Drag results (with COOL burnout pics)

[Steve St.Laurent]

Had a great time at the Diesel drags on saturday in Salem, OH. I've got the truck dialed in as far as consistency goes. I'm running a little over a half second slower than my best times but I didn't try changing anything to go faster because I wanted to nail down my consistency since it was a bracket race. My reaction times are another story - gotta work on those big time! Most of my runs (except when I hit the brakes before the lights so I didn't break out) were between 16. 339 and 16. 435 with one 16. 502 - all the MPH's were 84. ??. Two of my runs back to back that were 45 minutes apart were EXACTLY 16. 339!! That's almost like hitting the lottery! I made it to the third round of eliminations when I fell asleep at the light and had a 1. 094 R/T to the winner's . 533. Here's a couple of pictures of my burnouts - gotta love a roll control! One is a picture of the back of a t-shirt I had printed there - there was a professional photographer there snapping photos and printing up shirts. Evidently BFG puts a MUCH harder tread at the end of the tread life because I started the event with approximately an 1/8th inch of tread and after 8 very smoky burnouts (these weren't the biggest) it still looks like I have an 1/8th inch! These tires aren't wearing at all now.



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[Sky]

So I want to know if your beat that ford?

 

[Steve St.Laurent]

Yep - that was round one, I ran a 16. 592 (hit the brakes cause I was way ahead of him near the line) against a dialin of 16. 40 with a . 615 R/T - he ran a 18. 481 against a dialin of 18. 31 with a . 862 R/T. Round two I beat a Chevy crew cab flatbed with a 16. 502 against a dialin of 16. 40 with a . 746 R/T - he ran a 23. 811 against a dial in of 23. 85 with a . 616 R/T (he broke out). I couldn't believe how far down the track he was when I got the green. When I was at the 1000 ft mark it looked like he was almost to the timing lights already - but I still nearly caught him! Round three I lost by breaking out (can't remember what the truck was) with a 16. 448 against a 16. 5 dialin with a 1. 094 R/T (YUCK - SNOOZE) - he ran a 20. 45 against a 20. 15 with a . 533 R/T.

 

[RHARVEY]

That is one cool looking picture. .



Rick

 

[chuck3]

Way to go Steve.

Nice BURNOUTS.

 

[pcorssmit]

I know what you mean about the BFGs, once they get down to almost bald it takes forever to get down to bald.



Pete

 

[work2muchplay2little]

OK, I'll admit I'm pretty ignorant of most things related to drag racing. Now, Steve or somebody, could you explain bracket racing? Thanks!!

 

[BCFAST]

Bracket Racing

OK, I'm a die-hard circuit racer but I can answer your question in the simple form. Once upon a time, drag racing was losing fans and participants in droves. Only the factory-backed teams could compete... so, the powers that be invented "bracket racing". This enabled someone with a stock family station wagon to beat an all-out race car! How? by giving handicaps... sortof. The basics are: you tell the timing people the exact time you are going to run the 1/4 mile (or 1/8 mile, depending on the track). If you go faster than you said you would, you are DQ'd. The driver in the car next to you does the same... but, if you dial a 13. 0 and he (or she) dials in a 15. 5 how is that fair? well, because the timing computer is programed by the fella standing in the middle of the track with the light-starter in his hand... and it figures out how much of a headstart the slower dial-in car gets. OK... here's the scenerio: you are the faster car; the light tree starts and the other car goes green! An eternity passes, and then your side of the tree starts down to green. If you can beat the other car to the finish line, without going faster than you said you would, you win! Any questions?

 

[Steve St.Laurent]

I'll give it a shot - it's not easy to explain though, I bracket raced for about 2 years before I understood it fully. Basically you tell them how fast you are going to run and you are racing against yourself - if you go faster than that then you lose (unless the other guy goes faster than his time by more than you). First of all, a PERFECT reaction time is . 500 seconds (most of the time, some trees are . 400 trees - usually that's called a pro tree). Secondly understand that your times do not start until you leave the line - in other words you could get the green light and sit there at the line for 30 seconds and still run a 10 second 1/4 mile.



Let's look at scenario #1 - racer A dials in at 20 seconds, racer B dials in at 10 seconds. They both stage, racer A's tree comes down and he gets the green light and takes off and cuts a PERFECT . 500 R/T. Exactly 10 seconds (the difference between their dial ins) later racer B gets his green light and he also cuts a PERFECT . 500 R/T. If racer A ran a perfect 20 second run and racer B ran a perfer 10 second run they would arrive at the timing lights at the exact same time and it would be a tie (has this EVER happened in history? I doubt it).



Scenario #2 - same dial ins and reaction times (. 500), but racer A runs a 20. 5 1/4 mile and racer B still runs a PERFECT 10 second run. Now racer B got to the lights . 5 seconds before racer B and wins. Racer B in this case could have run anywhere from a 10 second to a 10. 499 second run and still won.



Scenario #3 - same dial ins but this time racer A has a reaction time of 1 second and racer B still runs a perfect . 500 R/T. Racer A runs a PERFECT 20 second 1/4 mile and racer B runs a PERFECT 10 second 1/4 mile. Racer B will cross the finish line . 5 seconds ahead of racer A and win. This is because his combined reaction time and 1/4 mile time is perfect (10. 5 seconds) and racer A's is . 5 seconds slow (21 seconds). In this case once racer A left the line it was impossible for him to win because racer B cut a perfect light and time.



Scenario #4 - same dial ins and reaction times as #3 (A=1 second, B=. 500). Racer A runs a 19. 5 second 1/4 mile and racer B runs a PERFECT 10 second 1/4 mile. They will cross the finish line at the EXACT same time but racer A loses because he was . 5 seconds FASTER than his dial in time!



Scenario #5 - same dial ins but both have a perfect reaction time of . 500. Racer A runs a 19 second 1/4 mile, Racer B runs a 9. 5 second 1/4 mile. In this case Racer B wins because he broke out by less than racer A.



Confused yet? Now you know why it takes a long time to figure out bracket racing! Basically your goal is to have a perfect reaction time (or at the least a better reaction time than your competitor) - and IF you have a perfect reaction time then you want to cross the finish line just in front of your competitor. If you do that you will win as long as you both don't run faster than your dial ins. Bracket racers that know their stuff watch the guy in the other lane and if they are too far ahead of them hit the brakes so they cross the line just in front of them (thereby being assured of not breaking out - assuming the proper reaction times, yada, yada). Bracket racing is truly a thinking man's game!!



-Steve



EDIT - just saw BCFASTS reply - took me about 30 minutes to draft mine, his was a lot more concise but didn't get into the details that take time to learn. Did you bracket racers see anything wrong in my description - I could've screwed something up?

 

[RonaldLarson]

Reaction times

I love your honesty! I'm not sure anyone can teach reaction time management, but here goes. Incidently, my little old '65 BelvedereII with 361 engine, Sig Erson hydraulic cam, Chrysler cast iron 4BBL manifold, Holley 450 CFM, and 4. 11 Sure Grip with eight inch slicks was the terror of Lions Drag Strip. First time out I was runner up overall, stock bodies. It was probably due to two things: finding the best ET and then not changing ANYTHING. I would even send the wife to the nearest Chevron station to keep the rear end weight the same with fuel. Second,and maybe due to luck as well as desire, when you get a pro light, nail the throttle as soon as the yellows are all lit. The reaction time of the CHASSIS is what wins bracket races. When you fine tune that time, the reaction of the chassis to your foot, you will begin your launch pretty much the same every time, and you will develope an internal clock which is pretty accurate.



Best of luck! Ron

 

[Steve St.Laurent]

Ol Ron - I bracket raced for a few years on a bike, I'm very familiar with the mechanics involved. I've just gotta get them applied to me (~12 years later) and my truck! My 7300 lb beast is a tad harder to launch consistently than my 420 lb bikes!! Not to mention I have a few more vices and mental distractions than I did in my late teens. Note to self - do not drink any alcohol the week before the next drag race, I learned that back then but I'm relearning it now!

 

[Max Wedge]

That track brings back bad memorys--in 1999 I exploded a Torque-Flite in the Plymouth on the starting line in the left lane. They had just put down a new concrete pad, and I blew it to pieces. I didn't have a blanket on the transmission either--lucky I still have a foot. I have a video of it happening and it put parts of the 727 in the stands.



Oh well no one was hurt, and $3500 and one month later I was at it again, this time with a blow-proof blanket keeping the Torque-Flite warm



Max



PS Steve, next time try deep staging the truck, it will make your ET's slower by a tad, but you will get much better reaction times by leaving on the last yellow bulb and deep staging.



Deep Staging means turning the top yellow bulb (Pre-Stage bulb) off leaving only the stage bulb on--basically just roll through the first light. Making sure you write "DEEP" on your window, and make sure the track you are at allows it. Quaker City does. When my transmission blew up I raced a freinds '98 Chevy K-1500, I was used to 1. 50 60ft times and the truck did 2. 7 60 ft times, but I deep staged and went 5 rounds in the money.

 

[Steve St.Laurent]

Now that I've had time to catch up on all the TDR posts from over the weekend here's some more info. Eric McBride (Stack'd'n'Jack'd) turned the fastest times in the stock class (13. 90, 14. 03, and 14. 2?) - unforetunately his clutch is slipping bad now so he didn't make it to the eliminations. MGM was there and turned a mid 16 for his best time - he's also fighting a slipping clutch. The next best times after Eric was a PSD (Thunder - a moderator from diesel-central.com) and he was turning 14. 80's - he won 3rd place I believe. The top three spots were all won by Ford's - we're gonna have to change THAT in the future!! I know the winner was in a bone stock 2001 auto. I'm planning on making the next DDRA race in Bristol, TN September 8th and 9th and Eric will be there too.



-Steve

 

[Tentman]

While I'll admit to being new to the CTD world, how does a stock truck turn 14 second 1/4 miles? I had a BBC that would do it easy, but it was light and gassy. My truck does OK but is no where near 14's

 

[Steve St.Laurent]

All stock means is that you aren't running slicks, the class name is actually street stock. The other class for light duties is pro pickup - here's a pick of one of the trucks running in that class. They are running in the 9's and 10's.



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-Steve

 

[John_P]

Steve:



Thanks for the great explanations of

the "bracket racing!"



I have been to the drag strip near

my home with my truck and just

can't seem to "get it down" right.

My reaction times are BAD!! The

best I ever did was . 777.



Thanks again. I did pick up some

"pointers" from you!



--------

John_P

 

[work2muchplay2little]

Thanks Steve and BCFAST, I think I have a better grasp of bracket racing and can appreciate the challenges of it better. Good luck!

 

[Bad340fish]

Max Wedge, Shift into second ASAP in your burnouts. Its MUCH easier on the overrunning clutch when you do that. The Overunning Clutch is what blows those things up. Its really the only weak link in the 727/904. I have broken 3 of them in my 999. What really kills them is unloaded revs. Like burnouts and smoking a set of street tires off, or breaking a driveshaft or rearend. My dad broke 3 8. 75 rears in one season a few years ago. Each time he pulled the trans to check the ORC and it was bad. Just a heads up... not sure if you knew that or not

 

[barrfishe1]

reaction time

I red-lighted with a . 499 light last Saturday at my local track with my '70 Nova--I ran . 002 sec. off my dial-in. Oh well!

 

[Max Wedge]

Originally posted by Bad340fish

Max Wedge, Shift into second ASAP in your burnouts. Its MUCH easier on the overrunning clutch when you do that. The Overunning Clutch is what blows those things up. Its really the only weak link in the 727/904. I have broken 3 of them in my 999. What really kills them is unloaded revs.

BadFish--I do all burnouts starting in 2nd, that way the band is applied and not using the sprag--but you are correct. My overrunning clutch was still intact in the case--what was left of it. It was the direct drum (High gear clutch drum) that exploded! It wieghs almost 9lbs and spins about 3 times engine RPM--I staged the car at 3000 rpm and when the last amber came on WOT andBOOM! It was like someone threw a handgrenade under car. It still has dents in the hood where schrapnel came up



Max