New time racers to the board... what hooks on the street nearly never works on the strip. A 14 second car may hook on all street trim. Minus another second from the equation and you'll have to find other means to launch. This will hold true as long as you make more power and want to go faster.

Keep trying things, even thigs you swore didn't work before.Case in point, I was NEVER a believer in air bag(s). NEVER/EVER did I feel an air bag in the spring helped me, BUT... I kept it in there and I'll be darned if one day, this year, I pumped it up to around 30 PSI and it worked, at least according to a time slip. Don't give up and don't stop asking people that hook, how they do it.

The cars that win are cars that can count on consistant hook and good driver reaction times. Having a car that will bang out the same numbers everytime doesn't hurt either. This is where you have to strive to be consistant with temps, staging launch rpm,
tire pressures, etc...

Most of all PRACTICE... even when I was a GREAT drag racer it usually took me three weeks of practice/race time to get my legs under me and start kicking butt on a consistant basis. I was never blessed with the ability to go out on day one and start, but once I got going look out, I was truely FEARED! I could and did many times win 3-4 races in a row before dropping a bit, brief lul and back kickin' booty again!

 

Good advice o' wise one!!

On a side note, do you have a daughter running track at WMU? If so, her name has been in the Kzoo Gazette quite a bit lately.

 

Not a legal one Chad, but there was that time back in '83??!! I worked for ConRail then and did a lot of staying on the western side of the state, Kaz, GR, BC, etc..., during work weeks, but I swear, I always pulled it out first!!!

Heck maybe I do!!!

 

There's been a Sarah Hinkley mentioned quite a bit lately and thought she was your offspring.