The track I go to is at 90ft above sea level. How does that compare to other tracks or whats considered to be good elevation for drag racing? http://newenglanddragway.com/html/home.php?dest=trackinfo
Only 90 feet above sea level, combined with that cold NE air, and you have some of the best conditions to race in vs anywhere. The only thing left is how well the track preps the lanes. Hopefully they do a great job. The guys in New Mexico have it really bad, there track is 5,000 feet above sea level and as such, are a second slower vs if they were to race at sea level. The tracks I race at, two are around 350 ft above sea level, and one is 1,500.
Thanks for the reply, I am aware that closer to sea level is better but I was just not sure where everyone else rates as far as track EV. Guess I am pretty lucky that the track is only 90. Unfortunelly the track prep is not the best, I wont say its horrible but you do at least need some good DR's and some driver skill and or practice to get some good times. Ive seen street tires cut 1.9's on other sigs and that baffles me. The best I ever got with Nittos at this track was 1.9 street tires are good for 2.1 + most of the time. But over all its not a bad track its usually fairly sticky but they dont prep it to much its just got grip from the rubber down on it. I was at a track down in FL where the track prep was laid down a few times a night.
thats almost perfect if you have good air ! i think our closest track is 1200ft and the next is 2500ft ! but i live in the hills........
My local track is just 250' above sea level, but during the summer the density altitude can be well over 2000', and sometimes closing in on 3000' due to the heat and humidity (and falling barometer). ET's are always better in early spring or late fall when it's cool. Track is Pacific Raceways (formerly known as Seattle Int'l Raceways).
Any elevation is good to race at. The thing most people fail to do is make corrections for elevation (I don't either so... guess I'll eat my words later!). The pros have some sort of algorithm which allows them to convert elevation (DA), temp, and humidity numbers from track to track so they can figure out how consistently they are running and what to expect at other tracks. The thing to focus on is not that you are unfortunate to race on a track at a mile high, but that everyone you are racing is at the same altitude. Just remember to convert for altitude if you wish to do some bench racing!
90ft above sea level is great. As said before, you can correct times to standarize them by calculating density altitude (DA) and using a correction calculator. DA takes into account the track's elevation, barometric pressure at the time of the E/T, and temperature to give you an idea of what "true" elevation the track is at, at the moment. In the summer time, in humid MD weather, my 300ft track was more like 3000ft. In March, with dense, cold air, it was more like -1500 ft. My best times were always run with DA's below sea level (obviously the lower is the better, except when the temperature variable of the equation begins to adversely affect traction.) Enjoy that sea level location and cold, dense NE air!
Here in Colorado, Bandimere is 5800 ft and it's not uncommon to see 10,000+ft corrected during the summer.
