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I have included this for soon-to-be nostalgia racers who have not ventured down the track before. What is Dial-Your-Own Drag Racing ? The format of Dial-Your-Own Drag Racing has been put together to allow the budget racer to compete evenly with racers with more money to throw at their racing. It is used as the basis for sportsman style drag racing all over the world and is probably the most commonly used format until you get up into the more professional categories. In DYO drag racing, a handicap system is used to determine when the two competitors will get the green light to go. The great thing is YOU get to select your handicap. How does the handicap system work ? The Dial-In value (the handicap value) you need to nominate is the minimum amount of time you think your car will take to travel over the quarter mile distance. You determine this value by doing practice runs down the drag strip and seeing the results you get in elapsed time (ET), which is the time it takes you to travel the distance. To determine your final Dial-In to nominate, you may need to add some safety margin to the ETs you have accomplished, as your ETs may improve as the day progresses due to any number of causes including weather, your vehicle, your changing/improving driving style etc. Each competitor selects their Dial-In before the race so when two cars line up to race each other, the required handicap between the two cars can be calculated by the event organisers. The organisers calculate the handicap by subtracting the Dial-In of the faster of the two cars from the Dial-In of the slower car. The resulting value is the head start the slower car will get before the faster car is allowed to start down the track. An example of this is : Car A has
done practice run ETs of 15.65, 15.31 and 15.10 seconds so selects a Dial-In of
15.00 seconds Car A Dial-In
minus Car B Dial In = 15.00 - 13.10 = 1.90 seconds The theory is that if both drivers react to the start lights in the same way (this is Reaction Time - discussed below) and both manage to produce ETs that are identical to their Dial-Ins then they should cross the finish line at the same time. The closer you can get your Dial-In to your actual ET the more chance you have of winning as your competitor will have less handicap advantage. So why have the safety margin when selecting your Dial-In ? Going faster than your Dial-In is called Breaking Out. For instance, if Car A's ET was 14.90 on a 15.00 Dial-In, then Car A has "broken out" and automatically loses unless Car B also breaks out and by a larger amount. What is Reaction Time ? The other item that effects whether you will win or lose is your Reaction Time . This is the time it takes you to get your car moving off the start line from the time you receive the green start light. This is measured separately from your ET, with the ET timer starting when the Reaction timer stops. The total time of your run is from the time your light goes green until you cross the finish line. So total run time is : Total Run Time = Reaction Time + Elapsed Time So, if you have two cars that do the same ET on the same dial-in, the car that gets to the finish line first and wins is the car that has left the start line sooner. More information on the starting process if provided below, but keep in mind that if your vehicle leaves the start line before the green light you immediately loose the race unless the other competitor has done it before you. When this occurs a red light shows on the bottom light. So who Wins ? It is pretty simple. the car that gets to the finish line first ! That winning vehicle that gets to the finish line first is the car that has best (smallest) DYO package which is a combination of Reaction Time and difference between your Dial-In and ET. Your DYO package is calculated by : DYO Package = Reaction Time + (Elapsed Time - Dial-In) So if your reaction time was 0.125 second, your Dial-In was 15.00 and your Elapsed Time turned out to be 15.20 seconds, the resulting package is : 0.125 + (15.20 - 15.00) = 0.325 seconds If your competitor had a reaction time of 0.200, a Dial-In of 13.20 and and ET of13.35, his/her package would be : 0.200 + (13.35 - 13.20) = 0.350 seconds CONGRATULATIONS !!! You won as you DYO package is smaller. By the way, when you win
because your Reaction Time was faster than your opponents but your competitor's
combination of Dial-In and ET was better, this is called winning on a "hole shot". When to start the vehicle moving ?
Even though the Reaction timers start when the green light comes on, if you do not start your vehicle moving (release the brake and hit the accelerator) until you see the green light, your reaction time will not be very good. This is because it takes some time for your brain to kick in and to react to seeing the light and then getting your legs moving. Then, when you have got your limbs to do the right thing, the vehicle takes time to actually start to move and roll out of the starting beams and start the race. These times vary between drivers and between vehicles, however the more consistent they can be done, the more chance you have of winning. Because time is required for the above items, you must start the process of getting the car moving before you actually see the green light. Before the green start light comes on, there are three yellow lights that each light consecutively for 0.4 seconds. So what you see is the top yellow light (Yellow 1)come on for that interval, then go off and the next one light (Yellow 2) for that interval and go off, then the bottom yellow light (Yellow 3) for that interval then go off and the green "go" light comes on. The proper point in the sequence of the three yellow lights must be found to give the best reaction time without leaving the start line before the green light comes on. Because it varies between people and vehicles, it can only be found by trial and error. For instance, try starting the car moving (releasing the brake and pushing the accelerator) when you see the second yellow light come on. If the result is the red light coming on below the green, then you have left the start line too early. If that occurs, try reacting when you see the third yellow light come on. If you now find your reaction times are now too slow then you will have to start somewhere in between, say when you see the 2nd light go off. Please note that the lights on the left hand side are for the car in the left lane and the lights on the right hand side of the tree are for the car in the right lane. How to line up at the start line ? When you bring the car to the start line before the start of the race, two sets of small lights at the top of the tree are used to ensure the car starts from the right location. The top set of lights (Pre-Stage) comes on when you are close to the starting location. Roll your car forward until the top set of lights come on, then stop. Then slowly roll the vehicle forward until the second set of lights (Stage) come on, then stop the vehicle from rolling further forward. Try to stop the vehicle from rolling further forward after the Stage lights come on as it will help make your Reaction Times more repeatable and rolling further forward increases your chances of a red light. It is then a matter of waiting for the other lights to start their counting down sequence and you are off and racing.
I hope I have not made it sound complicated because it isn't. Go to the track and try it. If you have questions about this or any of the procedures at the track, there are generally people there (other competitors, track staff etc) who are more than happy to answer your questions. Good luck, safe racing and have fun ! |
