During Fall racing Saturday, they had a special race, participants determined by drawing. During the summer season, if you buy 5 gallons of fuel at the track fuel store, you get a stamp on your "frequent fueler" card. Get 10 stamps, turn it in, they draw 16 for this race. I got a call earlier this week asking if I wanted to participate - sure, why not.

Not sure how they determined the ladder, but I was paired with a 9.0 sec Super Pro '81 Camaro 1st round. We were the first pair down; as I pulled out of the staging lanes a track worker grabbed a fire extinguisher and ran back to the staging lanes - smoke coming out of my opponent's hood scoop. Somehow they determined after an extinguisher blast that it was okay to run. He's using cross-talk, we line up, I take off, after shifting to 2nd I looked in the rearview mirror and saw his redlight come on. Turns out I had an .029 RT and was a little off my dial.

2nd round, I dial up, I'm paired up with a 7.85 second Super Pro dragster, this guy's a "hitter". He's also using cross-talk; I take off, his green comes on - I'm way ahead past 1000', I'm watching him in the rearview, get to the first trap cone, he's still way back, I hit the brakes, he zips by and takes the stripe by .0388 - GRRRRR! If I had stayed in it, I would have run .01 off my dial, he backed off to run .03 off his dial. He had a .018 light, I had a .019. Next round he's paired up with another Super Pro dragster running about the same dial, he cuts another .018 light, she cut a perfect light and takes him out. Then she loses the final backing off too much.

Oh, well, I did get $50 for it without having to pay any entry fee.

 

Never try to judge a 160+ mph car coming up on you. It's traveling faster than you can anticipate. Run your own race against the clock and hope for the best.

Running a delay box doesn't make you a better racer. I don't use the crossover in mine even though I'm usually the quicker car. If set up properly, the delay box does however prevent red lights. I have mine set up so it's just about impossible to get a red light. I can still be asleep at the tree and get a bad light but won't give away a round because of a red light. I would have to let go of the transbrake button before the top bulb comes on to get a red light.

 

One of these days, I'm going to get that through my thick skull. . .

 

Cool. I was using Bandimere's Live Timing system to see the race results. I have to subscribe to get all the track data but it does show me some interesting stuff.

Your second round is against the #1 qualifier

 

Wow, you watch that, eh? My wife has it open when I'm racing and she's at home, I call and tell her when I'll be running. I don't subscribe, either, since you have to pay for each series you want data for - too expensive, if you ask me.

Not sure how they did the ladder, but we were laddered before we made a pass. It was a sportsman ladder as well - #1 ran #9, and #9 was an alternate.

Regardless, it was fun. I had to give up a time trial to run in it, but basically got TT data from it.

 

I don't "watch" it but I just decided to go look at past results.

$40/year does seem like too much. $5/$10 would get more subscribers especially if you were an active racer.

Time slips entered into my laptop do the same thing.

 

"Race Results" gives you dial-in, RT, ET, and MPH for every run. The live timing would give you all the time slip and weather data on all the runs in the series you sign up for.

We've been trying to tell them that lowering the price and/or increasing the access would net them more revenue, but so far they haven't gotten the message.

 

They're trying to pay for the system in one season.

 

It's hard to judge those faster cars coming on you. Especially in the 1/4. I've lost several races from getting on the brakes thinking he wasnt going to catch me then they pass me right at the stripe at 140mph+ (1/8mile). I always dial up .01 faster now when I have to run a car thats way faster than me and just hold it on the wood and hope I don't break out.

 

I ran two .40's in time trials, and dialed a .39 against the 4-sec faster car, I ran it out for a .42 when he redlit. I dialed a .41 against this guy, it felt like it came out of the hole better, so I was afraid the "other car" was the one I staged and it picked up - it would have run a .42 if I had stayed in it.

That's the way it goes.

 

guys excuse the ignorance, what is "crosstalk"?

 

In electronic box allowed classes, the quicker car can use "cross-talk", which gives both racers the first yellow together. The slower car's lights continue down normally, and the last two yellows for the quicker car will pick up so the green comes on at the proper difference between the two dial-ins. The quicker car enters his and the opponent's dial-ins, and the box calculates when the car should leave based on the slower car's first yellow. You leave your normal launch timing in (1.4xx, whatever you would normally put in for a top bulb button release).

The idea is you get a "clean" top bulb when they come on together. If the other guy is leaving when your top bulb is coming on, you can be distracted by the other car leaving (a "dirty" top bulb).

After the first round I was talking to the guy I was about to run. In the first round, he dialed a 7.84, the Fiero he was running dialed a 19.01. He released the button when both top bulbs came on, then nothing happened for almost 11 seconds. The Fiero was about 800' down track before he left. He added launch delay time because he didn't figure that slow car would cut a very good light, and he wasn't about to redlight against them - he had a .039 RT.

This special race was a cross-talk class, meaning it was assumed you wanted cross-talk unless you put an "N" behind your dial-in, meaning "no cross-talk". I'm not sure if it is the NHRA standard, but at least at our track and at the Div V ET finals, in electronics-allowed classes, cross-talk was the default. Doesn't matter unless you're the quicker car.

But, if you're foot braking or tranny braking and the quicker car, the cross-talk can mess up your timing. Last year during a race they forgot to turn off cross-talk when they moved to a no-electronics class. Several quicker cars lost (primarily due to poor lights), so they let them rerun if they lost (after figuring out what was going on - I was in the staging lanes trying to get the track staff's attention to what was going on). About half of them won the rematch.

Not all electronics racers want cross-talk. Some of the older boxes don't have the capability, so you have to do the math and change your launch delay in order to use it. Some just don't want to hassle with it and discipline themselves (in their mind, anyway) to concentrate on their own tree.

 

I don't have and our track doesn't use crosstalk but I have the ability to use crossover.

Crossover allows the quicker car which launches second, 2 hits at the tree. I can use one or two transbrake buttons. I have to enter my and my opponents dial in times into the delay box. Using a single button, I release it as soon as my opponent's top yellow comes on then push the button again and release it when my top yellow comes on. The delay box will figure out which button release is better and release the transbrake on the last yellow light.

I can also install a separate button as an override which when pressed, will bypass the delay and allow me to launch off the button bulb which actually gives me 3 hits at the tree if I'm the faster vehicle.

As for racing against a much slower vehicle, I use a throttle stop which is an air cylinder mounted in the throttle linkage. Just before I prestage, I hit what's called a bump button. This activates the air cylinder which shortens the linkage and drops the pedal to the floor. The engine is now at an idle and my foot is pushing the throttle right to the floor. I roll into the prestage then stage light still at an idle. As soon as the stage light is on, I push the transbrake button and wait for my top light to come on. I can sit there for as long as I want with the engine idling. My opponent could have a 10 second head start and I'm not sitting on the start line banging off the 2 step.

I have different ways to reactivate the throttle. I currently have it set so that as soon as I release the transbrake button, the throttle goes to WOT on the 2 step and when the delay box counts down, which is slightly more than a second, it releases the transbrake. I can also set it to go to WOT from when the button is released all the way down to when the transbrake releases which launches very slow. There's also a preset setting which allows it to go to WOT .800 before the transbrake releases. This allows you to go off both top bulbs with the crossover and not be distracted by the throttle going to WOT.

Not a lot of tracks use crosstalk and many shield all 3 yellows preventing crossover.

For most people getting into electronics racing, a simple delay box connected to a transbrake is all they need. The rest is bells and whistles.

Welcome to electronics racing and that doesn't even get into using a throttle stop to control your ET going down the track or bump up/bump down buttons.

 

I love running in the box class, I will double entry once in awhile depending on car count and purse for a second chance. Their lights are never any better than the no box side so tree racing is never a problem, but their cars are built to be zerox machines and run the number no matter what...though many bag a few since they're typically bad azzes at driving the stripe.

Next time you do this, either do whatcha did and try to just run your number and not try to judge a guy carrying 30-50mph on ya cuz you aint gunna see it. OR best trick in the book since i know our local guys, many of them bag -.01-.03, so use that against them if you can get the jump on the tree...they run ya down and just before the stripe you lay all over them brakes and let them take it..pushes them out every time, it's gutsey but works almost everytime..you just have to know you opponent and their dialing practices....that even works for no box side too with expereinced drivers since my class almost everybody bags .-01-.02

since putting the juice on, i was able to screw up some racers that thought they had me figured out, with the juice i was able to dial .02-.03 faster than my car would run N/A. The guys would get beside me and fender race me the last 50-100', and just before the first set of finish line cones...activate juice, collect the win instead of suck and dump, you bait and run.

amazing how such a simple sport has found soo many ways to make winning harder

 

He obviously had some in the bag on me, was 9 mph off his previous redlight run, and 5 mph off his next round against a rail that dialed within .05 of him.

I talked to the winner later, a 10-sec box doorslammer. The gal that took my guy out in the semi backed off in the final and gave the stripe away. He also said he doesn't back off against those guys because he can't judge their speed, and he's 3 sec faster than me.

 

just rest assured when they're carrying 25+mph, they have just as hard a time judging as you do. If you wanna run a clean race where you dial tight on these guys and try to hit your number....do yourself a favor and drive towards the center line or as close to the rail as you dare...it throws the perception off of where they line you up in the kill spot on their car on the starting line since the angle is different. i'm done giving away secrets if you guys aint doin it already