How to Get a Good Start off the Line in NHRA Racing

Video Transcript

"TINA STULL: Hi, I'm Tina Stull and I drive the Top Dragster for Interstate Batteries. On behalf of Expert Village, today, we're going to talk about the basics of racing. Well, you're racing both against the person--when you're racing this type of racing, you're racing both against yourself and against the other person because there are judgement calls that come--there's no one that can judge to the thousandths of a seconds where they're at. And so when you're coming off the line, you try to know at that point, "Was your reaction time better than theirs or was your reaction time slower than theirs?" And based on that is where the racing comes at the other end. A lot of guys are going to set up their cars a little bit fast. They might set it on an 888 and they save those 200ths of a second, so that if they are slow off the line, they might still be able to go down there and beat you. 'Cause if you both break out, it's who ever breaks out by less. So if they think that they can dial and maybe go down there and push you out, which means you cross the finish line first but you break out and they don't, then they still have an opportunity to win. When you're done with the other end of track, you not only have to know, whether or not you came off the line first or last, whether you're set up fast, whether they're set up fast and make some judgment calls. If they come around you, and you can't take the line, you might want to back off and guarantee yourself not to break out and hope that they break out. Or you might, you know, you want to get around them, a lot of guys will come around you and try to back into you, which is a term that means that they've gotten out in front of you and they'll ease up a little bit on their throttle to try to get it to where they're just a wheel--they just have a wheel on you, which, although it sounds a little--it sounds easy, you're also realizing that this person is about 20 feet away and trying to judge who's actually in front and who's behind. That can get a little tricky. So there's a lot to be thinking of, especially since all these is happening in probably the last, say, thousand feet. You're trying to make this type of decisions at the far end, and you know a second and a half, two seconds worth of time. If you're just starting out, I'd say the best bet is to just set it on 890. Try to get your numbers as close as you can, try to get your reaction time the best that you can and keep your mind in your lane and let them race their own race. But you know, it's just that, that's the easiest way to start out and then as you get more experience and more experience, then you can start to like look at the different strategies of winning at the finish line."