[Bill Baer]

Well
It's probably prudent to move progressively faster or just drive it progressively farther down the track with each pass. However these cars are long and have a lot of positive caster and are designed to and almost always go straight..So while they are fast, they are basically easy to drive.
Learning to do the burn out with out over reving and properly staging the car accurately every time may take a few passes to learn.
As far as maintence goes you will no doubt get a lot of different opinions but here what I would suggest.
Check the valve lash and valve spring pressures every weekend, assuming you running on methanol change the oil every 15-20 passes if you have a vacuumn pump you could go 40-50 passes before changing the oil. Change the trans fluid and clean or replace the pick up screen at about 75 passes.
Again if you runnin on methanol keep the fuel tank full and the pump submerged in fuel between race dates. If you can't keep the fuel pump submerged, or are storing it for winter drain the fuel, lube the pump and barrel valve with WD 40. Just like the sprint car you'll need to send the pump in for flow testing every year.
I also change the gear lube,valve springs and spark plugs every year. How often you need to freshen it up depends on how it leaks down and what type of rods you running. If it leaks more than 10-12 percent it,s tired I definitely wouldn't go much more than 100-125 passes on alumium rods. I know a lot of guys go much further on these rods but the alcohol funny car guys throw then away after 15 passes! Steel rods are usually good for more than 300 passes. Another note about aluminum rods don't drive them down I.e. don't use engine or compression braking put the car in neutral, use the brakes and or the chute to stop. If you have roller lifters, I replace them at freshen up (300 passes). I also freshen the trans at this time.

Consult the NHRA rule book for the frequency but the seat belts,flex plate , flex plate shield and transmission shields need to be replaced periodically.
I would recommend that once or twice a year (or more often) that you remove the body panels take a mirror and a flashlight an inspect all of the chassis welds. Chrome Molly is very strong but it's somewhat brittle and if it cracks it.s usually in the heat affected area of a weld ( within an inch or so of the weld)

The tires are usually good for about 100 passes, they will still have tread but the side walls wear out, monitor your 60' times when the drop or become inconsistent it may be time for new slicks. We also check the torque on the lug nuts every other weekend.

I'm sure you will get a lot of differing opinions on all of this but I'm sharing what has worked for me over the last 25+ years of building and racing dragsters.
If you have any questions give me a call.