.002 seconds from a perfect run last night...

[chevytrucks92]

Yes sir! Came .002 seconds from a perfect run. Needless to say, that was the best I've ever done! Here's the slip, and I'm car number 1972 BTW:



That was from the 2nd round eliminations. I lost in the 5th round with a big .495 redlight (remember, .500 is perfect at this track). That 5th round loss was good enough to make it down to 3 cars and got me 3rd place and $200 though.

It was a very cool night. Would have been alot cooler had I not redlit in that 5th round, but oh well! I'm just pumped over that near perfect run and plus this makes 3 weekends in a row that I've had atleast two double-Oh (.50x) reaction times in a row (in my first round elimination I had a .506, then came back with that .502 in the 2nd).

Maybe it won't be too long when I'll be able to post up my first win of the season.

[clawhammer]

Dude, you're like a machine. You're not even human. Very nice times. Hopefully you'll win this season. How long have you been bracket racing?

[chevytrucks92]

I've been going since I was about 10 years old or so I guess. I'll be 22 Tuesday. I only started driving last year though. I drove 10 races last year, and now 4 or 5 this season. So we'll just call it 15 races. So thats how long I've technically been bracket racing, lol, but I've been around it over half my life.

[CassiesMan]

So if you get a number below .500, is that like, jumpin the gun? Good runs by the way.

[chevytrucks92]

Originally Posted by CassiesMan

So if you get a number below .500, is that like, jumpin the gun? Good runs by the way.

Yeah, that's red lighting. That .502 light is the same as .002 light at tracks where .500 competition trees are used (and thats everywhere except for National events, and then its usually a .400 pro tree), its just that the reactions times are still printed as .500 as perfect instead of .000. Every track used to print off .500 as perfect, but now most NHRA and IHRA member tracks use .000 as perfect (there are still alot of tracks that use .500 though). The track where I race was an IHRA member track but I'm not real sure that it still is.

And then my .495 red light is the same as a -.005 reaction time where .000 is perfect. Its common for us to just say a double Oh-five red (for a .495 or -.005 red) or double Oh-two (for a .502 or .002) reaction time.

[i3o2Matt]

[CassiesMan]

Gotcha. I think I finally get this.

[KNice96]

Nice r/t
Nice run
Nice car
Nice skills

Keep on killing 'em

[chevytrucks92]

Originally Posted by KNice96

Nice r/t
Nice run
Nice car
Nice skills

Keep on killing 'em

Thanks.

[CBFryman]

so how is it calulated, i never got it...who says you cant get off the line as soon as it goes green, or is it from the last amber light?

[KNice96]

It's nearly if not at all possible to get a perfect r/t time if you launch as soon as the *Green Light* lights up.

[drftk1d]

apparently you have to cheat to get a perfect time?

[500]

I have always considered the "run" to be separate from the "light".

You had a perfect run and a light that was too good. Aiming for .50 lights will result in lots of red lights [ as you did later ]. For footbrake racing a .530 is good enough. Electronics racing something around a .520 will win most rounds.

That run should have gotten you the bye run if there was one.

For you guys that don't know drag racing - you have to leave on the last yellow due to the delay in the car responding to the hit of the throttle. You hit the gas and a fraction of a sec later the motor responds, then the torque converter has some slip, the the driveshaft applies torque to the rearend housing which rotates the suspension members and planting the tires, then the tires wind up, finally the car starts to move, then the front tires have to roll a fraction to start the clocks. A super gas or super comp car has a lot less lag in the reaction than some 3800 lb stock camaro. Some big heavy cars have to leave on the second bulb to have a decent reaction time. A super gas car has to have a delay box to keep from red lighting.

I am accustomed to calling lights like in the old days where a .480 would be red a .500 perfect and a .630 on the trailer

[chevytrucks92]

Originally Posted by drftk1d

apparently you have to cheat to get a perfect time?

Its like 500 says, so read his post, lol. BUt if you ever drag race your car and you wait untill you see the green light come on before you leave, then you'll never win a round!

And 500, I dont have my box (delay box) set for a .500 light, however, it is set for a double-Oh (.50x) light, and typically, when it comes green, it is a double-Oh. And if you can be dead on yoru time, then an .53x light will win more then it looses, but most of the time, a .53x light will get ya beat. Actually, a .520 light is hard to win with anymore. My first round elim, I had a .506 reaction time (which did get me a buy run that I got to run in the 4th round). We added .002 to my delay box for the 2nd round, where I got the .502 reaction time(should have been a .508 of course but that almost never happens in the real world). For the 3rd round, we added nearly .010 to my delay box and I had a .530 light (which should have been .512, but you know how it goes, lol-and for that run, I did have to crossover, and that may have affected my reaction time as well). It was in the buy run we took back out what we added, and I cut a .496 redlight, we then added back .004 and I came back with a .495 redlight BUT there was a big mix-up in the tower for that particular run.

You see, there was 3 cars left at that time, and the track officials said the other two cars were buybacks, and since I had won straight through but had just had a buy run, we were all elidgable for the buy and we had to draw cards and the high card got the buy. Anyways, I drew the high card (a 9 believe it or not) and pulled on to the track, done my burnout, staged the car and then the track officials waved me off and made me back out of the lights. They then said that one of the other two cars wasn't a buyback, and since I had already had a buy run, then he automatically got it (and this is the rules). So, I wound up having to run the car that didnt get the buy (which ironically is the guy I beat in the 1st round, lol) and I did another burnout and wound up redlighting and breaking out (4.418 on a 4.42 dial).

Now I'm not making excuses becuaes I realize when you play as close to .500 as we do, then redlights will happen, and had I not redlighted, I coudl have got way out of the gas to stay in my time (the other guy cut a .53x light and ran like a 4.71 on a 4.66 dial--I couldn't even see him when I went across the finish line and you know the handicap is supposed to make both cars get to the line at the same time). But I did have two burnouts, and instead of being around 130 degrees when I staged, the car was 150 degrees. Anyways, I just would have liked to have seen what would have happened had I not done two burnouts and been 20 degress hotter.

[CBFryman]

Originally Posted by 500

For you guys that don't know drag racing - you have to leave on the last yellow due to the delay in the car responding to the hit of the throttle. You hit the gas and a fraction of a sec later the motor responds, then the torque converter has some slip, the the driveshaft applies torque to the rearend housing which rotates the suspension members and planting the tires, then the tires wind up, finally the car starts to move, then the front tires have to roll a fraction to start the clocks. A super gas or super comp car has a lot less lag in the reaction than some 3800 lb stock camaro. Some big heavy cars have to leave on the second bulb to have a decent reaction time. A super gas car has to have a delay box to keep from red lighting.

none of that applies to people who know how to drive since we dont have torque converters and dont have to wait for them reach stall RPM.
But even with an automoatic wouldnt you load the drive train bykeeping your foor on the brake than raising the RPM's to just below stall and then just before you expect the light to turn green let off the gas and floor it...you get immediate responce because the torque converter, tranny, drive shaft, and axle are already having torque applied to them?