PhoenixFirebird

iTrader: (2)

A good friend of mine suggested this from Biondo's website. It's an interesting read, and I thought I would share it with this community as well. No matter the experience level, I think it's always good to go "back to basics" every once in a while and refresh. I'm pulling out the articles I think are most helpful for bracket racing, but index and heads-up racing are also covered in the webpage at http://www.biondoracing.com/FAQs.html.

PhoenixFirebird

iTrader: (2)

The Big Picture = More Round Wins

Written by Peter Biondo
So here you are in round 7 of the Spring Fling 20’s against one of the elite racers. Your reaction times in round one to six have been between .008 and .014. The big question; do you make any changes to the delay box?
Conventional wisdom would say no. Conventional wisdom says to “race your own race”. Conventional wisdom says stick with the .011 reaction time average that got you this far. I am here to tell you that I agree with conventional wisdom in a lot of areas of life but racing is one area where I put “playing the odds” before conventional wisdom. By playing the odds I am not talking about overestimating or underestimating your opponent as that is one of the leading causes for people losing rounds. Playing the odds in racing means you put yourself in the best position to win a certain round based on the history and the current situation. If you are in round 7 of a big buck bracket race against one of the best in the business chances are he is going to have a very good reaction time. Taking .003 or .004 out of your delay box would be a smart move and could very easily make the difference in winning or losing that round (especially if it is an 1/8th mile race where reaction time plays a big role). If you are a non delay box racer you can bring your rpm up 100 rpm. You get the point here. You are now setting up “tighter” on the tree based on both what you know of this elite opponent, and the fact that you are deep into eliminations and both you and your opponent have had a lot of looks at the tree. So increase your odds on winning the round by taking some out of the box. In the following journal I am going to get specific and into detail about what I call “situational racing” and how to increase your chances of winning “that round” whether that round be round one at a $200 to win local race or the final of our Spring Fling 20’s. It all has to do with stepping back, looking at the big picture and taking calculated risks with the ultimate goal being turning on more win lights.

A lot of times in drag racing we get in a zone. This is a good thing. But it is not good if we are so much in a zone where we lose sight of the big picture or the current situation at hand. There is a lot to be said to being a robot and zoned into the tree and being one with the car but if you are too extreme and not paying attention, it could cost you a bunch of rounds and can even cost you that one ‘big’ round. Let’s say Tiger Woods has 7 shots to get the ball in the hole to win the US Open. He knows he can most likely make the hole in 4 shots if he plays his normal game. His caddy is going to tell him to take the safe way to the hole and make it in 5 instead of trying for 4 and taking a risk of hitting it in the pond. The caddy is looking at the big picture here for Tiger. In racing, most of us do not have a caddy or coach. We have to “be observant” as Troy Williams once said and pay attention to the situation so that we can better figure out what gives us the best chances of winning “that round”.

Now what if I told you that you can raise your chances of beating a guy who knowingly has more talent and more seat time than you? That’s right. The reality is… he has more seat time, is more talented and can drive both ends of the track better than you. Reality is you have less than a 50% of beating this racer when you line up against him. Let’s say you have a 40% chance of beating this racer when you line up against him/ her.

Let’s put all this talk into a real life scenario:
You are about to race against a heavy hitter (let’s refer to him as HH) who you know holds a bunch of numbers. The big question is “how do I race against HH”. Before I answer this question that is very commonplace throughout the pits, let’s talk about the reasons for “holding numbers” or “dialing up”. The answer on whether to hold a bunch of numbers in general (or dial “honest”) should be based on three things. The first and most important is how comfortable are you doing this and does it fit your driving style? If you aren’t comfortable doing this I would suggest not to do it until you get comfortable and I want you to get comfortable sooner than later because there are going to be rounds later in your career where you can dramatically raise your odds on winning if you have some in your pocket. On the other hand if you are not comfortable doing this you will only lessen your chances of winning the round by making a plan and then not executing properly. Secondly, how good is your car running on a particular day and how well are you hitting the tree? If your car is running within thousandths of a second (the track is tight and the air/ weather isn’t drastically changing) and you are killing the tree then that is less of a reason to hold some in your pocket. In most cases in this scenario, you can put down good enough numbers without doing much at the finish line and let’s face it, this is a numbers game and good numbers/ tight packages is what wins races above and beyond EVERYTHING else. On the other hand if the track is loose and the weather and wind are changing by the minute and your car isn’t stringing tight runs together, than that is a situation where you are better off to hold a few. The third (and probably most interesting factor to most of you) in whether to hold numbers or not would be; who is your opponent on that particular round? Is he/ she a heavy hitter that tends to hold a bunch of numbers and is going to size you up at the finish line? If this is the case and you feel comfortable about dialing where you are holding a few hundredths, you should do so. This is what I call situational racing and it can increase your odds of beating this racer quite a bit. In fact, your chances of beating HH just went from 40% to 60%. That’s right, if you make the right plan (hold some numbers) and execute it properly the odds of beating your bracket racing hero just swung in your favor. Let’s step back and look at the big picture here. The reality of the numbers looks like this. You are running well and your car just ran 7.422, 7.427, and 7.426 in the previous rounds at 180 mph. You are confident you can be between .006 and .014 on the tree. If you dial honest against heavy hitter chances are the race and odds of him winning will look like this:

You go .011 on the tree and run a 7.428 on a 7.42 dial (wide open/ no brakes). Chances you win the round against “heavy hitter” is 40%. Heavy hitter is .007 RT and is beside you for the last 300 feet putting a wheel on you and snugs the stripe up to .009 and runs a 7.323 on a 7.32 dial. You get back to the pits shaking your head and telling your friends, “man he made that look easy”. Now let’s step back and look at the big picture here and try to increase your odds on beating HH. Why did he just make that look so easy? The answer is because you gave him a stationary target (and enough room) to size you up making it easy for HH. From HH’s eyes the race and his decision was easy (despite you putting down a good run), in his brain he says this during the race “I am catching him early enough to kill the amount I need to kill and still take the stripe”. And because HH is such a good driver he can do just that without blinking and eye. How can you help your cause here? By first making the race appear different to him, and secondly and more importantly, giving him a moving target to work with. Take it from me, the combination of these two things will make heavy hitters job much harder. Hold 2 or 3 numbers and pick your spot on the track that you (have learned) to kill that amount where let’s say you go mid to high dead on your dial but this time on the brakes. In this case let’s dial up to a 7.45 and hit the brakes (safely of course) 20 feet before the first cone and run a 7.458 on a 7.45 at 166 mph. You have the same .011 tree and he has the same .007 tree BUT you have just dramatically increased your odds on beating HH. Now your chances of winning that round are 60% instead of 40%. That’s right, you are now a favorite to beat your “hero”. Why are you a favorite? Because you made the race look totally different to HH. HH catches you much later in the run, he knows he is dialed to break out and either A) decides to snug the finish line up and does a good job until you dump and give him a “(backwards) moving target” forcing him to take too much at the stripe and break out by .01 or .02, or B) he decides to dump and give you the finish line hoping you break out and in this case he is .01 over the dial and you are dead on. Either way, you have greatly increased your chances on beating the HH. Sure you still have to execute and be disciplined to pick your spot on the track that you have learned to get rid of .03 but taking this calculated risk in this scenario will turn the percentages in your favor and lead to many more win lights against this style and caliber of driver in the long run. On the flip side to this scenario let’s assume you are dialed a 7.30 and you are running against a 10 second car. In this situation, chances are, he is not going to be able to judge you (size you up) because of the mph difference and how fast you are coming on him. Therefore there is much less of a reason to hold numbers and to give him the “moving target” because it’s hard for him really to judge you, “the target” anyway. You are still the target in his eyes as he sizes you up but because you are closing in at such a rapid pace, you are already a moving target. In this situation you can actually decrease your odds on winning the round by throwing the extra variable of you holding numbers/ having to get rid of numbers into the mix. Luke Bogacki wrote some columns on “Spot Dropping”. There, he made a point to harp on safety, and I’d like to do the same. Being able to safely “kill” some ET and “Drop” at a given point on the race track takes a little practice and getting used to. We’re certainly not advocating any method that causes you to lose control of your vehicle. Your particular “spot drop” or method of killing ET can be very personalized. First and foremost, you need to develop a method that you feel comfortable with that does not endanger you or your opponent.

Above I discussed starting line and finish line techniques along with ways of approaching different rounds and different situations. A big question should be “wait a second, what happened to simply playing my own game and sticking to what I do best?” Don’t get me wrong as my philosophy in racing relies heavily on doing what you do best and playing to your strengths. If a pitchers best pitch is a fastball then in most key situations, he should throw a fastball. Above and beyond every starting line and finish situation that I mentioned previous should be that you play to your strengths. BUT, if the same pitcher goes up against a batter that normally can see the fastball so well he normally knocks it out of the park, then the coach signals him to throw a curveball. This is why it is so important to grow as a racer and not get stuck in just one routine. Sure you should try and get the basics of bracket racing down pat before you try these more advanced techniques. If you don’t know how to effectively and safely get rid of a few at the stripe then don’t do it until you practice it enough in time runs where you can do it. Until then, focus on other strengths (in numbers) in your program like your reaction times and getting your car to run more consistent. Either way, good packages have a tendency to light the win light but if you are able to look at the big picture, you will, at times, see different round situations where you can greatly increase your chances of winning by mixing up your game and getting to those good packages in different ways. My suggestion? Challenge yourself. Don’t let fear get in the way of your growth and advancement as a racer. Take chances (at the right times) and you will take your driving to the next level. It’s a lot easier to stay in a comfortable place where you want to take the safe way out but believe me, by doing this you will never advance. If you do lose, don’t make excuses. Look defeat in the eye and learn from it. Look at the “WHY”. WHY did your car just fall off 2 numbers? Why did you take too much stripe and breakout (what was going through your mind and what were you seeing going down the track)? WHY were you late? WHY did you just pick up .015 in your 60’ time? Always look into the why. Most people would rather place blame rather than look into the why because it’s the easier way out and requires less effort (thought). You should be learning something every pass down the track. If you look into the why and honestly answer it, the chances are you will not make the same mistake multiple times. This leads me to my next section- the mental side of racing.

All forms of sports require a mix of mental and physical talent to be successful. I can’t think of a sport that is more lopsided on the mental side than drag racing. There is so much that can be said about the psychology of racing but because of space limitation, I will stick to the single, most important one. The single and biggest barrier that stands between you and the win light… Fear.

I can remember being 22 years old and very new at national event racing when a well known and very successful racer was paired up with me. Hell yes I was scared. On top of that he did everything he could to intimidate me and try to get in my head. He was smart, a good driver and very experienced. He knew well enough the havoc fear would play in opponents minds. Here I was a newbie to the national event scene and I was about to face the best. Yup, David vs Goliath. Fortunately I was aware enough to step back and look at the big picture and that’s when it hit me; “this is a numbers game and I can put up numbers just like he can.” As Jeg Couglin once said “preparation is king” and my car and entire racing program was prepared to do the job. That triggered confidence in me, eliminated the fear, and helped me to win the round. I also took a chance and held some numbers in my pocket, executed the plan perfectly and forced him to breakout. Say those words “this is a numbers game and I can put up numbers just like he can.” to yourself whenever you feel like you are at a disadvantage in a certain round and it puts everything in perspective and will wipe away any fear you may have had to race your opponent. Remember, this is not a wrestling match where you are 90lbs and he is 300lbs. Most of the time the cars are equal or close in the consistency department.

PhoenixFirebird

iTrader: (2)

The Big Picture = More Round Wins (cont'd)

Really, when I speak of fear in racing I am talking about fear of losing. Worried about who you are racing against (that you will lose), scared you may redlight (and lose), worried that you may be late (and lose), scared that you may not have the car dialed in right (and lose). All in all, just the simple fear of losing. Again, when fear enters your mind, step back for a second and look at the big picture. This is a numbers game! Do your homework before the race and before the round and by the time you make it to the staging lanes you should be prepared to lay down good numbers and good numbers can beat ANYBODY! When racing without fear you WILL get MUCH better results, period. Have you ever watched someone during a test and tune go .00 something on the tree all day long? I know I have. It’s because there is zero fear on a test and tune session. The racer is not worried about red lighting and not worried about losing. The key is to adopt this mindset when the chips ARE on the table. Only thoughts of executing your game plan (regardless of who is in other lane) and what your last run was like. The biggest link I see with fear and losing a race is overestimating your opponent. Overestimating your opponent causes your inner confidence to go down and your subconscious tells yourself that you are an underdog which in turn leads to fear. This fear leads you to do things you normally wouldn’t do like perhaps try too hard which takes you out of your zone. Now your chance of winning the round just went down significantly.

There is a lot more that could be said about starting line, finish line, dial in, race strategies, and the part psychology plays in racing. For now, regardless of how new or seasoned you are to the sport of drag racing, my hope is that you will be able to tie this column together to your racing program. When you are about to line up for your next round, remember to step back and look at the big picture, run a game plan through your mind on how you are going to turn the win light on, race smart, and race with zero fear. And above all, play to your strengths. You will be surprised how many more times the win light shines in your lane.

PhoenixFirebird

iTrader: (2)

"Our Guide to Weather Stations and Predicting"

Written by Peter Biondo
I put together a weather station guide to help you get the most out of your weather station. Regardless of which weather station you purchased from us, these tips will help get you going and hopefully lead to more round wins!
Taking Weather Readings
Trailer Based Weather Stations- The first and most important step in predicting your ET or throttle stop settings is taking weather readings properly. If you are using a trailer mounted weather station such as the Altacom 2 or Performaire Weather Center there is not much you have to worry about as the fan aspirated sensors utilized by these 2 systems will accurately and automatically take weather readings for you all day long. These stationary weather stations use high end sensors and incorporate a continuous fan blowing through the sensors which makes it the most fail safe way to get accurate readings with minimal effort. Add a pager to the mix and you have combined the ultimate in accuracy and convenience.

Hand Held Weather Stations- With a hand held / portable style weather station, it is much more important to take care in where and how you take your weather readings. To obtain the most accurate readings you should follow these guidelines:
- Allow 10 seconds after turned on for barometer to settle
- Take readings in the open air, out of direct sunlight, and away from hot vehicles. (if there is no shade around- use your body shade)
- Take readings in the same place every time. (whether in the lanes or the pits)
- Use common sense when taking weather (don't leave it in your hot racecar for all day and hold it out the window to take the weather, it may take up to 10 minutes for the heat to dissipate from the unit.)
- A hand held weather station that has a built in fan to blow over the sensors will be more forgiving in where and how you take your readings.
The bottom line with hand held weather stations is that you can achieve the same accurate results as you would with a trailer based weather station, but it does take a little bit more effort on the user’s part.

Weather and Predictions
After gathering accurate weather readings from your weather station, the next step is making predictions to your vehicles performance. The most common question I am asked is “should I do manual predictions or should I use a program to do the predictions for me?” My best answer to that is to thoroughly learn how to do the predictions on your own regardless of whether you decide to use a program to predict. Like anything else in life, if you really want to master something you should not only look at results but you should look into the “why” and “how” you get to that result. Later on, I will talk about some prediction programs, but before that I want to share some of the “why’s” and “how’s” on weather and how it effects your vehicles performance so that you will not only get a good understanding of this but you will also be able to effectively predict your vehicles performance on your own.

Predicting on your own- As we would all love to be able to push a “magic button” and automatically be able to predict to the thousandth of a second, we also have to realize that there is a lot more to it than that. With all the variables out there on each pass, it is important to look at these variables and see how they effect your vehicles performance and by how much. This all starts with taking efficient notes- logging all of the weather variables in your logbook. Take the logbook home with you and study it. Pretty soon you will see a pattern developing and you will learn how much of an effect each weather variable has on your vehicle. The main weather variables you want to look at are
1) Density Altitude.
2) Barometer.
3) Humidity.
4) Water grains.
You can also look at temperature but the reason I didn’t put that in here is because temp is heavily taken into consideration in the density altitude number, therefore there is little reason to look at both temp and density altitude. Gasoline burning vehicles tend to be mostly effected by the density altitude change and less effected by moisture (humidity and water grains) where as if you run an alcohol burning vehicle, you would want to keep a very close eye on humidity and water grains and put more weight on any moisture change, and put less weight on the density altitude change. After studying your logbook, you will soon learn how much of a weight to put on each weather variable.

Here are some tips and generalizations I have learned with my vehicles;

Gas vehicle (¼ mile)- a change of 150 feet in density altitude will change your vehicle .01. A change of 18-20% of humidity will change your vehicle .01. A .10 (ex 29.90 to 29.80) change in barometer will change you vehicle .01.

Alcohol vehicle (¼ mile)- a change of 300 feet of density altitude will change your vehicle .01. A change of 10-13% in humidity will change your vehicle .01. A .10 (ex 29.90 to 29.80) change in barometer will change you vehicle .01.

Water Grains- If you see water grains go up at the same time humidity goes up, you are generally going to see a significantly more slow down than if humidity goes up and water grains stays the same. The same is true when humidity and water grains go down.

Track Conditions- Track temperatures and track prep will also affect your vehicles performance. The ideal track temperature is in the 70 to 90 degree range. Here the rubber on the track is the tightest. The further the track temperature gets from this ideal temperature, the more negative (slowdown) effect on your ET. Too cold of a track and there may not be enough adhesion. Too hot of a track and the surface tends to be greasy and is susceptible to bald spots. As with any other variable, pay attention and share information with your buddies. Have 500 cars been down each lane since the track was prepped last? Is the sun beating down on it on a hot day? How far the track temp from the “ideal temp” is and which direction is it heading? What were the characteristics of this track the last time I ran on it at this time of the day? On very hot surfaces it has also been thought (but not proven) that the actual heat from the track surface will slow down your vehicles performance (the entire length of the ¼ mile), not because of traction, but because the heat off the track actually heats up the temperature of the air a few feet above the track, which is the air the carburetor “sees”.

Wind- Wind is often an underplayed factor especially when predicting ¼ mile performance. It is also the hardest variable to pinpoint because it’s always changing and swirling. The best thing to do is pick a reference point for how and where you will determine the wind at each track and come up with an average wind reading over a period of 20 seconds. It could be a flag or your hand held windmeter at the 1000’ mark, your stationary wind meter on top of your trailer, burnout smoke, or a combination of these. It is not only important to pay attention to the level of the track, but to the obstacles surrounding the track. A generalized chart (average) for wind would be a 4 mph tail wind = .01, a 7 mph tail wind = .02 and a 10 mph tail wind = .04. The same applies for headwinds except the value for headwinds will tend to be slightly higher because you are going “against the grain” so to speak.

An advanced tip (looking deeper into it)- Whether you are talking about density altitude, barometer, humidity, track temperature, or wind, the further you get from the ideal point, the more of an affect that same change will have on your vehicles performance. This is assuming you don’t make any “set-up” changes (gear, converter etc) to the car to compensate for significantly worse or significantly better conditions. For instance, let’s say my stocker runs a 10.45 at 1000 feet of DA and 40% of humidity. If the DA goes to 1600 feet and the humidity goes to 55%, I would then run an ET of 10.50. But if the next day we have totally different conditions and the DA goes to 4000 and the humidity goes to 85%, I would probably slow up more than what I would have figured using my original formula. My original formula would tell me I should dial a 10.68 but because the conditions veered “so far off center”, it is likely the ET would be slower. The same concept applies when all the weather variables move together. Same concept goes for track temperature and wind. For instance, if the temp, humidity, and vapor pressure all move significantly down and the barometer moves significantly up it is more likely your car will speed up more than you would anticipate using your original formula.

Prediction Programs
Some weather stations are equipped with built in prediction programs where you can enter your vehicles runs and the weather that corresponds with the runs. The prediction programs then use its own formula’s to figure out how the weather change will affect your vehicles performance. When using these prediction programs it is important to remember the following:

- All runs in a database should correlate or make sense with each other. The runs that do not should not be entered or should be deleted. An example a database with 2 runs that don’t correlate with each other would be; the density altitude of RUN A is 1000 with an ET of 10.19 and the density altitude of RUN B is 1500 with an ET of 10.17. Run B had worse/ “slower” weather but netted a quicker ET. Possibly run A is not a good run and should not be entered in the database. Possibly run A had a significant head wind, tire spin, or a broken valve spring? It is not only important you keep this run out of your database (as it will confuse the program and lead to inaccurate future predictions) but it’s also important that you figure out why this run was slow for future reference.

- A database should consist of runs that have a large range of density altitude. Having different density altitudes in your database (ex.200 feet - 2100 feet) shows the computer how your car responds to a big weather change. A throttle stop database should consist of runs with a large spread of throttle stop data as well. We cannot emphasize enough the importance of quality runs in your database. A database with four or five quality runs will predict better than a database with 15 runs where 5 of them are "bad". Predictions from one track to the next are usually accurate, However- due to variance in rollout, wind direction, track surface, and traction form track to track- predictions may be off. If after your first run at a new track, your prediction is way off, you should start a new database with that track.

If you are looking for a stand alone prediction program for your computer or laptop, I would highly recommend Crew Chief Pro. This computer program is very comprehensive and detailed, more so than the more generic programs that come with weather stations. If you purchased a weather station from us we will give you 10% off the Crew Chief Program. Ask for Peter Biondo and mention this write-up.

Jetting
When it comes to jetting, the common question always is- “Is my car jetted properly?” If you are trying to predict your vehicles performance to the .001 of a second, it is important your jetting be right so that your vehicle responds to weather changes predictably and consistently. There are many ways to see if you are jetted properly. From more traditional ways like reading spark plugs to using modern technology like onboard computers, EGT gauges, and O2 sensors. A more common sense approach is to monitor how much your vehicles performance changes when the air changes. In other words, is your car reacting to weather changes like it is supposed to? If you make a run in the morning where the DA is 1000 feet and run a 10.10 and then make another run in the afternoon where the DA is 1800 feet and your car falls off to a 10.21, chances are you are jetted too rich. If you actually pick up in the afternoon when the air gets worse, chances are you are too lean. As a rule of thumb, talk to a few of your friends at the races that have reliable cars and compare notes. See if your vehicle is corresponding to what the weather and what the other reliable cars are doing. Another question is “How often should I change my jetting?” If you are trying to get the most out of every run (comp eliminator, pro stock etc), you would have to not only change your jetting every day, but you would have to change them from the morning air to the afternoon air. However in classes where you are trying to predict performance it is more beneficial to leave your jetting as a constant. I would say a gasoline burning vehicle should have 3 different jet settings over a period of a race season, one setting that works well for killer weather conditions, one for mediocre conditions, and one for poor weather conditions.

Summing it up
Hopefully this will help you get the most out of your weather station. As you will see and hear, there are a lot of ways to use weather stations in predicting vehicle performance. No matter the case, there are two things you always want to keep in mind. Make sure you have a weather station that is accurately gathering data for you and second, always use common sense, pay attention, and take notes on how the weather affects your vehicle.

PhoenixFirebird

iTrader: (2)

Tips for a struggling "Bottom Bulb" Racer

Sal and Peter would like to share with you a little something that may help a "bottom bulb" racer with his / her reaction times. There are times when we feel "lost" on the bottom bulb. Those are the worst days for any racer, you have a lack of confidence, and it may take you weeks to get back "on track". But, we tried something with a few racers who could not get their "bottom bulb" reaction times consistent. We have also used this method to prove to racers that they may or may not be using the correct rollout in the practice tree.
The main idea is to leave as soon as you see the bottom bulb, react to the "flash", that is what makes you consistent. But due to the "distraction factor" of the top two ambers we can sometimes be inconsistent. So, what we suggest to do is the following : take the top two ambers out in each lane, you can do this with the table version "Final Round 2, or 3" by unscrewing the top 2 lenses, and pulling out the bulbs. The bulbs can not be pulled out of the versions with the LED bulbs, such as the Final Round 4 (FR4), but the FR4V2 model has an option to shut the bulbs off) Or, you can do this with the Full Size Tree by simply unscrewing the bulbs. This makes it easier to put your focus solely on the botton amber. (Of course you should make sure there is no handicap set in the unit, because we want your bottom amber to come on before, or simultaneously with the bottom amber in the other lane).

React to that amber as fast as you can, (for those who are not used to this, it may take a few shots). This may take some more concentration now, since we don't have the top two ambers giving us the warning of the third coming on. But, those two top two ambers are there for no other reason but to distract you!!

With this method we can now figure out the rollout to use in the practice tree by adjusting the rollout number until you are in the 5 - teens, or 5 - twenties. After you have established an average competitive reaction time, you are ready for the final step:

Put all the bulbs back in, leaving the rollout number the same, and "hit" the tree just as you did before. Try to forget that the top two ambers are there. If your reaction times are about the same and as consistent as they were before, you are learning to master the full tree, which is the hardest "tree" to conquer. (it requires the most discipline). If you master that, set the tree up, so that you give the other lane a 1/2 second or full second handicap, because that will create more distraction, and if you can master that, then you are ready for anything.

PhoenixFirebird

iTrader: (2)

A Quick Tip to improve your "Finish Line Driving"

(This section written by Sal Biondo)
I never claimed to be the best finish line racer out there...But, on the same note I've seen people out there who are worse than me. But, for some reason or another, I've had dozens of people come up to me and ask me how they could become a better "Finish Line" racer.
Well, the answer is simple, I think. Race as much as you can, and with the experience you gain, in time, your "Finish Line" driving will improve. I'm only kidding, I would not make you come to this section and just tell you to race more often.

I really did think of a method to improve a racer's "Finish Line" driving. For the most part, it is best applicable for "Super" racers, who make time trials alongside racecars that run almost the same E.T. as each other. What I suggest is this: when making your run, always check out your opponent as you are headed down track. (Of course, don't do this if you are fighting the car, or there are some severe side winds present! I'm assuming that everyone who enters this section is an experienced drag racer, and I don't need to give out driving lessons!) When you approach the finish line.... that is where I suggest you pay the most attention. What you should do is take a look over, and see where you are in comparison to your competition. Keep a mental note of that distance, and try to decide who got to the finish line first, and by how much. Decide on a number before you pick up your time slip, and see how close you can get. If you do that all the time, you may get a better idea of what's going on at the finish line.

I can't tell you how many runs I see from the finish line, even during time trials, and I see racers looking straight ahead. Maybe sometimes you need to keep your eyes on the guages, or other times you can see well out of your "peripheral vision", but when its real "tight" during a time run, I'll always use that time to try and learn something.

This method of guessing who got to the "stripe" first, and by how much should be done during eliminations also. I know it's probably the furthest thing from your mind when you are at a big race, but think of the long term benefit it could have. For dial-in racers, eliminations are probably the only time you can practice this method. I know in all my past experience of making time runs in brackets and Super Stock, I've rarely made a run with someone who ran within a couple of hundredths of me.

RaisinHale

This is a great article. One of my friends sent it to me a couple of years ago. I find more nuggets each time I read it.

AlkyIROC

Doesn't matter how much you follow the rules, around 80% of your wins will still be on account of luck.

The majority of that info is beyond the average weekend bracket racer. It's good info but very few can use it to it's full potential.

PhoenixFirebird

iTrader: (2)

A popular quote I like, "it's better to be lucky than good."

fasteddi

iTrader: (2)

I read this a few years back. Great artical with some very interesting points to be read. I agree with AlkyIroc on his mention of luck, that is 80% of it.

pancherj

Got to hang out with Sal some this past weekend. Very nice guy and a darn good racer!

five7kid

iTrader: (14)

The way I most often win a bracket race is when the other guy loses.

GreggymacZ28

Words of wisdom.

FRMULA88

In other words "how to sandbag and not get caught."

PhoenixFirebird

iTrader: (2)

Do you really think there's such a thing as sandbagging in bracket racing? Holding numbers is more of a strategy. Regardless, they still have to kill x amount of et or mph. What do you mean by "get caught," there's no punishment for holding numbers...

FRMULA88

If some one has to hit his rev limiter at the finish line to keep from breaking out that, to me, is sand bagging and about as obvious as hitting the brakes, lifting off the throttle, or any other matter of "sand bagging" to sneak out a win.

Put up a number and run it... plain and simple. I have lost races by .xxxx of a second.. that's life.. but I have never hung the brakes etc. in an attempt to win.
perhaps I should but it's not my style and many racers I know feel the same way.

If you want to "hold numbers" go play Bingo I say.

PhoenixFirebird

iTrader: (2)

If you're hitting the limiter crossing the stripe all out, you've got something wrong with your setup. Hitting the brakes, giving the throttle a few chops, that's not sandbagging. If my opponent breaks the tires loose from the hit, do you expect me to run flat out and take a huge stripe and risk breaking out? No, I'm going to run it to 1000' for data, and let off.

Holding numbers is hardly sandbagging. It's a part of the game. Say you dial honest. What happens when the car slows up? You lose. If you're holding 1-2, you can run it out if the car does happen to slow up, or give it a few chops to kill that 1-2. There are two sides to bracket racing. The finish line is one of them. If you can't run the number, you've lost half the battle. However, if you hold a couple, you can run the number as long as something catastophic doesn't happen. It's just a matter of if you're running on or breaking out. That's where playing the stripe comes in.

fasteddi

iTrader: (2)

You either get lucky and win or you just win. Its that simple.. There is different strategy's for everyone. I don't agree with people that hold over a tenth on a bracket car but if they win, good for them.

GreggymacZ28

Guy I lost to at the Summit ET Division finals had a fox body mustang and he dialed a 12.26 to my 12.11(I slowed the car down for the event, as at my local track sportsman goes to 11.50 however for NHRA it's 12.00). I had an .04 light to his .03 and I got to his back bumper right at the 1000' and then he smashes the brakes. I breakout by .05 and he breaks out by .02. However, he ran a 12.24 at 95 mph. His car was faster than mine at every interval of the track except the last 320 feet. I stayed for the whole event, and the guy I lost to ended up winning the entire thing and is now racing at Nationals in Pomona. Every single run he slammed the brakes though. Disconnected his brake lights and you could see the tire smoke at the 1000' the entire day. He knew that if a guy caught his bumper the guy was going to breakout cause he dialed that much slower than his car can run. As soon as he sees you barely catch him, he slams that brake pedal. I don't agree with it, however it clearly worked for him that day.

PhoenixFirebird

iTrader: (2)

That'd be Nasty Nick Hastings, and I can agree with you on that perspective. Like Mark said, holding a tenth or more is a bit excessive. I don't see anything wrong with holding 2-3 hun though.

fasteddi

iTrader: (2)

Definitely nothing wrong with holding a few hunds. You can always chop at the end rather then chasing a time you cant run. Nick is just a pure talent racer.

How have you been running out there Andrew? Good?

GreggymacZ28

Yeah nick Hastings was the guy. I have alot of respect for
Him though. My first post seemed hostile, lol. I was actually really impressed with what he was doing. I have a couple guys from my team for Milan dragway who knew him and told me he's an extremely tough competitor.

articwhiteZ

iTrader: (56)

That's what we call..Sand bagging.. and its bracket racing..