The performance of the car is not my problem. I finally have admitted that the reason I can't get through the second round is my unreliable reaction times. Every trip is the same situation. Today I made three passes and each time the reactions varied big time. First pass- -.055, 2nd pass- .019, 3rd pass- .222. The guy i race with has been around racing since he was eight and has been driving for about ten years, he thinks it's how I am staging. He told me that when I stage I am never really in the same place but I do take off at the same time. Is it safe to say that where I stage has an effect on my r/t? If so whats the best way to stage? And BTW I'm a newbie at this so any input will help. Thanks.

 

You should start with staging in the same place every time. Roll into the beams until the prestage light is on. Now roll slowly into the stage beam. As soon as the stage light comes on, stop!. You can roll about another 6" or so until the prestage light goes out to deep stage yourself but you have no way of knowing how far you roll in each time.

Once you get used to staging in the same spot, work on reaction times with the lights. An LED tree is harder to judge than an incandescent light tree because the lights come on instantly. The old incandescent lights you can actually watch come on and go off. You can the judge exactly when the best time to launch would be by the brightness of the bulb.

If you get consistant .2xx lights from this method, either adjust your reaction to the lights or try moving a little more into the beams.

My problem now is getting past second round. 2 races in a row I red lit in the second round. Last week was a -.026 and yesterday was a -.027. That's with my daily driver truck. Once the engine for the car is back together it's not so hard because I use a delay box and a transbrake to launch the car Top bulb racing is so much easier. Reaction time is slow, add more delay and try again until I red light then take out some delay. Once the delay box is adjusted so I can't red light, my reaction times are usually no worse than .02x unless I'm really asleep at the tree.

Once you're staged and ready to go, ignore everything except your part of the tree. Any distractions will cause you to make a mistake. Stare at that bottom yellow light and nothing else. Ignore all the other lights. Don't try to count down the lights. Humans are terrible timing devices. If you stare at that bottom yellow, you have a better chance at getting a good reaction time. As soon as that last yellow comes on, go.

I glance over at my opponent just to see if I'm going to leave first or not but after that I have no idea who's beside me or what they're doing until somewhere down near the end of the track.

 

Thanks. That was very well put and makes a lot of sense. I have only raced with a incandesant light once and had horrible reactions but I do alot better with the LED. I'll work on it but as a newb I still don't expect to win much. Good luck with your project.

 

The staging beams are a set distance apart. The amount of movement between the beams is called rollout. How deep or shallow you stage has everything to do with the amount of rollout you have before tripping the red bulb.

Shallow staging, just barely lighting the stage light provides the most rollout which translates to slower reaction time and quickest ET. Deep staging, going in so deep the pre-stage bulb goes out provides the quickest reaction time and slowest ET.

It is always easier to change something on the car than it is to change the driver. In addition to having a quick reaction time, the overriding goal is to be consistent. Consistency comes from practice and doing things the same way every time.

Both front and back tire pressure changes will affect reaction time. Tire size will affect reaction time. RPM's at launch will affect reaction time. Cloud cover, night, and sunlight will affect reaction time.

It takes lots of practice asnd experience to determine where to leave and then to train yourself to do the same thing every time. When talking about reaction times we are dealing with hundredths of seconds between a good reaction time and a poor one. A .520 will often go rounds where a .550 will not, and then there seem to be "streaks where sometimes I cut a string of .515's or something but encounter an opponent who is cutting .50's...

just do the same thing every time, get your reactions consistent and competitve, and sooner or later you will start going rounds.

BTW: I had one redlight in eliminations last season, running two classes. I believe it is better to be late than red.

 

Shallow stage:
come up very easy and turn the top bulb on. (Prestage bulb)
very gently bump in small increments to make the 2nd bulb flash (Stage bulb)
just tap in just enough to make the 2nd bulb come on.(Stage bulb)

Deep stage:
come up very easy and turn the top bulb on (Prestage bulb)
bump easy to turn the 2nd bulb on (Stage bulb)
very gently bump in small increments to make the top bulb flash (prestage bulb)
just tap in just enought to make the top bulb go out (prestage bulb)

these are the only 2 places that you know that you are in the exact same spot.

Pick either spot then adjust you car to launch slower or faster. I don't recomend that you take another bump deeper to get a better RT because you don't know where the car is really staged. Rule of thumb is that a deep stage will increase you ET by .1 and decrease you RT by .1

It takes practice, practice, and more practice. Good luck.

 

I'm glad that everyone has narrowed down my problem. I am going to have to rember this next time. It does make a lot of sense now and after watching a few rounds last night everyone that continued was doing exactly what you guys are telling me to do. Thanks.