Cold weather racing

Looking at going to the track on Sunday, last blast before winter. Weather forcast is calling for a low of 27 and a high around 45. Never ran in that cold of temps, expecting in the 40's at run time .....noon to 5:00pm. Anyone have experience running in these low temps? I run ET drag slicks, would there be a prefered burnout technique for a cold track? Any help will be appreciated. Thanks.

I have run in the cold a few times. I have had better traction in the cold than in the heat of summer when the track gets greasy. In the cold I try to do a little longer burnout. Maybe just 2-3 seconds longer than usual.

My only other tip is to be sure the engine and trans is warm! Be sure the oil is up to temp. Make a few laps around the pits. Just because the coolant is up to temp doesn't mean the oil is up to temp. The oil in more important to me than coolant.

I ran my best in my 06 Charger also during the cold.

Yes, as others have said, do a little longer burnout. Warm up the engine and get the oil hot but then cool down the water, 140-150 would be best. That will help produce the most power. I don't know how fast your running, but be a little careful down track as a cold track can be a little loose. Have fun!

Our track will not open if the forcast temp is below 45. As Brett said the low track temp can be difficult to prep for a higher powered car so be careful.

45*???!!! Thats not cold, THIS is cold Merrill Ice Draggers INC. Since 1965

Well, had a decent trip to the track today. It was alot more crowded than I expected, and there were some oil downs, broken cars, etc...., so I only got 4 passes in. One was pretty much poop, but I had tried something and found out "don't try that again"! The other three passes were clean. For me, starting line traction was great and I pulled a 1.43, 1.44, and a 1.53 60 foot times. the 1.53 was a "foot brake" pass that resulted in an 11.02 @ 119.8 mph. The 1.44 60' resulted in a new personal best of 10.91 @ 120 mph off the trans brake. My final pass had the 1.43 60' and probably would have been in the 10.8 's, but the track seemed to "go away" and from about the 60' mark on I felt like I was skating, car was a real handful. Ended up with a 10.95 @ 120. Didn't get any videos, my camera man had to work today.

Just curious but was your 'dont try that again!!' experience?

Originally Posted by SLCK64

Just curious but was your 'dont try that again!!' experience?

It was a simple thing. I rigged up the alt up to a switch so i could turn it off at the begining of a run and turn it back on at the end. I switched it off when I staged, held in the t-brake button, and when I brought the r's up on the 2-step.....the sudden draw of the combined electronics allowed the t-brake solenoid to release. It bumped through the lights (red light), then grabbed again since I still had the button down. I let off the button when I realized what had happened, made the pass. Showed a 60' of 3.694 sec(LOL), 13.29 ET @ 119.8mph, mathematically came out to a ~11.09 pass.

Wanted to see if the alt was eating any horsepower, found out it's needed in my case.

I tried the t-brake a couple times on the return road with the alt back on. Worked perfectly.

Won't do that again.

Does your car slow if the alternator is left "on"? Mine is faster with it on. And more consistent.