Weird ways to cut a light

Tim Ellis · 10-20-2009, 08:20 AM

Tell me about the weird ways youve had to cut a light, most likely in your slow stockers. Ill get it started. In my slooow truck I have my foot hovering over the gas pedal , and leave on the 2nd yellow, >03 +- lights. In my 15 second mustang auto I used one foot, I pushed hard on the brake [right foot] , then hit the gas whe n the 2nd yellow came on. Of course ive gone deep, used a 2 step, and another item that worked very well was a kicker, a solenoid that held the throttle open after staging. What have you done to get a slow car to cut a light, especially with deep staging not allowed?

Michael Beard · 10-20-2009, 10:30 AM

The one and only time I ever raced my mom's '85 Chrysler 5th Avenue... I figured that you could RUN faster than this thing (which turned out to be true, as I've run 2.96 on foot, and the 5th Ave ran 3.09!). First ever pass, dropped the sunvisor covering just the TOP bulb, shallow staged, and left off the flash of the 2nd bulb. I think it was an .028 on the first hit. LOL I remember I had an .011 first round of eliminations.

Had a few cars that I left on the 2nd bulb going out, or otherwise had to count. My current car, I've taken as many as 3 bumps after staging to find the tree at some places. Gone deep before, but was red-lighting, and used flip-up clip-on sunglasses to kill about .010 in R/T.

Tim Ellis · 10-20-2009, 06:26 PM

Good creative solutions for different cars michael, any more anyone? How bout ways to quicken or slow a few hundredths? Blinders are a good option. How consistent are you when counting the lights down vs go when see?

racerhead · 10-20-2009, 06:44 PM

Front tire size is a very reliable way to quicken or slow the car's reaction time. A two inch tire diameter change is worth about 3/4 inch in rollout. That seems to be worth about .020 in reaction time, depending on several factors.

Bruce Deveau

gmonde · 10-20-2009, 08:15 PM

when you are cutting decent lights in car you just bracket race foot brake you dont really think about leaving the starting line but when you go from a car that 60's in the 1.70 range to the mid 1.540's it can really reck havic on the spot where to leave ,and to add having the two step hooked up to the brake pedal just adds to the the many changes that have to be adjusted ,,i have experimented with the following
blinder taped on the helmet(leaving on the flash of last bulb)
releasing the foot brake with the heel(i have size 13.5 shoe )not easy kept on sticking my toes in the insturment cluster
waiting to the third bulb goes out
counting the bulbs
if anything it has help me develope a skill that makes you tune in to the bulb from when it just starts to light ,to its brightest point, back to where it just fades out

gmonde

bill dedman · 10-20-2009, 10:01 PM

I saw a guy win the World Finals once, in a low 14-second Stocker, by staging the car very shallow, and, at a considerable angle to the starting line (crooked).... increasing his rollout by a bunch! Wasn't a heads-up race, so I'm not sure he accomplished much with that little trick, but the other car spotted him a tenth or two, and, when the tree came down, the quicker car red-lit. Might have been that unnerving aspect of seeing that slower car leaving what must have looked WAY early, but the second-to-leave car red-litl

I don't know if you could get away with that crooked staging, nowdays, but, it worked back then....

rick lester · 10-21-2009, 04:22 AM

i have used just about every trick out there, ie... shallow stage, angled stage, offset suspension, bigger tire on one side, etc. even some that are illegal. we had this guy at my hometrack in the 80's (75 & 80 in monrovia md) that would turn on his brights. 67 pontiac bonnie if i remember correctly. each side was angled to shine directly at the tree depending on which lane he was in, if in the left lane, ligts on right side shined directly at tree, right lane left lights. after both cars were staged, he would turn his brights off to change brightness of tree, thereby throwing off driver in the other lane. as far as i can remember he raced only at nights, so this is the only time i would say this trick would work. he was an excellent racer, always stayed under almost everybodies radar, almost everybody. i knew of his trick, so next time i raced him, i "accidently" let my car roll the lights after both of us were staged and he clicked his brights. stater let me restage. that threw him off his game just enough for me to take the win.still to this day nobody ever knew what i did to be beat him at his own game. that is until now, 21 years later, te he! i guess thats could be considered a weird way to cut a light. rick.

10-20-2009, 08:20 AM	#1
Tim Ellis Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Beavercreek Or. Posts: 272 Likes: 31 Liked 7 Times in 6 Posts	Weird ways to cut a light Tell me about the weird ways youve had to cut a light, most likely in your slow stockers. Ill get it started. In my slooow truck I have my foot hovering over the gas pedal , and leave on the 2nd yellow, >03 +- lights. In my 15 second mustang auto I used one foot, I pushed hard on the brake [right foot] , then hit the gas whe n the 2nd yellow came on. Of course ive gone deep, used a 2 step, and another item that worked very well was a kicker, a solenoid that held the throttle open after staging. What have you done to get a slow car to cut a light, especially with deep staging not allowed?

10-20-2009, 10:30 AM	#2
Michael Beard VIP Member Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Columbus, OH Posts: 4,060 Likes: 0 Liked 13 Times in 9 Posts	Re: Weird ways to cut a light The one and only time I ever raced my mom's '85 Chrysler 5th Avenue... I figured that you could RUN faster than this thing (which turned out to be true, as I've run 2.96 on foot, and the 5th Ave ran 3.09!). First ever pass, dropped the sunvisor covering just the TOP bulb, shallow staged, and left off the flash of the 2nd bulb. I think it was an .028 on the first hit. LOL I remember I had an .011 first round of eliminations. Had a few cars that I left on the 2nd bulb going out, or otherwise had to count. My current car, I've taken as many as 3 bumps after staging to find the tree at some places. Gone deep before, but was red-lighting, and used flip-up clip-on sunglasses to kill about .010 in R/T. __________________ Michael Beard - NHRA/IHRA 3216 S/SS

10-20-2009, 06:26 PM	#3
Tim Ellis Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Beavercreek Or. Posts: 272 Likes: 31 Liked 7 Times in 6 Posts	Re: Weird ways to cut a light Good creative solutions for different cars michael, any more anyone? How bout ways to quicken or slow a few hundredths? Blinders are a good option. How consistent are you when counting the lights down vs go when see?

10-20-2009, 06:44 PM	#4
racerhead Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Posts: 187 Likes: 0 Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Re: Weird ways to cut a light Front tire size is a very reliable way to quicken or slow the car's reaction time. A two inch tire diameter change is worth about 3/4 inch in rollout. That seems to be worth about .020 in reaction time, depending on several factors. Bruce Deveau

10-20-2009, 08:15 PM	#5
gmonde Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2007 Posts: 615 Likes: 56 Liked 165 Times in 59 Posts	Re: Weird ways to cut a light when you are cutting decent lights in car you just bracket race foot brake you dont really think about leaving the starting line but when you go from a car that 60's in the 1.70 range to the mid 1.540's it can really reck havic on the spot where to leave ,and to add having the two step hooked up to the brake pedal just adds to the the many changes that have to be adjusted ,,i have experimented with the following blinder taped on the helmet(leaving on the flash of last bulb) releasing the foot brake with the heel(i have size 13.5 shoe )not easy kept on sticking my toes in the insturment cluster waiting to the third bulb goes out counting the bulbs if anything it has help me develope a skill that makes you tune in to the bulb from when it just starts to light ,to its brightest point, back to where it just fades out gmonde

10-20-2009, 10:01 PM	#6
bill dedman VIP Member Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Conway, AR Posts: 1,739 Likes: 0 Liked 6 Times in 4 Posts	Re: Weird ways to cut a light I saw a guy win the World Finals once, in a low 14-second Stocker, by staging the car very shallow, and, at a considerable angle to the starting line (crooked).... increasing his rollout by a bunch! Wasn't a heads-up race, so I'm not sure he accomplished much with that little trick, but the other car spotted him a tenth or two, and, when the tree came down, the quicker car red-lit. Might have been that unnerving aspect of seeing that slower car leaving what must have looked WAY early, but the second-to-leave car red-litl I don't know if you could get away with that crooked staging, nowdays, but, it worked back then.... __________________ Bill

10-21-2009, 04:22 AM	#7
rick lester Member Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Littlestown PA Posts: 163 Likes: 9 Liked 4 Times in 1 Post	Re: Weird ways to cut a light i have used just about every trick out there, ie... shallow stage, angled stage, offset suspension, bigger tire on one side, etc. even some that are illegal. we had this guy at my hometrack in the 80's (75 & 80 in monrovia md) that would turn on his brights. 67 pontiac bonnie if i remember correctly. each side was angled to shine directly at the tree depending on which lane he was in, if in the left lane, ligts on right side shined directly at tree, right lane left lights. after both cars were staged, he would turn his brights off to change brightness of tree, thereby throwing off driver in the other lane. as far as i can remember he raced only at nights, so this is the only time i would say this trick would work. he was an excellent racer, always stayed under almost everybodies radar, almost everybody. i knew of his trick, so next time i raced him, i "accidently" let my car roll the lights after both of us were staged and he clicked his brights. stater let me restage. that threw him off his game just enough for me to take the win.still to this day nobody ever knew what i did to be beat him at his own game. that is until now, 21 years later, te he! i guess thats could be considered a weird way to cut a light. rick. Last edited by rick lester; 10-21-2009 at 04:24 AM.