Quick Drag Racing Technical Terms and Lessons - Dragstrip Talk - Super Street Online

Someone mentioned to us the other day that there are one or two of you who missed our first-ever How to Race & Win section way back in March '97. In that issue, we ran a story on what you can expect to find the first time you go to a drag race. Apparently, enough of you liked the "cool diagrams" enough to feel the need to ask us when we are going to show them again. Well, here they are. Now leave us alone. Enjoy.

Breaking out Obtaining an e.t. quicker than your dial-in time. Used only in bracket racing.

Christmas Tree Consists of a series of lights used to start the race. Each lane has two Pre-Stage lights, two Stage lights, three yellow lights, a green light, and a red light.

Dial-in time Used in bracket racing to give all racers a fair chance. It's the e.t. that you think you can repeat.

E.t. (Elapsed Time) The time it takes a vehicle to make one pass at the dragstrip. It's almost always measured in seconds.

Holeshot When one driver leaves the starting line way ahead of his or her opponent without redlighting.

Redlighting Leaving the starting line before the green light is activated.

Staged When both the Pre-Stage and Stage lights are activated on the Christmas Tree.

The staging light beams are located on each side of the starting lines. The Pre-Stage and Stage lights shoot a beam of light across the starting line at a reflector that directs the light back to its origin. When the light is interrupted by your tire, it engages the staging lights.

The trap speed of your vehicle is determined first by measuring the time it takes your car to go from Point A to Point B. That number is then plugged into an equation that derives the mph at the end of the quarter-mile. A mph timer is positioned at the beginning and end of the giant X at the finish line.

This is a classic example of how a dragstrip looks. Keep in mind that there may be variations at different tracks, so check them out beforehand. Once at the track, you'll start at the tech inspection area, then move to the pit area, staging lanes, burnout boxes, and starting line, and down the quarter-mile to the turnout points, timeslip booth, and back to the pits.