Please add your experience to bracket drag racing to help those who are new to this sport.

I'll start and you can add your input to this thread.

• In the end you are racing against the time clock so mostly ignore the car in the other lane.
• Just know if they are to leave before or after you when the tree lights start so you are not surprised which of you are leaving the line 1st.
• For normal bracket racing from the time the tree light starts to the green light is .500 of 1 second, so practice your launch until your start time is just barely over .500
• Make up a game plan on how you race, make it a normal routine such as turning off functions you would not want on during a drag race such as the A/C, power adders, traction control, etc for in many cases people forget to turn them off and then suffer longer times during the race.
• Come prepared, such as you need long pants and shirts, helmet, white shoe polish so you can put your dial in time on windshield, tire pressure gauge to adjust tire pressure, etc.
• Decide how you want to stage at the lights, deep stage is when the tires trip on the 2nd stage light you could roll the car just a bit more forward which means you will trip the start timer sooner and have shortened up the total length.
• Early stage is the front tires are a bit further back which helps prevent tripping the start timer before the green light comes on and your DQ'd.
• Practice launching off the line, with stock tires your 60 foot time should be close to 2 seconds, any longer and your adding even more time at the finish line.
• Adjust rear stock tires air pressure to get better traction and 60 foot times but no lower then about 25 PSI for tires could then spin on the wheel rims.
• Dial in time - in bracket racing you have to write on the windshield what elapsed time you would cross the finish line. If you get there sooner then your dial in you lose, meaning you broke out of your ET.
• As the race day goes on you get better and faster, when it gets dark out and temps lower, the car goes faster so you need to adjust your dial in ET with that in mind.
• Once you have your car dialed in for best run look at how much gas was in the tank and then use about the same amount each time you go to a drag strip.
• Practice launching off the line and find what RPM the engine should be to get the best 60 foot time. There is no need to launch with engine at 5,000 RPMs when car leaves the line better at 1,200 RPMs.
• Drive hard past the finish line, do not lift off the gas pedal BEFORE the finish line.
• If your winning the race it is bad manners to jam on the brakes to slow down before the finish line, it makes the loser even feel worse they lost but also to a car that was on the brakes.
  He will remember you and will want to get even at a later time.
• Sand bagging - that is when someone dials in a slower ET but really can go faster. Then if they have fallen behind from a bad start can still catch and pass you, catch you off gaurd and they win.
• Between runs lift the hood so the engine can cool down since engine runs better when it and the air is cooler. Some bring dry ice and put that onto intake to cool it down so the air in it is cooler when launching