First time going to the track. Any advice?

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I wouldn't worry about the guy in the other lane. There's nothing you can do about him.
Run your own race. and be safe
 
Other than staging together, Ignore the car next to you. Again, ignore it. Focus and think, You’re not in a race. You’re attempting to stage, launch without red lighting, and go all out down the track through the traps and grab your time slip on the return lane. With time you will be able to roll by the timing shack and grab the slip without stopping or dropping it!:lol:
 
fishmens67 said:
I wouldn't worry about the guy in the other lane. There's nothing you can do about him.
Run your own race. and be safe
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Unless you're a fender length ahead at the 1/8, then you psi under the right foot just increased :D :D
 
Remember that "green means go!" My very first time, I was pulling up to the line in my 68 340-S Barracuda fastback. My buddy, who was also lining up for the first time, was in a BMW 850I coupe. I pulled up to the line and stopped, I then looked over to see my buddy pulling up to the line and stop. I was still looking at his car when the light turned green. I guess I expected someone to check with us to make sure we were ready. For a moment I thought, "oh I missed it. They'll just run the lights again". Nope. Thats not how it works. My buddy didn't go either. He was waiting for me to hit the gas cause he's color blind and he wasn't sure which light was the green one. By the time we left the line, the crowd was yelling "Green means go!!!" Yeah. That first time really sucked. But even with a six second reaction time, my Barracuda still smoked that BMW. Other friends, who were watching, were howling with laughter by the time we returned with our time slips. I did much better the second time. There would have been video proof of the screw up, but the other friend's wife who was filming forgot to take the lens cap off of her camcorder.
 
If your running street tires, dont go through the water box and do a top fuel style burnout, street tires dont like that. Go around the water best you can and do a small kind of clean off the tires kind of launching burnout. If your running slicks....well....smoke 'em if ya got them!!! I would also say, i would rather have a bad reaction time my first time out instead of red lighting by a mile. Most important thing is have fun!!! After your first pass you will be hooked...lol. I try to stay away from the track as its too much fun. I haven't run down the track since the 90's but, I have been thinking about it lately.
 
Yes do your burn outs in 2nd than shift to 3rd. You can and will damage/blow up the trans. if you don't. When you switch to slicks put a driveshaft loop in and install a trans. shield. Don't sweat it no cops involved. lol
 
70aarcuda said:
I assume you are going to Sears Point?......really long shutdown plus it goes up hill
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I guess 3406pk says he is not going to Sear pt or it does not have a long shutdown and uphill...lol

Make sure you print all this out and read it in the staging lanes...lol
 
halfafish said:
I'll pass on what I did, with the caveat that I am the least knowledgeable drag race person on the forum. I went down last year to get a baseline on my car. I bought it and spend a while getting it from questionable to truly road worthy. When I got there I had to ask directions and procedure from everyone. The cashier pointed me to tech, and thanks to the video from @318willrun I was good to go. I proceeded to the gate leading to the start lines. When I got to the guy directing traffic I told him this was my first trip and I had absolutely no idea what I was doing. He was quite helpful letting me know the procedure.

And then I proceeded to get my *** kicked all night long, which I expected. A 66 Valiant, three-on-the-tree original survivor from the factory isn't going to scare anyone. I made 8-10 passes and was getting the hang of it when I quit. It's a mighty 20 second car. As mentioned above, a first trip isn't about setting the world on fire. It's about learning the ropes, getting some practice in, and seeing what happens.

Good Luck!
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Perfect I appreciate it. I’ll be posting a video of how it all goes!
 
33IMP said:
Ask somebody who knows, which side of the track the turnoffs are, and how many. At my local track we have at least ten cars a night on test-n-tune night, doing u-turns on the track because they think they passed the return road. They apparently dont know there is another one, even though lots of fast cars dont use the first one. (Doing a u-turn on the track is a HUGE no-no!)
Also ,if you are gonna do a water burnout, pay attention to the track personnel! They will tell you when to go. Do NOT start your burnout with a car in front of you!
The rookies i see that crash their cars all do the same thing wrong. They'll leave the starting line spinning the crap out of their street tires till they get out of shape, correct for the sideways motion, take their foot out of the gas, and then the tires hook up and they drive straight into the wall. Dont be that guy. If you spin hard off the starting line , pedal immediately, and then get back in gradually, the pass is ruined anyway, and means nothing. Dont ruin the car.
Observe. Watch what the fast guys do, cause they know what they are doing. Try to do what they do. They will show you how to stage, etc.
Almost forgot: the lane on the return road side has the right-of-way to the exit. Unless you are way ahead or way behind, yield to the racer on the return road side.
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I know the track very well as I worked there for years but I actually never made a pass lol. Shut down road is to the left. Good advice on the burnout thing. Thanks!
 
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Tech men like neutral safety switches 2return springs 20 lugnuts Overflow tanks driveshaft loops&killswitchs
Watch other guys stage,short shift & work on the treeA good 60 ft time slip tells you alot

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Thanks for all the advice guys. It went pretty good. Cars lower than I expect but I believe I know what to do now to make it faster. I had a 6000 rpm chip in my soft touch rev limiter so I think that needs to be raised. Tell me what you guys think it should be revved out to? My 60 foot was not very good at all but my converter is only a 2000 stall. I just got a 2800 stall from summit so that will be installed next time and should help a lot. Here’s a quick YouTube video I threw together for you guys!
 
doopdoop67 said:
Thanks for all the advice guys. It went pretty good. Cars lower than I expect but I believe I know what to do now to make it faster. I had a 6000 rpm chip in my soft touch rev limiter so I think that needs to be raised. Tell me what you guys think it should be revved out to? My 60 foot was not very good at all but my converter is only a 2000 stall. I just got a 2800 stall from summit so that will be installed next time and should help a lot. Here’s a quick YouTube video I threw together for you guys!
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Awesome! Glad you went and I'm sure you had a blast!!!!
 
doopdoop67 said:
Thanks for all the advice guys. It went pretty good. Cars lower than I expect but I believe I know what to do now to make it faster. I had a 6000 rpm chip in my soft touch rev limiter so I think that needs to be raised. Tell me what you guys think it should be revved out to? My 60 foot was not very good at all but my converter is only a 2000 stall. I just got a 2800 stall from summit so that will be installed next time and should help a lot. Here’s a quick YouTube video I threw together for you guys!
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Very nice and great job on the video. So when are you going again. Lol. Once it grabs you it’s hard not to go back.
 
doopdoop67 said:
Yes I’ll be back next week if I can make it. What do you think I should Rev my motor to?
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6,000 rpms would have to be in the ball park in my opinion. Try a run a 5700, and see what happens. If it goes faster or even stays the same, then 6k is too much. And obviously, if it slows up then try 6200.
 
Nothing wrong with that all for a first passes down the track.
What rear end ratio? What launch rpm and technique? Kind of sounds like a small highway gear and did not see much wheel spin, although it’s hard to tell. Nothing wrong with highway gears, just wondering.
In the video driving to work, it kind of looks like the steering wheel is almost 90 degrees turned to the right while you were driving straight. If so, get the front suspension and steering linkage looked at really well and get a front end alignment. Get a print out with readings before and after. May be possible everything is fine and something was installed crooked.
 
Date and use online weather apps to chart out the weather each time you go and write it on each slip. This way you will get an idea if the changes you did between track trips helped or hurt. I always try to circle my pass on each slip so I can quickly check 60 foot time, 330 times, 1/8 mile times, etc. log books are cheap and available from Summit or jegs. You can never make to many notes in your records. I even try to track the wind.
 
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