he doesn't believe in dynos, computers, EFI, ABS, or power anything. It's just "too complicated" for him. From everything I've read on the internet, some of these new smartphone apps are pretty accurate and today's phones have some amazing sensors. I've never used one myself and I tend to think drag races....anything but the top classes...are boring. Maybe it's more fun when you're a contestant, but watching isn't very appealing to me, especially brackets.

[chasracer]

Maybe it's more fun when you're a contestant, but watching isn't very appealing to me, especially brackets.

No and it's not really intended to be appealing to spectators. It is a participant sport, one that measures everything you do both correctly and wrong. The ability to predict on a round to round basis of what your car is going to do along with what you are going to do driving the car is pretty close to an art form. I gave up a long time ago trying to explain brackets or class racing to anyone that has no interest in learning it. There's just too many equations that play into it. But, I am the same way about roundy-round stuff. I watch the green flag then come back in a few hours and catch the last 5 laps, the rest of it is just filler. And I actually did that type of racing at one time but its too dull for my tastes.

[Rick_L]

Well there's some big contradictions here. Jumping into a discussion about the technical aspects and discussing the limitations of GPS acceleration data. Then saying that drag racing is boring unless you are into the technical stuff when that was the subject?

I've been a serious drag racer and I understand that it's not a good spectator sport unless you get into the tech stuff. If you're in it for the thrill of watching you have to watch the fastest classes and ignore anything else if you're only in it for total bling. Even those classes have a technical aspect if you care to know.

Seems like we've discovered here that I-phone tech is limited here and if you want better you may have to go to a track with real timing. And that's bad? C'mon.

[chasracer]

You're right - we did get off on a tangent there.

I understand that 55 Tony was just getting an idea of what his car would do and there's nothing wrong with that no matter how you do it. Heck, we used to start counting to ourselves when we raced from street light to street light, not much different. And as anyone knows if they have ever traveled to race, drag strips within miles of each other will provide slightly different numbers. 60 foot at one might be 60 feet while another one, it might be 59 15/16 feet - just depends on how the timing system was installed. Then throw in track prep or lack of, flatness of the raceway....the variables just keep coming. All in fun!

[55 Tony]

. I am glad 55 Tony is having some fun with his car - that's what its all about.

Thanks chas! Like I had said, I know basically nothing about drag racing, if I did I never would have posted those times! Anyway, I'm glad I found that problem with the Iphone app. Last night I bypassed the leaking heater core and redid my fuel line to make it shorter, got rid of the plastic filter, and got rid of the 90° fitting. Hope it doesn't rain this weekend.

[55 Tony]

You're right - we did get off on a tangent there.

I understand that 55 Tony was just getting an idea of what his car would do and there's nothing wrong with that no matter how you do it. Heck, we used to start counting to ourselves when we raced from street light to street light, not much different. And as anyone knows if they have ever traveled to race, drag strips within miles of each other will provide slightly different numbers. 60 foot at one might be 60 feet while another one, it might be 59 15/16 feet - just depends on how the timing system was installed. Then throw in track prep or lack of, flatness of the raceway....the variables just keep coming. All in fun!

Thanks again. Speaking of prep, I don't think they had any "rosin" or whatever it's called. That last run they were warming the staging area with a large propane torch just before I got staged. Sounds like cheating! All I know is that there was hardly any screeching from the tires.

[markm]

Seem to me that discussions like this help show true colors, 40 years ago at Lawrence Dragstrip we did not get 60 ft times or reaction and all classes ran a very quick pro tree. Some are pontificating about things they have no clue. Today I know 90 plus percent are won at the start. We have not even mentioned RT.

[chasracer]

Markm, yep I was there too. Attended my first drag race at 14 with a couple of guys down the street that raced their souped up '54 Chevy. Two years later got my driving permit and a month after that I was at the strip with my mom's Chevy. Timing card back then had your car#, ET, MPH and win/lost marked on it. If I remember right, the tree was just an instant green like a traffic signal. I was runner-up in my first race and because they published the top two finishers in each class in the Monday morning paper, I was scared to death my parents would see it~!

[markm]

Markm, yep I was there too. Attended my first drag race at 14 with a couple of guys down the street that raced their souped up '54 Chevy. Two years later got my driving permit and a month after that I was at the strip with my mom's Chevy. Timing card back then had your car#, ET, MPH and win/lost marked on it. If I remember right, the tree was just an instant green like a traffic signal. I was runner-up in my first race and because they published the top two finishers in each class in the Monday morning paper, I was scared to death my parents would see it~!

I understand my Camaro was broke and I won my first trophy with my Dads 72 Cheyenne Super, still have that truck and it pulls a Camaro to the strip on occasion. Our ET cards were the size of a business card less mph. Back then we dialed in 8.0, 8.05, 8.10, etc today its 8.01, 8.02, 8.03.
We also raced with windows down, no helmets and seatbelts and did not know what tech or SFI were.