First evening at the strip

[Chiefish]

Last night I had the time to take my car over to the local strip at Island dragway for my first try at real dragracing. All I can say is WOW what a great rush it is to mash it and not have to worry about the usual stuff you would worry about on the street.
A friend from work who has an o5 or 06 mustang went with me to help bust my cherry as ive never ran a car down the 1/4 mile yet. LOL and Im 45 years old.
We had soo much fun I think im addicted now. I got in seven runs, 5 against my friend and two against strangers. I didnt lose any of them which is nothing to really brag about as I saw plenty of cars wayyy faster then me.
there were even a few sub 10 cars running as you could see them hit the brakes towards the end of thier run so they didnt get kicked out early from the track.
my car is number 9680 and my friends mustang is 4826 on the slips so if anyone with some skillz could take a look thru and see if anything stands out that could be worked on in a bigger way then some of the other things please im all ears and want to learn the science of this. I know my reaction times need to be wayy more consistant as i could tell when launching if I was off or not. BUt what else? The run made at 8:06 I knew was going to be bad because I could feel the tires spin thru first and second before hooking up well, I think I caught some of the water as I pulled up to stage.
Not to be too long winded but let me know what you guys think I can work on. Thanks
Oh yea the only thing I have done to the car since new is a Varam Intake and a Flowmaster cat back exhaust. And running the L99 with the A6 trans.

[Three of Swords]

It's definitely fun and addicting! Glad you had fun. I went to the strip for the first time ever late last year and I'm now 40. I guess it's never too late to start!

The only bad part is that soon you'll probably be making plans for how you can get faster!

[DandD]

You are both just youngsters, hahahaha 54 here and last September was my first time back at the track in 35 years, it's still very very addictive!!

Dan

[Indy Bumble Bee]

awesome! Congrats on the rush

[dekan513]

im 28 but have a friend named willard kinzer look him up 80+ years old and super fast tryin to get him in a camaro

[Mikamaro]

Nice runs!!
Looking forward to go as soon as they open around here.
I guess the question to ask is what traction seting did you used?
Good luck:
mik

[ParisTNDude]

You didn't say if your an auto or 6M, but in either case, those are good numbers especially your 60' times. You definitely need to work on your RT. Have fun, that's what it's all about!

[scrming]

Originally Posted by DandD

You are both just youngsters, hahahaha 54 here and last September was my first time back at the track in 35 years, it's still very very addictive!!

Dan

Well, then that means you went to the drag strip when you were 19! So you had been there before! I was 42 when I went to the track for the first time! And yes, I'm a track junkie!

To OP, yes, nice runs! Way to get out there! And yes, knowing you can pay your money ($25 here) and not have to worry is the best! My wife laughs at me because I drive the speed limit... i just tell here that I get my adrenaline fix at the track! $25 and I can go as fast as I can all day long! LOL!

[Chiefish]

Thanks , the very last line states , L99 And the A6 trans.
I had all nannies turned off. Which imnot sure if that was good or bad TBH. Next time ill make a couple runs inthe different settings.
And Scrmg, its funny you mention going the speed limit on the street, becuase as soon as I pulled out of the track for the ride home, a cop was following me all the way thru town and finally turned off into the local Quick Check, for dognuts presumably. LOL but I didnt get hassled at all.
Yea I def need to work on my R/Ts, but I have to admit I was a bit nervous deing my fist time and not knowing how the car would handle and all.

[flyby]

Been to Island m a n y times. The first and most important thing about the times there is you have to watch a few others run to see if the timing is functioning correctly. I ran there once when my time slip read the quarter in 11.3 at 47 mph. No I did not lift, the timing there just sucks sometimes.

[scrming]

Originally Posted by flyby

Been to Island m a n y times. The first and most important thing about the times there is you have to watch a few others run to see if the timing is functioning correctly. I ran there once when my time slip read the quarter in 11.3 at 47 mph. No I did not lift, the timing there just sucks sometimes.

Yeah, seems some tracks have issues with what seems to be 20 inch wheels... Seen it on my Camaro at a few places and even then it was kind of random... some times the trap speed would be fine and the next run it would be way off...

[scrming]

Originally Posted by Chiefish

Thanks , the very last line states , L99 And the A6 trans.
I had all nannies turned off. Which imnot sure if that was good or bad TBH. Next time ill make a couple runs inthe different settings.
And Scrmg, its funny you mention going the speed limit on the street, becuase as soon as I pulled out of the track for the ride home, a cop was following me all the way thru town and finally turned off into the local Quick Check, for dognuts presumably. LOL but I didnt get hassled at all.
Yea I def need to work on my R/Ts, but I have to admit I was a bit nervous deing my fist time and not knowing how the car would handle and all.

Understood! Now just remember your R/T does NOT effect your E/T. Your E/T is from the time you break the starting beams to the time you break the finish beams. So for a Test and Tune R/T doesn't really come into play, except for pride! LOL! A good R/T mean you can get across the stripe before the faster car next to you! LOL!

One thing on the R/T, DO NOT WAIT FOR THE GREEN BULB! You want to leave on the 3rd Amber bulb... other thing is to stage consistently. Pay attention when you stage and turn on the second set of staging bulbs... I try to roll just enough to turn the bulbs on (staging shallow), then I know I can pretty safely launch when the 3rd amber bulb turns on... Like you said, you just need to get comfortable launching your car and practicing!

But before you worry to much about your R/T I would practice launching and figuring out how to lower your 60' time... a little improvement in your 60' can make a big difference in your overall time!

[Chiefish]

Sinse I was using two feet , left to hold the brake and right to load up the trans I could tell I wasnt letting go of the brake right as I started to mash the accelerator, does loading up the trans to 2500 rpm or so really help in taking off faster or does a slighltly less mashing of the accelerator help in getting better traction off the line, or is it a combo of both ?
I would think that better traction at launch is going to help more overall with better 60 ft times.

[Padre]

Originally Posted by Chiefish

Sinse I was using two feet , left to hold the brake and right to load up the trans I could tell I wasnt letting go of the brake right as I started to mash the accelerator, does loading up the trans to 2500 rpm or so really help in taking off faster or does a slighltly less mashing of the accelerator help in getting better traction off the line, or is it a combo of both ?

I would think that better traction at launch is going to help more overall with better 60 ft times.

Yes. I would load the trans to between 1000 and 1500, then "roll into it" quickly. You'll know you're in the sweet spot when 1) on launch it just continues revving and doesn't bog, and 2) it doesn't spin.

Good luck, glad you had fun!

Padre