Race your car at the Drag Strip

How to Race Your Car at the Dragstrip

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Many people like to take the car that they drive everyday to their local drag strip and make a few passes down the track. Some build dedicated track-only, non-street legal cars, and still others modify their street-legal cars to be a cross between a race car and a street car. These cars are most often referred to as Street/Strip cars. This article is mainly for those that have never raced before, and outlines the basics of drag racing your car, whether it's your daily driver or a street/strip car. Dedicated racecars usually have special equipment installed, such as delay boxes, trans brakes, and dry-sump oil systems, and will not be covered here.

Steps

1. If you are new at this, it's best to go on a day or night when the track is hosting a "street-legal drags" type of event, where all street-legal cars are welcome regardless of engine size, tire type, etc.
   
2. Call your local dragstrip and ask them if they are holding an event where you may bring your street-legal car to race just for fun. Ask about the price of admission and any additional charges (tech card, parking, etc) and also inquire as to whether or not they will be giving out time slips after each race. Most of the time they will, however during some events your time will only be displayed on the board at the end of the track, and no timeslip will be given. If this is the case and you want to know how fast your car is, you should have a friend stand near the track to record your time and speed after each run. If you've never been to a dragstrip before, ask if they have a website you can go to and view a layout of their facility so that you may familiarize yourself with the individual areas that make up the track. If not, ask for a map once you arrive.
   
3. Get your car set up to race. Inspect, change, or top off all oils and fluids. Check your brakes, steering, and suspension for wear and repair if needed before you race. If you have a nitrous system, have your bottle filled before you go. Alternatively, most tracks have nitrous available on site, however expect to pay more for it, as well as for fuel. Put whatever tires you are going to race with on your car, and set them to the proper air pressure. If you are going to drive to the track on one set of tires and install race-only tires when you arrive, set the tire pressures on both sets to the proper specs. Don't fill your fuel tank all the way, as it will make your car heavier than necessary. Ideally, you want to race a street car with a 1/4 tank or less depending on the vehicle and size of the tank. Be careful not to run out of fuel completely. Once you feel your vehicle is ready to begin racing, drive to the track.
   
4. Once at the track, pay your entrance fee, find a spot to park and walk to the signup area. Depending on the event there will be some paperwork there for you to sign, and you will probably get an arm band or similar identification indicating that you've registered and are authorized to race. Go back to your car and move to the staging lanes if racing has begun.
   
5. If you've never raced before, look at the layout you obtained and see where the staging lanes are. These will be located at the beginning of the dragstrip, and are clearly marked with painted lane stripes and numbers. Ask a track attendant for help if you can't find them. Follow all directions from track attendants carefully to avoid a collision, and remember top speed is 10 MPH in this area at most tracks. A track attendant will come alongside your car to make sure you've registered, and depending on the event, you may or may not get a number on your car window. Mentally prepare to go racing at this point, and make sure your car is set up to do so also. You may wait a while in the lanes, so although it's okay to get out of your car and chat with other racers, make sure to stay near your vehicle so that you can move it forward at any time. Don't be afraid to ask other racers questions. With few exceptions, they'll be willing to help and provide advice to you.
   
6. Near the end of the staging lanes, watch other cars from your lane and see where they pull up to. Some will drive through the "water box" (wet area for doing burnouts), others will drive around it. If you have street tires, it's best to drive around it and proceed onto the dragstrip. With slicks, drive into it and wait for the signal to do your burnout. In either case, don't do anything until a crewman signals you that it's okay to proceed. Generally, one person will signal you to pull out of the staging lane onto the track, where another will wave you forward. Slowly drive around or into the water box, and continue to follow hand signals. If doing a burnout, wait for the signal from a crewmember.
   
7. Now, pull up to the starting line and watch the "Christmas Tree" (display of lights at the beginning of the track, between the two lanes.) Each lane has it's own set of lights in order from top to bottom: 2 small bulbs at the very top of the tree (Pre-Stage), 2 identical small ones under that (Stage), 3 large amber bulbs, a green bulb, and a red bulb. Roll you car forward slowly until the first set of bulbs are lit (Pre-stage), this indicates your front tire are approximately seven inches from the starting line. Continue to creep forward until the second set of small bulbs are lit (Staged), then stop.
   
8. Depending on the tree, either all three amber bulbs will light at once followed 0.4 seconds later by the green (this is called a Pro-Tree), or the three amber bulbs will flash consecutively 0.5 seconds apart followed by the green coming on 0.5 seconds after the last amber (this is called a Sportsman or Full tree.) When you see the green light, GO! Keep racing until you reach the finish line, at which point you should begin to slow down and decide which turn-off you are going to take. If you have smoked your competitor, make sure you have his/her vehicle in sight before you turn off...you don't want to hit him while turning because he was in your blind spot!
   
9. If the track is giving out timeslips, there will be a shack on the return road where you can stop and your time will be given to you on a slip of paper. If it doesn't make any sense to you, ask another racer to explain it, but basically it shows your reaction time (R/T), time until your car reached the 1/8 mile mark, your speed at that point, time until you car reached the 1/4 mile mark, and again your speed at that point.
   
10. You can go around to the staging lanes and race again, or park for a while and get some food/drink or watch others race.
    

Tips

• Some events (those that are set up to replicate street racing) have a Christmas Tree that resembles a traffic light like you would find on the street, instead of the traditional Tree. If you encounter this type, treat it like any other traffic light. GO on green!
  
• Practice "launching" your car (getting it moving from a dead stop quickly), in a safe, legal place. It does take practice, and other racers who drive the same or similar vehicles can be a great source of information.
  
• Instead of waiting for the green light to come on, try leaving on the last amber light. By the time your car starts moving, the green light will have come on.
  
• If you get a red light on the Christmas Tree, it means you left the starting line before the green light came on!
  
• Try different setups with your car, like changing the tire pressures, running more or less fuel, different launch techniques, etc.
  

Warnings

• This IS a dangerous sport! Although many precautions have been made by the track to prevent serious injury, you can still be hurt by yourself or by others. Be careful, and if your car is not able to handle racing because of faulty brakes, fuel, oil, coolant, or other leaks, bad tires, etc then DO NOT RACE IT. You run an increased risk of injury to not only yourself but others.
  
• Consider some safety equipment like an approved helmet, fire extinguisher, and protective clothing.
  
• It's bad if you leak any type of liquids onto the track. This includes water dripping from your A/C, so be sure to switch it off well before you get out of the staging lanes.
  

Things You'll Need

• A car or truck that is capable of handling the increased stresses of racing.
  
• Extra oil and coolant, some rags, and a flashlight.
  
• Money to get into your track event and to cover drinks and food.
  
• Driver's License
  
• A friend (optional, but most "for fun" events allow you to bring one rider along for the race. Even if they can't race with you, they still provide good company.)
  
• Camera or video recorder (optional)
  

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