| Bret went into a ton of detail on just staging the car. It got into the math and science of how staging effects your time. I think we spent an hour + on just the 7 inches of staging lights. Things I/we learnt;
1. drag racing is not a standing start race. it's actually rolling start. the car can move up to 7 inches on the line before the timer starts, which makes it a rolling start.
2. staging the car deep versus shallow can be worth .3 on your 1/4 mile time (in a 15 second car).
3. a 1" difference in the stage will effect 15% of your 60 foot time.
4. Your MPH reading at the 1/8th and 1/4 marks are inaccurate at best. They are simply a average time across a 60 foot set of timing lights. If you hit 100mph across the 1/4 marks, you are closer to 103 to 105 in reality.
5. Um, it was way suprisingly informative.
6. Bret Kepner is super knowledgable. He even brought in a nationally ranked (8th in the world) driver to show us how to stage a full bodied street car and offer his additional input on subjects as they came up. If you watch NHRA coverage on ESPN/ESPN2 on the weekends, that deep voiced guy is our instructor. It was totally Twilight Zone for me. On top of that, Bret is super enthusiastic about the sport and the education, so it made it easy to follow and time went fast.
7. I was thinking about Arnel the entire time I was there. Since later series of classes is set around bracket racing, which is Brets specialty.... in rental cars alot of the time. However, everything that was covered last night can be used by anyone at the track. And here's the sales pitch;
This is just a reminder that Gateway Int'l Raceway's FREE Drag Racing School begins its ninth year on Thursday, May 5th, at the track in Madison, IL, just two miles from the Gateway Arch. Everybody, (racers, crew, spouses, kids, etc.), is invited; there is no cost for the class, no admission charge, and no expense incurred during the course. The classes meet on the first Thursday of each month at 7 PM at the dragstrip control tower. (Be sure to tell the guard at the security gate you're there to attend the school). Classes meet rain or shine and are held out on the starting line when it's nice (no mosquitoes) or in the air-conditioned media room of the tower when it's not. Each class covers a different main topic and lasts until 9:00-9:30 PM, (including bathroom/smoking break). This is not a "Go On Green and Drive A Straight Line" type of program. It's a hardcore series of lessons guaranteed to make you a better racer. Although some aspects are devoted to bracket racing, most of it is directed to applicable information for any drag racer. It is intense and technical but the basics of each concept are always explained for the novice. Subjects covered include Staging Technique, Launch Technique, Logging Speadsheet Information, Tuning Decisions In Relation To Weather Conditions, and Drag Racing Psychology. Front-wheel-drive theory and motorcycle applications are also specifically addressed in each class. Participants do not need to bring a vehicle (to race) for the first class, but later courses do include on-track sessions. Graduates of the Gateway Drag Racing School include six track points champions (and two Junior Dragster track champs), five National Event champions, two NHRA Divisional Champions, and two NHRA Top Five season competitors...several of whom had never raced before enrolling in the class! Believe it or not, another graduate has won the last four IHRA Top Fuel Eliminator World Championships! Whether you want to or not, you WILL become a better racer. It's also a great way for your "significant other" to finally understand what's going on! Bring something to drink, a notepad, and a pen. Hope to see you there!
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