roll out

[Anonymous]

i appreciate the advice. only i wont be using a delay box. now if it would help me footbrake then i would get one until my eyes were trained. i want run a footbrake class. no offense but i dont agree with delay boxes and throttle stops. i prefer the no electronics classes. thanks again for the knowledge and feel free to reveal more secrets.


ron

 

[Goob]

I felt the same way about transbrakes and delay boxes, until I realized they aren't evil, it's just a different way to race, with better tools.

That is all it is, a tool, just like that guy in the commercial, he loves his old hammer his dad gave him, but when it's time to frame a house, do you pull out the old hammer, or the air nailer?

I've raced S/P off the footbrake too, it's a ball, and I still swap feet every once in a while when the mood strikes me.
Actually, the only S/P race I've ever won was footbraking the car, I've done some damage to the fields regularly, but just haven't closed the deal.
My favorite events every year are the Tenn-Tuck Bracket Bashes at Beech Bend.....200 dragsters and about 50 door cars, been down to 17 in that field before I goofed it up one night in the $10K race. That was pretty cool, my car and one other door car sitting in the lanes for 6th round with 15 dragsters.

As a track announcer for almost a couple of years now, I've seen that those big-bucks S/P races really aren't any tougher to win than any average Saturday night bracket race, at anytrack U.S.A.
The competition is TOUGH, in both the S/P and Pro classes, everyone seems to have a car that will repeat the dial, it's just the guys (or gals) that make the least mistakes that end up with the wins.

Heck, I watched a pair of Street class racers go off the line with .0010 reaction on the first car out, and the guy came out behind him with a .0002 reaction time......what the heck ya gonna do with THAT?
The guy that was .0010 on the tree ran .005 under his dial and got beat. "Hogged up" too much stripe by taking the line by .007! LOL

Nowdays, I look at spending the extra $10 at the gate for a much larger payout, especially at the 4 to 10 cars left level, not gonna win every week, but at least the pay is better, and it's real fun sending those $50K + dragsters to their boxes with a 9" tire, "street car gone bad".
It's a different look too from being in the fastest 1/3 of the field to the slowest 1/3 of the field, I actually spent a couple of seasons racing 3 days a week, in both classes, to catch up on all the seat time I missed working and being too broke to race. Accelerated my learning curve.

I bought the Mega-Box strictly for the tools it brought to my car, the reaction tester and playback tach, it really helped me sort my car, captured two track championships in the Pro class in my first 3 seasons of racing, figured it was time to settle in and race with the big dawgs as a regular thing.

My car is still fun to drive off the footbrake, it only runs about .08 slower, mostly all by the 60' timers, but it isn't near as much fun as the launches like in my avatar photo......and it's gotta be fun to spend what we spend to do it.

Good luck, and have FUN!

 

[Hitman]

Ron

I've got a Biondo practice tree...and that's what the rollout is set at from the factory..32. For our weekly practice tree tourney's, everybody wants to run 22, which is fine, because we all top bulb and you just punch some more numbers in it.

Scott

 

[Anonymous]

that would be cool to run the higher paying classes but still footbrake, but it seems it would be very difficult for a human to outperform a computer. that is the main thing i have against the electronics is it is like racing on my computer but you actually get to enjoy the ride. how do you have any human error in electronics racing, as long as box is set correctly?



hitman, i understand where you are coming from now. whats up with these weekly tourneys?


thanks

ron

 

[Goob]

The only advantage of the top bulb racing is the easier consistency, because of reacting to the first lamp that lights, but I'm going to tell you all something......I've watched over 30,000 elimination rounds happen on the timing system, and there are as many .050, .060, .070 and even worse R/T's thrown out during the S/P class as the Pro class.
The average winning package (total of R/T + off dial) between S/P and Pro class difference is only about .015......you'll squeak through a lot Pro class rounds with .030 packages, you need to stay .020 or better in S/P to do some damage. But again, the incidence of a .030 or .040 package taking the win lamp in S/P happens more than you'd think.

William Hamilton from Cincy took the runner up at the 2004 Million Dollar race with no rounds of the 9 that a .040 package would NOT have beat him, he was .097 on the tree in the final round, his opponent was .023. That earned him about $100K for the day. His best R/T of the day was a .041, ANYONE with a .020 light, and .020 off the dial in would have taken him out right there.

Most common and worst mistake is trying to go .00x on the tree all the time.....take 'em when you get 'em, but they scare me to death. I set up for an .008 to .012 tree, since I know my normal human variance is about .007 plus or minus (net .014 range) if I "screw up" early I'll be .001, if I screw up late, I'll still be .019 and still have a chance to win. (especially if I carry .02 or .03 in the bag on the dial)
Driving the stripe is another whole subject.

With a good car and a green light, lots of good things can happen, when you red light you just gave it away, the only way you can win is if the other guy crashes or crosses the center line.

The key is to try to lay down what you've decided is your acceptable package, and hope you don't get in the way of the guy that throws down his .00x package...when you do, you shake his hand and try again next week, but go home knowing you were in it.

Truthfully, .00x packages are pretty much a lot of luck, dude our master timing clock measures out to the MILLIONTH, and we're all human. NOBODY lays down more than 3 or 4 really good packages on their best day ever, it's all about what happens on the other side.

I've been sent home twice in the same day with packages of .005 and .011 on my side.....what are ya gonna do when that happens?
I just shake my head and say, dayaammmm, I was just in his way.

Anyway, to answer your question, there are many racers out there footbraking in the big dawg classes, and doing as well as the next guy.
You always have exceptions in any sport......Scotty and Edmond Richardson, Jason Lynch, Luke Bogacki, Troy Williams, Ken Underwood, etc., etc...... but their key is the amount of seat time they get.

ALL of those guys will blister you just as bad in a footbrake door car as in their S/P dragsters, if they hit it just right, but they all get beat just as regular as the rest of the world too. They win events because they might have 2, 3, 4, or more cars entered to start.
It also means they got beat 3, 4, 5, times that day too.

It helps to keep it fun, regardless.

"Bracket racing for money is like eating Jello with chopsticks, you'll get a bite every once in a while, but mostly you'll be hungry."

 

[Anonymous]

thanks goob. thats some good ole fashion wisdom you are willign to share. im just gonna throw together a junkyard car this year and go play. if the car holds together then i will get some good experience. if not... there is always next year. as always.. keep the secrets/wisdom coming


ron