Tips:
-DO 2nd gear burnouts (unless you have stock gears)
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-drop the pressure to around 18lbs and go from there ON DRAG RADIALS. I never had any luck below 16lbs in my 16" nittos, I run my 17's at ~18lbs. If you are on street tires run them at around 25lbs and not much less
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-try and run the car between 150-180* max
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-ice your intake (ESPECIALLY on a blower car)... I wouldn't ice the blower itself as I've read internet rumors about the severe temp changes causing premature bearing and casing failures, it may be BS but I figured I'd throw it out there.
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-on your 1st pass, leave the starting line just as you would leaving a red light. Trust me, do this on your very first pass. Forget your on drag radials, forget you are racing to run your best, just go out and launch normally, then nail all your shifts as fast as possible and see where this gets you. This will be your basis on which to judge the track by the rest of the day. If you go and launch too hard on your 1st run and blow it, it will be on you mind for the next pass, and the next pass, etc. This si a lot harder than you think, everyone will be there asking you what you run, you'll be thinking about coming home and posting up here your times, etc and you'll want to try too hard, and normally this results in a bad track outing for the novice. If you do what I say, you'll come home happier than you woudl if you try too hard right off the bat.
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-on your second pass (assuming the first pass went well and you didn't spin) up the launch rpm a little (say 2000-2500 on drag radials, 1500-2000 on street tires). If you dump the clutch and spin, next time slip the clutch out a little on the launch. I have found personally this is the KEY to running on drag radials... using the clutch to eliminate "shocking" the tires on the launch.
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-after you get a few passes under your belt look at what your finish line RPM is, this will let you know how close you are to getting an optimum gear ratio for your car for the drag strip, this is good for future reference.
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-keep upping the rpm's on the launch until you find you can not control wheel spin with the clutch/the tires won't hold. Remember, clutch slippage is the key. You don't have to murder it, just walk it out of the hole maybe 10 feet or so.
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-sit close to the steering wheel so you don't have to reach for the shifter. I ALWAYS do this... but guess what, the last time I raced I forgot (it was the first time I even drove the car since winter this year!) and I whole heartedly believe that is one of the main reasons I went from 3rd to 2nd.
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-shallow stage... this means when you light up the first pre-stage light, just INCH forward until you just barely break the stage beam light, it will give you about a 6" head start before the timers start to time you.
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-make sure your front tires have equal pressure and they are around 38lbs or more (do not exceed the max pressure)
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-DRIVE STRAIGHT... this sounds simple but stand behind the starting line and watch guys go down the track, they are all over the place. Everyone knows the shortest distance between 2pts is a straight line. Minimize your movements inside the car as you go down the track, if you are bounching around like a monkey inside the car as you try and muscle the gears, it will be evident to those watching you as you'll be all over. I lock my left arm on the arm rest and put it on the steering wheel at around the 8 o'clock position. I put my other hand on the shifter and I leave it there for the whole run... again... minimizing movement.
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That's a nice little start huh? LOL! You'd think someone writing this would know not to go from 3rd to second huh???
