Something strange happened at South Mountain yesterday

I've never been to South Mountain Dragway in PA, so when my buddy called and asked if I wanted to go racing at South Mountain, I said sure. It's about 85 miles North of us. First time run we ran Lane 2 (right). Ran a 5.82 @ 114. 2nd time run went in Lane 1. Ran a 5.77 @ 118. Third time run ran Lane 2 at a 5.80 @118. Got Lane 2 in 1st round elim. Lane 1 red lit, we ran a 5.78 @ 118. 2nd round we got the bye, didn't run anyone, ran Lane 2 at 5.77 @118. 3rd round flipped for lane and got put in lane 1. Dialed a 5.72, since other lane came down .05 during the day. Had a 5.02 light, and ran a 5.86 @ 118. How can you lose more than a thenth of a second and still run the same mph you've been running all day??
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its all in your reaction time.

you get to 118 mph on a 1/4 mile regardless, if you reaction is .1 slower, your time will be .1 slower.


hope this helps (hope im right)


Ed Guy
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I presume this is a "bracket" race, Ive always wonderd how that works . If I dial in a 13.80 in my mustang cut a .99 light but run a perfect 13.80 and the guy in the other lane in the honda dials a 16.80 and cuts a .50 light runs a 17.0. does he win ??????? Chris

APEXL8R - yes as long as he gets there first. And he will by .29 based on your parameters (.99 light vs .50). If you meant to say a .599 vs a .550, then No - you win by .150 or so.

It works like this "you snooze, you lose.". I ran a 7.70 car in time trials and beat the car to the line because I treed 'em really bad. I was running 7.95~7.99.

>How can you lose more than a tenth of a second and still
>run the same mph you've been running all day??
After over 600 races and countless tweaking, figuring, pouring over run data, analyzing weather data, etc. I can conclusively state that it's because "**** happens". Look at your ET slip - it's somewhere between the 60' and the 330' mark most likely. MPH measures HP only and that has very little relation to your ET. Witness the slip sliding NOS car with the driver that won't give up and runs a 8.0 ET at 100+ MPH. (1/8 mile we're talking here).



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Spin the tires off the line and you will have more mph - hook and you will have less.Last time out I ran .1 faster at 60' and .2 faster at 1/8 but ran 2 mph slower in the 1/4.The old monty I wrenched on for a buddy would run 11.35 in the heat and 11.10 at night but would always run 120 - 121 mph.
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so sam the crew man which track you like better 75/80 or south mountian

I only live 1 mile from 75-80, so travel time goes to them. 1/4 mile vs. 1/8. The '33 pushes a lot of air down the track, so we like to run 1/8. Shut down area (hill at 75-80 vs. curve at SM) equal out. We don't have to pull the chute like I saw the dragsters do at SM. That can be a pain packing that thing. People at SM were very friendly. They would come up and give comments on the car. If you haven't been to 75-80 for 25 years, nothing changed. Same fence, same lighting?, same guard rails. Payouts are low, so we try to go where if we a lucky enough to win, we have something to show for it.
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