Torque converter

unless it is a lock up converter...ALL torque converters have some amount of slippage in them....after each gear change the engine should fall back on to the stall speed of the converter....which will depend on the torque out put of the engine...

so thats the "slipping sound we hear at the track? I agree sometime it sounds really bad slip other times more of a lag then gone... i suspect a not so powerful build with too much of a converter will cause the long slip? and a correct converter stall matched well should have no slip or lag?