Drag racing experience - 15 or 17 inch rear wheels?

[Red-Candy-Metallic]

March 17, 2024 - car # 1113 (Time trial, first round, buy-back round)
The forecast for this day was very similar to the previous day, so I was hoping to more accurately predict how the car would perform and run closer to my dial-in. I ran a quicker time trial and once again lost in the first round, this time due to the car running slower than I thought it would (considering the previous days results). Consequently, I gave away time that I couldn't make up. On the buy-back round, I still missed my dial-in, but I was gifted a win, due to my opponent breaking out. DA was 1429, 1957, 2393 respectively. My RTs were still too high, unlike my opponents who seemed to have honed that aspect of things.

 

[Red-Candy-Metallic]

March 17, 2024 - Car # 1113 (third round, quarter (no dial, no slip), quarter "do over", semi)
Luck continued to carry me through three more rounds before I fouled out in the semi-final round. Going into the third round, I continued to adjust my dial-in, hoping to get that closer to the truth. This round was narrowly given to me as my opponent just missed catching me at the trap (MOV .0168), obviously trying to avoid breaking out. Although he lost, he sure as hell knew how to drive his car. What happened next was one of those WTF moments. I was now into the quarter finals and my opponent had a slightly quicker dial-in and lane choice (didn't really matter to me). To digress a little, one of the tips my buddy had given me was, "don't stage if your dial-in doesn't appear on the time board". That was sage advice given was happened. We stagged, he fouled out, and I got the win light on my board. When I got to the shack to pick up my time slip, the kid told me that because they never posted the dial-ins on the boards, we had to run the race again. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't thrilled with the situation, but I went back to the stagging lanes as instructed and we immediately ran again. It didn't occur to me to adjust my dial-in for the "hot lap", because the car has run within a few thousandths previously, hot lapping on Test & Tune nights. Getting lucky again, as my car waddled down the track and I ran a full tenth over my dial-in, my opponent broke-out. Now, much to my amazement, I was in the semi-finals. My semi-final opponent had been the runner-up on the day before and had gotten a buy into the semi-finals today based on the lowest RT. Given my lackluster RTs up to this point, I attempted to shave a little time off this one and fouled out. As the last slips shows, he knew how to work the tree. Even though I fouled out, it appears that he ran the race straight up as did I from that point on. I reached the trap first (1st .0456), breaking out by .002 and then he crossed after breaking out by .005. Given his RT, and my additional head-start from fouling out, it's obvious that's the only reason that I beat him to the trap. Regardless, aside from me red lighting, it looks like a great race on the slip. BMP's next bracket event isn't until May 4, but I will attempt to improve my own performance prior to that, by attending as many Test & Tune events as I can get to in the meantime.

 

[Midlife Crises]

Great weekend of racing. I might have chewed my fingernails to nubs before the end of the second day.

 

[Red-Candy-Metallic]

Great weekend of racing. I might have chewed my fingernails to nubs before the end of the second day.

The weather was nice, even though the DA was a little high. It was definitely a learning experience for me. Although I try to be stoic and matter of fact, I certainly got anxious between rounds. While they assigned the pairing in the quarters and semis, up to that point it was happenstance, and you could get the two best guys in your first two rounds. I was definitely fortunate to make it to the semi-finals on the second day, as that wasn't the result of stellar driving on my part.

 

[429244]

I'm glad to see that you are racing. Test and tune is fun but at some point, you have to prove it. Well done.
DA change is part of racing. There are a few ways to monitor it. I use https://airdensityonline.com/tracks/ . If the weather at your track changes rapidly, you will find that good records and weather monitoring matters.
On another note, you 60' times are not as consistent as I would expect with a stock vehicle. That could be a few things. If you are getting good traction, make you you are staging consistently. Try shallow staging until you get the hang of it with consistent 60' times.
Have fun with it!

 

[Red-Candy-Metallic]

I'm glad to see that you are racing. Test and tune is fun but at some point, you have to prove it. Well done.
DA change is part of racing. There are a few ways to monitor it. I use https://airdensityonline.com/tracks/ . If the weather at your track changes rapidly, you will find that good records and weather monitoring matters.
On another note, you 60' times are not as consistent as I would expect with a stock vehicle. That could be a few things. If you are getting good traction, make you you are staging consistently. Try shallow staging until you get the hang of it with consistent 60' times.
Have fun with it!

Thanks for commenting and offering advice. I have been keeping a detailed spreadsheet of how the car (and I) perform. I have been recording the DA and I am monitoring it as you have suggested, but obviously, I still misjudged the effect on ET. I do believe that the car is hooking fine, so I am fairly sure that the variable 60' times are due to my inconsistent staging, which probably includes varying launch rpm. As always, knowing what needs to be done and getting it done are two different things. I have also been data logging quite a bit at Test & Tune events, trying to illuminate things that are otherwise are hard to know (knock, etc.). However, I was afraid that it would be too distracting in a competitive setting, so unfortunately I don't have that level of data for this event.
Thanks for the encouragement!

 

[Red-Candy-Metallic]

I had the opportunity to complete in another weekend of bracket racing, May 4 - 5. Bradenton Motorsports Park, Florida. In a reverse of the March events, Saturday was my best day as I managed to reach the quarter finals before being eliminated. Sunday was a short day, as I lost the first round and the buy-back round, but still gained some valuable experience. I will be posting the digital timeslips instead of the paper timeslips, as they also include the temperature, humidity, and DA.

 

[Red-Candy-Metallic]

May 4, 2024. Car # 1113 (Time trial, first round, second/buy-back round, third round, quarter finals)
I was gifted the first two rounds as my opponents both fouled out (red light). I chose my dial-ins based on the increasing DA, but the car actually went faster than the time trial run, perhaps based on the additional cool-down time. In the third round, I managed to get to the stripe with enough room to stand on the brakes to avoid breaking out.
In the quarter-finals, I lost to an opponent who has beaten me previously, playing me like a fiddle at the finish line.

 

[Red-Candy-Metallic]

May 5, 2024. Car # 1113 (Time trial, first round, second/buy-back round)

I ran on a half tank of fuel, so the car was a little quicker. My first round opponent was driving a diesel pickup truck and left the tree almost 3 seconds before me. I managed to catch and pass him around the 1000 foot marker but then I stood on the brakes too hard... exactly .0096 too hard. Note to self: more finesse before the stripe. In the buy-back round, I raced a track buddy and it wasn't even close, as I was caught snoozing at the tree and he cut a respectable light. For that matter, all three of my RTs for the day were lousy.

 

[JC SSP]

Good consistent E/T’s. Well done buddy.

 

[Red-Candy-Metallic]

Good consistent E/T’s. Well done buddy.

Thanks, JC SSP! I'm still learning but I think I'm hooked now! Good blend of a little success and a fair amount of humbling. I am back in Massachusetts for the summer so I will be trekking up to New England Dragway with my 2012 Mustang GT. That car is a manual 6-speed so I know I will struggle to match the consistency of the 2014 GT with the automatic. They occasionally run some bracket events and also some index racing. I will probably try my luck in the 12.5 index. The tuff part is that track has been getting rained out quite a bit, but hopefully some good weather will prevail on the right dates.