Tips for first time at track?

I am going to go to the track and race my first time. Can i get some good tips on getting solid runs? Mostly what is the best way to get started? i have an m6 and am wondering what is the best way to not roast the tires and get my best 60' possible?

If you've never been to a track your best bet is to park your car and WATCH and LEARN:)

If not start by taking everything out of your car so that you pass tech. Tech might be tough or it might just be a visual inspection so do that before you get there to make sure you'll pass. Lug nuts all there, tires in good shape, battery firmly secured, enough gas so you don't run out:D..

Learning to drive the car is just that. Figure out first how the staging lights work by pulling up to them SLOWLY. Driving around the water box would be smart. Forget doing any kind of burnout just pull up to the lights and make sure first gear is slotted.:)If you want to learn fast you gotta start slow. When the lights go green just take off as normal and apply progressive throttle pressure once the clutch is let all the way out. You'll start to feel how sticky the track is. next time around get more and more aggressive with dropping the clutch and releasing the clutch from 1000rpm, 1500rpm, 2000rpm, 3000rpm, etc. Cleaning off your tires with a quick spin before you get to the lights is a good idea once you're not concerned with staging, etc. Goodluck and have fun.

On yeah and if the car blows the tires away and gets sideways, get off the throttle. I see too many morons out there in 15 and 16 second cars dumping the clutch as wildly as possible and either hitting walls or even the tree. There's just no excuse for that man.:)

Can't really give you much advice since your driving an m6 car, but it's a good idea for your first go to take it easy and make a practice run, not really trying, just to get the feel of everything.

...of course, when you get up to the tree you'll probably forget about that and just go all out, like I did my first time :D

Where you at in Ohio? I am in Mentor, 20 miles east of Cleveland. I assume you are running plain 245-50zr-16 street tires, right? Your best bet would be to get yourself a set of drag radials. If you can't manage getting a set of drag radials then you will be in for some interesting passes down the strip. If I was you I would drop your rear tire pressure down to 25psi and air the front tires up to 42-44psi(raising the front tire pressure will reduce the rolling resistance of the front tires). Just like AutoRoc said...don't drive through the water in the burnout box. If you do go through the water I am sure you be confronted by several other racers and they won't be happy with you because your street tires will carry a lot of water all the way up to the staging line. Attempt to go completely around the water box then dump the clutch at say 4000rpm or so in 1st on DRY pavement; this will remove any grease, dirt, stones, or debris from the tires. You don't need to do a three gear burnout with street tires. There are two things that will occur from you doing a massive burnout on your street tires...1) You will have to buy new tires soon because you just wasted them and 2) You will lose even more traction then by not burning the tires. Radial street tires used on today's cars have a rubber compound that doesn't react well to heat. Basically when you smoke the heck out of the tires, you are melting the rubber and thus causing a loss in the tire's grip. This doesn't apply to DRAG RADIALS or SLICKS; they require heat to become sticky and give your car traction. Now that you have properly cleaned off the rear tires, pull up to the PRE-STAGE light beam and stop right there. With a six speed it's a good idea to pump the clutch pedal and row through the gears 1-2 2-3 3-4 and then back in the reverse. This will help reduce the possibility of missing a gear. When you are ready let off the brake and slip the clutch a bit until you are STAGED. With the stock clutch you should be able to find the sweet spot in the clutch pedal where you can hold the car still without using the brake or throttle. Find this spot and bring the rpm up to 2500 and hold it there. At this point you can try two different methods of launching depending on the condition of your stock clutch and the track. The first method is simply to sidestep the clutch(just jerk your foot to the left of the clutch pedal as fast as possible)and don't apply any more throttle at all; just keep the gas pedal exactly where you were holding it while you were staged at 2500 rpm. The car will lunge forward, the rear-end will squat a bit and the front-end will lift. As the front-end begins to drop apply the throttle in one quick smooth motion until you are at full throttle. The second method is instead of side-stepping the clutch, on the 3rd yellow light lift your left leg in a smooth motion; by this I mean...look at the position your left leg and foot is in when you are holding the clutch at the sweet spot when STAGED, now what I want you to do is (by using the upper muscles in you thigh) raise your entire leg but keep it in the same position. You will have to do this in a single smooth motion(similar to how you let up on the clutch when pulling away from a redlight or stop sign. Now here's the kicker....as you are doing this with the clutch, push the gas pedal to the floor at the same rate as you're lifting the clutch. When the clutch is completely engaged(pedal out) you should have the gas pedal to the floor or very close to it. You will have to either powershift or speedshift to get your best ET but both power/speed shifting takes A LOT of practice and if not done right will cost you a rebuild on the T56 and possibly engine work too. I would recommend speed-shifting over power shifting. In case you don't know the difference: power-shifting is shifting without letting up on the throttle at all, and speed-shifting is letting up on the throttle just before you shift. With enough practice speed-shifting is just as fast as powershifting. Try these methods and try differnt launch rpms to see what works for your car and track. I would get some tires first. Practice practice and practice some more! Only practice will give you the Ets and 60fts you desire.

T-56 + DRs = dead 10-bolt

I wrote a little "primer" on drag racing. Go to www.kennedysdynotune.com and click on "Tech Tips" in the left hand menu. Follow the link to "Intro to Drag Racing".

Rich Krause

Addition can go ethier way. A + B = B + A. Or at least that is what my math book says. :D

Originally posted by Steve Y
Are you sure? I thought it was slicks + T-56 = dead 10 bolt.

You'll get a few runs, but it won't last. I've seen many T-56es break 10-bolts with stock tires. A buddy of mine had a bone stock 98 ss and ruined his 10-bolt doing an M6 burnout.

each 10 bolt has its own threshhold of strength. I have beat the hell out of my 00 WS6s and its still ok. Remember he is running a stock clutch and running on a crap track.