Technical The Thread of OLD SCHOOL DRAG TRICKS AND TIPS

Strictly street, early '70s, if I thought there was a good chance of action that weekend. Fresh plugs right after work on Friday, bump the timing, stagger air-shock pressure, pump the front tires way up, drop the rear tire pressure (just before the act). Small town, small potato's, but it worked way more times than not. Gawd that car was fun, lowly BB/turbo 400, 4-speed bait....

 

Hello,

When two cars are equal in any class, the quickest reaction time off of the line is utmost. In the era of 1958-62, When the three light stop/go light was in place at the drags, there was a split second between the end of the red and start of the green. These were the old traffic light set ups. That split second gave you enough of a jump to be ahead by a least a ½ car length. Now, that was an advantage most cars could not make up in the races.

Now, on the street, that advantage is really evident as the time between the “off red” can be altered by looking at the yellow on the cross street. When the yellow goes off, everyone will see the green come on, but you will be ½ way across the intersection before the other guy gets going. This is a proven fact.

In a DMV driver’s class, we were all told that the reaction time for stop lights is: See the light change, then it is 2 sec before the brain tells the foot to stomp it. That seems like a long time. It is the same thing on braking. That is why we are all supposed to follow the car in front a quite a distance (space under the vehicle) for emergency braking.

The problem was, the cross street traffic. People sometimes ran the yellow light, which causes big problems. So, it is only used on totally empty streets in the early a.m. Finally, the drop arm races: when the starter raises his arms, it is the elbow that moves first on the way down. Then the arm comes flying into the down position. It is really a fast move, so it does not always work. But , when it does, you have a ½ car jump.

Now, disputes, many people will not recognize the end of the races, other than crossing the finish line drawn on the street. But, they will dispute the start. The green light start can’t be disputed because everyone sees the green instantly, but a second after the yellow goes off. The hand start is always disputable as each starter has their own way to drop the arm.


Jnaki

On one Spring Break challenge race, there were big bucks bet on the race. A 301 SBC with dual quads in a 1962, red, Jag XKE Roadster was challenging all racers at Merle’s Drive In. They always came back to cruise the front row smiling as he was showing everyone that he just won the race against someone.


We were just sitting in a friends Henry J with a 409 motor in it. He had just completed building it and wanted to cruise down to Newport Beach just to sit in the parking lot to have a great time. He had not raced it at all, just a few runs down the “Cherry Ave. Drags” on some timing runs.


After much prodding and challenging from the XKE driver, we drove out to the most empty street we knew about. A public street right down the middle of a Navy Ammunition Supply, Depot Base in the back woods of Seal Beach. No traffic, no big time street lights, no police, no MP jeeps, etc.

It all played into the scene. The XKE driver was extremely cocky and flashed a few $100 bills, but we scraped together $45 dollars between 4 teenagers and that guy said ok.


My friend had never started a real street race or at the drags. He was new and wanted me to drive. The XKE guy said owners only. So, it was planned that I would be the starter and my friend remembered the elbow move. On the first race, he jumped out to eek out a ½ car length win. On the next race, he lost by a car length because he panicked out and missed a shift.


So, for the last race, he psyched himself up and watched my elbow to the first drop. He won by a car length and bought everyone gravy/fries and cokes at our own Bixby Knolls drive-in restaurant at the end of our long, road trip.


The XKE/SBC driver and friend? He raced away in a flurry of dirt and pebbles as he was totally mad and frustrated. Teenagers vs. an older pair of 20+ somethings (win) is always a positive in our books…

A few stop lights at the early version of Lions Dragstrip.

 

Happened to me...deep staged a Chrysler product with an automatic trans. Backed into the staging beams (BIG MISTAKE) shifted out of reverse, power braked or so I thought. Lights come down and I nail it, and sat still 'til I pushed the "DRIVE" button...what bummer !

 

One I didn't see mentioned, running your engine a 1/2 quart or a quart low to reduce windage and pick up a few horsepower.

 

great time was all the same)

 

A larger diameter front tire will trip the finish light sooner.

Loosen drum brakes so there is no drag but they can still stop well.. Removal of the self adjusters makes this a one shot deal.

Set front end camber to zero with you sitting in the car.. .

 

Index racing, some class racing, and bracket racing: if you're out in front a good amount, but not enough to just coast, and don't want to break out, nail the brakes hard just before the finish line. Used to see lots of tire smoke at the finish line until NHRA started to take a dim view of the safety issue being neglected. Still gets done, just not as bad. Same sort of thing, but has to do with the dial in on the car; don't put it on until just before being called to the burnout box, or have a crew member do it after the burnout to get your opponent frustrated because he does't know what you're going to run. Take your time to stage making your opponent get hot. Used to really hate that in my FED without a cooling system. Some guys will use a couple rows of 200 MPH tape on the windshield to block your opponents side of the tree from view; run your own race from your side of the tree, and who cares what the other guy is doing. Intentionally leave your side window down so the starter has to tell you to roll it up, and then take your time doing it. Anything to get in your opponents head and knock him off his game. Courtesy staging has taken a lot of the little tricks away from drivers at a lot of tracks. The start line beams are tripped by the front tires, the finish line beams can be tripped by any part of the car; that's why you're seeing the little "fin" sticking out from the front bumper or another parts of the front end. It's a beam tripper. The quarter mile, or 1/8 mile is't really, it's just a smidge shorter depending on what part of the car stops the clocks. I am Butch/56sedandelivery.

 

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