NEVER BEEN HERE BEFORE?
Welcome to Western Colorado Dragway
Let’s make your racing experience here at our track a memorable one.
Here are a few basics.
If you don’t know, ask! Everyone at the track knows what it is like to be a first timer. After all, nobody was born here.
If you can find someone that has gone, go with them. If not, then go to watch your first time. Go to the pits and visit with the racers. When you are ready to try your luck, race with us on Street Nights where it is open and you may make as many passes as you can. This is a great time for "newbies" to get out and try it without being under pressure.
Have fun and do ask any of the track officials (the people in yellow shirts) any questions you may have about drag racing
Driver Checklist for the Day:
Car (duh)
½ tank of gas (possibly less) (less weight = go faster)
Pen (to fill out your tech card)
Driver’s License and proof of insurance
White shoe polish, paper towels and windex (if you need to change dial in’s)
Proper clothes for the day’s weather. Cooler at night. To race you must be wearing long pants, shoes with closed toes and a t-shirt or shirt with sleeves.
Sunscreen (if racing during the day)
Helmet (required).
Money to race and for concessions
Bug repellant (for those big bad mosquitoes)
Fold up chairs
Cost:
Cost to race on Fridays is $10 and gate fee is $5 for everyone. Entry is allowed into the area at 6:00 p.m. but racing does not begin until 8:00 p.m. We will keep the tech area open until 10:00. You are always welcome to come and race with us on Saturday’s. $30.00 for Test and Tune - $45 for bracket racing
Front Gate to Finish Line
Pay your $5 at the gate
If you are planning on racing proceed to the tech area or find a place to park (pit spot) in the racer’s parking area until you are ready to run thru tech. The pits get full later, so don’t hog up a ton of spaces. Remove any loose items in your car.
Go to the concession stand (driver’s registration area) and pay your fees; receive your wrist band and tech card. Please bring your drivers license, proof of insurance, parent consent if under 18 (this must be notarized and an original) (This form may be found on our website: www.western-colorado-dragway.com).
Fill out your tech card and take it to the tech area with your car.
Usually, even a relatively highly modified late model car can pass tech easily. The tech inspector will write your cars number on your side and front windows where it will be visible to the tower.
When we are ready to get under way the announcer will call cars to the staging lanes (the four lanes running east to west). The staging lane operator will ask to see your wrist band before allowing you onto the starting line.
Once you are in the lanes, stay with your car.
When it is time for the cars in your staging lane to pull forward and be positioned to race a tack official at the front of the lanes will direct you. It is very important to pay attention! Watch the track officials at all times for proper direction.
After you have been paired up out of the staging lanes and pull up into the starting area be ready to go. The track official at the water box will check to make sure your windows are rolled up, seatbelts are on, and if it is after dark, your parking lights are on. Even on a well lit track, it is hard to see you at the other end if you have turned off or not. It would be a bad thing if you broke at the end of the track and they sent a pair of cars down because they thought the track was clear.
You will proceed to the burn out area where there will be track personnel to help you. You may roll thru the water box (not recommended for street tires) or pull around the water box. Do a short burnout to get the dirt off of your tires and heat them up a bit. Hold the brake with your left foot, and goose it with your right for a couple of seconds. If you have a clutch, you will hold the e-brake while clutching and giving your car gas.
When you are told to, pull your car toward the staging beams. They are not located next to the Christmas tree!! Watch other racers to find where they are located or ask the officials for help. When you get close the top set of amber lights (pre-stage) will come on. Now slowly creep forward until the next set comes on (staged).
Take your time!!! Nobody will rush you. The starter knows the regulars and he will realize you are a new face. It is considered a courtesy to wait until your opponent has pre-staged before you stage.
Find the yellow light just above the green and concentrate on it. Go when this last yellow comes on. If you wait till the green you will get a terrible reaction time. .500 is a perfect reaction time at our track.
If you feel things get out of hand (massive wheel spin or whatever) just back off for that run. There’ll be others. Also if it your very first time down the track, take it easy. The track is a lot slicker than most roads, so be aware and careful.
Stay in your lane at all costs. As you get close to the finish line keep it on the floor. The first set of beams you see set up are to start the MPH timers. Our track is ¼ mile. When you see the white lines with the x in the middle that is the finish line.
After that there are 3 turn outs (exits) and they are to the left.
This is important -- the racer in the tower lane (left facing the end of the track) leaves the track first no mater where the driver is in the spectator lane (right facing the end of the track). If a racer in the spectator lane leaves the track before the tower lane, that racer may be disqualified and asked to leave and not race anymore for that evening. DO NOT TURN IN FRONT OF ANOTHER CAR!!!!!
After you have exited the track, proceed down the return road to the time slip booth. This is where you will receive your time slip that will show you your reaction time, ¼ mile e.t. and your ending mile per hour. The speed limit on the return road is 5 mph. Pick up your time slip at the time slip booth and proceed back to your pit area or back to the staging lanes. If you need help understanding your time slip, find a track official and they will help you.
Dragstrip Etiquette
Don’t start your burnout until directed by an official. He’ll usually give you some sort of hand signal. Also make sure you are all the way on the track and facing directly forwards.
Don’t do burnouts in the water with treaded street tires. Water gets into the treads and tracks all the way to the starting line. This makes the drivers with slicks very angry. It won’t help you’re 1/8 mile times either.
Don’t do a John Force-style burnout (i.e. spinning the tires through and past the starting line, forcing you to back up) unless you don’t have any front brakes and/or you are John Force.
If you are bracket racing, (Saturday’s event) don’t lock up your brakes at the end of the track in an attempt to not "break out". Locking ‘em up at this speed could be very dangerous. This isn’t an issue for test-n-tune nights, but be sure you leave plenty of room to brake at the end of the track without doing a massive ABS stop.
Some tracks employ a courtesy rule. This means that the first car into the staging beams should light only the pre-stage light. When the second car is pre-staged then either of you can move up slightly into the staging lights.
Make sure your numbers and dial-in (if applicable) are visible from the tower.
Make sure you get in the right staging lane and make sure that you don’t attempt to run in a class where you car would not be appropriate (this is also for Saturday events). Ask if you are unsure.
Tricks And Tips
Some of these tips are best used by people who have been to the track a couple times and know what they are doing. If it's your first time, just take a look around and see what the other people are doing. I guarantee you'll see some of the stuff below. After you're comfortable with the track, and know the etiquette rules, feel free to try some of the following suggestions to be a faster racer.
In an automatic, you usually don't gain anything by shifting the automatic by hand. Let the computer do it for you. You may want to put it in "D" instead of "OD", but it probably won't make a difference. If you want to shift quicker/faster/better, get a chip.
You may want to preload the drive train a little bit to remove some of the shock from the system and also get a bit of a quicker launch. This is done by "brake-torquing" the system: keeping your left foot firmly on the brake, depress the accelerator until your revs increase slightly. You don't want to do this too long, as your torque converter will overheat, nor to too high an RPM, as the engine will eventually overpower the brakes and move the car forward. Also, launching at too high an RPM may just send the tires up, and that kills your ET. Remember that all of that built up energy gets transferred to the tires: pick an RPM where you won't bog and where you won't obliterate the tires.
Heat is your enemy: the hotter your engine is, the slower you will be. Try not to idle the car any more that you have to. Keep the hood open until you are ready to run.
Weight is your second enemy. Remove all unnecessary items from the car, and make sure that you're fuel tank has around a 1/4 tank or so (less and you'll miss as the fuel sloshes, more and you'll be slower than you have to be). In addition, some people remove the spare tire and jack at the track. If you want to get really wild, you can start taking off interior pieced, the front sway bar, washer fluid, floor mats, etc. Every little bit helps!
If you're looking for a quick ET (and don't care so much about winning the race), barely inch the car into the staging beams. Your time doesn't start until the wheels no longer block the beam. By staging this way, you get an extra couple of inches to accelerate before your time is recorded. Similarly, if you are interested in getting to the finish line first, go forward more. Beware that some dragstrips are very strict about backing up if you go past the staging lights.
If you are bracket racing, remember that consistency is the key, even if you are consistently slow. Make a mental note of everything about the car: launch RPM, lane choice, temperature, length of burnout, etc. You want all of these to remain constant for each run. Even if you are not bracket racing, mentally keeping track of all of these variables will help you get to a better time.
Half of the battle at the drag strip is winning the launch. If you can get a good, solid launch without spinning the tires, you've almost won the race.