What is a good reaction time at the track??? I havent taken my car to the track yet, but I've been in some drag race simulators, and get a reaction time around .5 seconds. I was wondering if this was good, average, or bad. I'm 17.. not too experienced with the whole drag racing thing at the tracks.. But curious to see how that would stand against other people. Would that be good or is that something I should not be proud of?

 

.500 used to be perfect and still is at some tracks.
most are .000 now though

 

WOW!! I guess thats why they are the pros!

 

You misunderstood. Most timers are programmed to have a .000 as a perfect R/T. With your .500 you are sitting at the lights a half second before starting. To be good on the lights you want to be around .020 for your R/T.

 

How do they do that!!

 

it's not easy. I went saturday, best reaction time I had was a .069, better then my usual, but I was trying to concentrate on it, I usually don't but like most people it's something I know I need to work on.

 

You should be leaving as soon as you see the last yellow.

 

if the car is heavy i leave as early as possible on that third bulb.

 

Reality is a little different than the simulators but almost all PROFESSIONALS use them so keep it up.

There are two trees Sportsman and Pro. The timing system will dictate if .000 or .500 is the perfect light. All cars and most drivers react differently. Some folks like to deep stage, but for the most part what ever you do always do the same the next time. If you tend to just roll a little into the second staging light rolling deeper or turning that light off might cause a foul if you're always looking for that perfect reaction.

Good Luck

 

experimentation and practice will get you where you want to be.

 

pratice really is the answer, I'm no expert on the tree but this past weekend I made a concerted effort to try to get after that some more, I made 2 actual runs where I tried to get at the light and it resulted in a .064 and a .050, not too bad but still in need of some work. Mind this is off a footbrake, not a pro tree either, that I still need a TON of work on... but it's something that will come with time. Just have to go to the track.

The pratice tree's are probably great for a guy with a transbrake, because hitting the button on the keyboard is similar to letting go of a button. For footbrake pratice, I am starting to do that at every stop light I come to LOL.

 

Lol I went to the trsck Sunday and my reaction time was around 1.164 . i guess me starring at the green light for awhile kinda got me. i think it is a pro tree. two white three yellows. Now from reading these post i am going to work on this.

 

Growl - most likely you were on a sportsman tree.

The top two whites (small yellow bulbs on most trees) represent: pre-stage (when your front tires break the first beam) and stage (when your front tires break the second beam which is the beam that activates the ET time as soon as it goes out).

Once the tree is activated, the 3 yellows come down in succession .500 of a second apart. For most, the reaction time of the driver to hit the gas and the car to move forward to break the stage beam usually takes around .500 (note the car has a "reaction" time too). That's why if you leave on the last yellow you will be starting close to .000.

On a pro-tree all 3 yellows light at the exact same time and .400 of a second later the green lights. It takes both a fast driver reaction and a car that can react quickly to cut a really good light on a pro tree. You typically only see pro trees used in heads-up competitions. These by far are my favorite and a driver that can consistently cut a light can get a good starting advantage in a race.

 

Thanks for clearing that up for me. It was my first time at the track, and i was there by myself ( kinda thrown to the wolves)

 

I agree with practice, practice, practice! I went 2-3 times a week before I got the tree down. Now it is like second nature to me, but always make sure your head is not somewhere else or you will cut a bad light. Most of the time I race on a sportsman tree, and my bests are .000 and .001. (Yes, I have slips if anyone is a skeptic.) Since I have been "having repairs" done for 2 months I am about to get back out there and make sure I still know my tree.

*In bracket money races 95% of races are won or lost at the tree.

 

How does one not roll through the light... e-brake.... this is kinda what messed me up.

 

Assuming you're an auto, keep your foot on the brake. If you're a stick, you're on flat ground and shouldn't move. Stay away from the emergency break as it shouldn't be used for any launching technique.

 

I've cut a bunch of .000 lights. Am I a pro now?

As mentioned, practice is the key to cutting good lights. If you want to cut good lights, develop a technique (or habit) on how you stage and leave, and do it the same if possible every time. That way you can "tune your reaction times" for sun, shade, nighttime or tracks with different roll-outs.

95% of races are won or lost on the 'tree? I thought 95% of races were won on luck?

Derek

 

Get your staging routine down first. Your reaction times will not yield the same results if you are back and forth between shallow staging and deep staging

 

when I was racing regularly I cut .030 to .040 lights regularly which was good for a starting line advantage just about every time on a "street night" but the bracket racers get the reaction times a lot tighter than that.

I agree with getting your staging routine down tight and I was always shallow staging to try to get best et's , an inch or 2 further into the beams would have gotten my reaction times tighter but I prefer the slight head start you get shallow staging before the timing system sees your tires have rolled past the first beam. Depending on if the lights are led or incandessant still you can also watch the 3 phases of the light to key your launch: turning on /on/turning off such as leaving when the 2nd yellow goes out instead of the 3rd yellow coming on but that will all depend on how much power your car has , how hard it leaves, and how sticky the track is. For example when I was racing low to mid 13 second FWD regal GS's that would 60 foot in the 1.9-2.1 range on a street night leaving when the 2nd yellow went out gave best reaction times as this was happening a split second before the 3rd illuminated with old school bulbs but it takes discipline to be watching a particular bulb and not going when it illuminates but rather when it goes out.