can someone explain the timming process at a drag track from start to finish. I know most of it but have a few vague areas.

in a bracket race, if the R/T doesn't count towards your E/T why does everyone make such a fuss over it?

my wife was asking me last night and I couldn't tell her.

 

R/T doesn't count on the ET but does during the race. Say you dial in a 14.00 and your opponent dialed in a 13.9. You get to leave .1 second before they do. You cut a .525 R/T vs. his .745 R/T. You run a 14.10 and he runs a 13.90. You would win because of the reactin time even though he ran right on his dial and you didn't. All because you were better on the tree.

R/T is what counts in bracket racing, besides running close to your dial. That's why fast cars can race slow cars, it makes the race equal. And R/T is determining factor.

Hope that helps

 

In the example above, you would have left the line .32 sec before the other guy in real time. Even though you were .10 sec slower than what you said, you would get to the finish line .12 sec before him (reaction time difference .22 sec. minus dial-in vs. actual run difference of .1 sec = .12 sec)

I'll explain the works just a little more: Your ET starts when the "staged" light goes off, and stops when you cross the finish line. The difference between the green light coming on and the "staged" light going off is your reaction time.

So, the green light coming on and your ET are not linked.

Another way to think about it all: Assume in TTA's example you both dialed 14.00 with the reaction times stated. The difference between your reaction times means you would leave first by .220 sec. So, even if you were a tenth of a second slower than what you said you'd be (14.10), and he ran right on the 14.00 dial-in, you'd still get there .12 sec before him.