First Time Drag racing

If your fuel pressure gauge is oil/liquid filled, drain the liquid out. It can throw off the reading with temperature swings. I had one and at idle it would show zero up to 10 lbs then back to zero. Drained it and rock steady 6 lbs. I run a mechanical pump inline with an electrical holly red pump. It will run with just the mechanical up to about 3500 rpm pulling through the red pump. Fuel delivery is your biggest issue. The pop at upper rpm is probably a lean pop.