Going to the track next week need some pointers

Well me and all of my friends are going to fontana raceway to enter the racing event.I wana know how i should prep my car.what tire pressure is best to run?Also were gonna be doing bracket racing and i wanna know about what times i should be expecting from a d15b7,si manifold,si ecu,si tranny,header,exhaust,CAI and the car is crx HF.Im expecting 15.6-15.9 what do u guys think?Also is it better to run 91 octane.

Well if its like the track that I go to...we normally have about 3 practice runs so that people know about what their times are. Unless this is like a bracket only tournament or something yours will probably be like this. Basically just get use to driving your car on the first 3 runs and see what your running. Being that this is your first time you may not do that great. Racing on the track is completely different than racing on the street, in my opinion.

what he said^^
and take anything out of your car that you dont need to race. run with half a tank or less of gas.. and if you have street tires make sure they are set at stock psi (32..i think) ...
im sure there is more tricks..but im too lazy to think..

i say lower your front tire pressure down to about 25 or so and put as much air in the back tires as you can get.

dont be afriad to launch high. better to spin the tires a little bit than to bog.

dont let your car run in the staging lanes. shut off the engine and pop the hood if at all possible.

i would recommend putting a couple bags of ice on your intake manifold and intake if you have a couple minutes to spare. Another trick that i've only tried once but it seemed to work is get a can of spray duster, hold it upside down and spray your intake piping down with it. it freezes instantly and will supercool your piping.

race gas wont help you, so dont worry about that, unless its oxygenated (probably wont be, since oxygenated fuel is illegal in most sanctioned events :( )

and most important of all....
*HAVE FUN* remember you are racing legally, make the best of it. make sure to get lots of videos and pictures too.

drop your front tires to 20psi. rear should be at stock pressure.

as for taking seats, spare, interior, etc... out of the car, DONT bother. Same goes for icing the manifold, or doing any of the other racer "tricks". the reason i say this is b/c in bracket racing...these things do absolutely nothing to help you win.

In "heads up" or "grudge" racing....your Xmas tree is the same as the person next to you. So, the faster car wins...just like street racing.

In bracket racing, you generally get 2 or 3 practice runs to see where your car stands. Then, you race against the clock, and receive a "dial-in" time. For the rest of the day, that is the number they use to classify you. They may have several brackets for cars fitting different criteria.

The person that wins a bracket, is the person that can stay the most CONSISTENT. The closer you are to your dial-in time, the more likely you are to move on to the next round.

when they start eliminating people, you will notice that cars with different dial-in times will leave the line at different times. They do this to give the illusion that the cars are racing each other, and not the clock. F/E ...a guy with a dial-in of 15.6 is going to get his green light .2 seconds AFTER the the other car with a dial-in of 15.8. Think of it as a handicap.



If you want to win...you dont need to change anything. You just have to know your car, and be able to run it consistently to be competitive. That means someone could win even if they show up with an auto cavalier and win b/c he ran the same lame 18.7 all day long. :icon16:

What do u guys think i should dial in for my ET.i THINK a 15.8 would be reasonable

Ummm... Run the car before you start guessing what E.T you'll be doing.

But, since you think 15.8, I'll say 16.0

you allways think your car is faster than what it really is

And this being your first time, not being a dick or anything, I doubt you'll go under 16. The key here is to be consistant. It's not about how fast you are, just about being consistant and not going FASTER than your dial-in. That means if you dial in at 16.0 and you run a 15.999 you will lose, even if the other person runs a 20.35 and dialed in at 10.0

stock si should do 16 secs flat. I figure that my mods kinda balance out the wear and tear on the car. The best I did with I/H/E and clutch was 16.3 (shitty launch) Im positive i could have gotten down to 15.8, but I only got one run in before eliminations that day.


If this is your first time racing at a sanctioned event, then you most likely will suck on the launches. I say somewhere around 16.8+, only b/c of the launch. OH...and remember, when the last yellow light goes on...GO! If you go on green, youre gonna lose a shitload of time.

It takes a little getting used to. When I first started racing, I used to get nervous at the line and redlight alot. Now, I could care less what I run, or who Im racing....I just go to the track for the practice and to have fun.