a huge advantage if you bracket race a 3rd gen., depends on the tracks photo cell hieght . But I noticed when i would hit my brakes to tighten the stripe i would break out because the nose would break the beams 1st and I would pick up 3 mph. 3rd gens have the longest overhang from the tires ive seen so I put a stripe taker(sideways mudflap) under the front most part of the grd efx it breaks the beam the same every time and NHRA says in the rule book under GROUND CLEARANCE 3'' min.. If a good oponent drives your tire and not the bumper it gives you an advantage. It can also pick up your ET by .02 and improve consistancy but it all depends on the height of the beams at your track and your ride hieght of your front spoiler

 

you can also use pat musi's old trick of puttin a small angled piece on teh front fo teh car(he actually used a mr gasket license plate) to pull the front fo the car down as you go down track.

later
tim

 

nice tips..

 

Look at the front of dragsters. They all have a long nose in front of the wheels. A few have a verticle metal plate mounted lengthways on the nose. This has the same effect. The front tires break the start beams and they want the nose of the car to break the finish line beams.

Starting beams are usually 3" off the ground. Finish line beams are usually 12". A third gen doesn't usually have a problem tripping the finish line beam with the nose but a lot of older cars have a very high nose and will trip the beam with the tires.

 

picked my car up by .02 and 3 mph

 

I know for a fact my local IHRA track that has an IHRA division race, the beams are 6 inches off the ground at the finish. The nose of my car sits at 5 1/2 at rest and I have had the same problem bracket racing before. That was until I installed a stripe taker of my own. It picked me up .03 in the 1/8.