Intro to Drag Racing, Part 1

“I’m just trying to go through life without looking stupid” Brian Regan, comedian.

I think this phrase accurately describes how a lot of us feel. I believe the drive to look like we know what we are doing all of the time is what keeps a lot us from participating in activities we might really enjoy; such as drag racing our amazing trucks! For those who don’t know, drag racing is incredibly fun, but also quite scary to a first timer. I had a friend who I didn’t know was a smoker until I finally got him to enter a race. He was so nervous waiting back in the staging lanes that he had to light up to calm his nerves! My hope in writing this article is to give you enough information to pull up to the lights for your first time with confidence that you won’t look stupid.

There is no question that pulling up to the starting line in front of a large crowd can be quite intimidating, especially if you have no idea what is going on. Also there is a fear that the “veterans” of the sport will be annoyed by a newcomer who is asking questions and making mistakes. Let me make this perfectly clear, every diesel racer I know desperately hopes more people will join in the racing. We all know that without participants the events will go away. We have all had our first day at the track, and understand what you are going through. We are all thrilled to have new blood enter the scene. When I started racing all the racers I met were always happy to help me learn. I am certain they will extend the same courtesy to you.

1. Enter ET Class and Prep for Staging
So let’s get down to it, how does a typical drag race operate? Generally you start at the ticket gate. There they will have you sign a waiver and ask what class you want to run in, first timers just say ET class. They will give you a wrist band and tell you to drive to a certain location for tech inspection. For the ET class your truck just needs to be in good running condition. They will check that your seat belts are in good working order, that you have an overflow bottle for your radiator, and that your truck is clean and able to go down the track. The tech inspector will generally tell you what lanes your class will be running in, if you don’t know how to get to the staging lanes ask for directions to them, it’s no big deal. At this point it is time to go to the staging lanes and run your time trial runs. Time trial runs in the ET class can be considered practice. Your goal is to learn how to stage properly, cut a good light, and run passes that are as identical to each other as possible.

2. Pull Into Staging
Let’s start with staging. As you work your way toward the starting line watch closely what the trucks in front of you do. The first thing that will happen is that a track worker will wave for you to enter the water box. In ET most people will drive around the water box. The water box is to assist in heating up race tires by doing a burnout. This works well for race tires, but a burn out on street tires is completely pointless, thus the trucks will drive around the wet area on the concrete known as the water box. In ET you will stop your truck beside or just in front of the water box and wait for the track worker to wave you into the staging area. As you drive toward the starting line for the first time your nerves are just as high as that time you went in for that first kiss. It is intense! Your heart is thumping and you see the stands full of people watching you, now is the time we do not want to look stupid!

3. Go to the Starting Line and Wait for the Green Light
In drag racing the starting line is the staging beams. The first thing that happens as a truck slowly approaches the lights is that 2 little yellow bulbs right next to each other at the very top of the light tree would come on. As they come on the driver stops and waits for the truck in the other lane to get to the same point. What has happened is that the truck’s front tires have pulled up far enough to break the first beam, and that triggers the top lights. The beams are just like your garage door safety beams. If your garage door is closing and something breaks the beam then the door goes up and your light flicks on and off. It is the same principle here, but instead of your garage door opening it just turns on the top 2 bulbs. These top 2 bulbs will remain on for as long as your front tire blocks the beam. When both drivers are in this position it is time to get your truck ready to launch. Most people will push on their brake and throttle peddles at the same time to build up boost thereby yielding an incredibly awesome experience known as the “boosted launch”. In ET it is not necessary to do this but it is more fun if you do. Once you get to the boost level you want you will then creep forward a few inches to break another set of beams. You will know you have gone far enough when 2 more little yellow lights come on right under the 2 lights that are already lit. Now there are 4 little yellow lights on; you are committed and ready for the green light! Unfortunately if you wait for the green light you will lose.