Ooh, Pretty Lights – What Do They Mean? A Full Tree counts down at half-second intervals. The cycle goes: Amber on, delay, amber off and next bulb on. Here's The Starting Tree the important part. The reaction timer starts when the third When drivers are preparing to race, they first cross the beams amber comes on. Since there is a half-second (or .500 sec- 6 inches behind the starting line. Crossing this beam activates onds) delay until the green light comes on, a .500 reaction the top lights called Pre-Staged Lights. Drivers roll up 6 inches time is perfect. (In the same way, the four tenths delay of the and cross the second beam on the starting line called the Pro Tree makes a .400 a perfect light on that one) Now, the

Staged Lights. Once both drivers have crossed the staged sen- reaction timer stops when the car leaves the starting line. sor, an official starter or automatic starting system will activate the next lighting sequence. Classes: (TF/D) Capable of covering the in less than 3.7 seconds at more than 330 mph. Powered by a supercharged and fuel- injected 500-cubic-inch Chrysler Hemi engine. Top Fuel cars are 25 feet long and weigh 2,330 pounds in race-ready trim. (FC) Similar to their Top Fuel counterparts but with a shorter wheelbase and a carbon-fiber body that loosely resembles a production-based automobile, Funny Cars can run in the 3.8- second range and are capable of speeds in excess of 330 mph. Funny Cars are powered by the same supercharged and fuel-injected 500-inch engine. They do not use a transmission but rather transmit power to the huge Goodyear rear slicks through a multistage clutch assembly that is activated by timers. (NHRA, IHRA/MMPSA) Often called “factory ” because of their resem- blance to production-based automobiles. Pro Stock cars must weigh no less than 2,350 pounds. Pro Stock engines use elec- tronic fuel injection and spec gasoline and are restricted to a maximum of 500 cubic inches. They can make in excess of 1,300 horsepower. A competitive Pro Stock car can run in the 6.5s at more than 210 mph. Pro Stock Motorcycle (ANDRA) These bike can run under 6.8 seconds at more than 195 mph, feature a purpose-built tube chassis. Engine sizes vary After this point, the lighting sequence will be different widely, ranging from 92 to 160 cubic inches. Fuel injection is based on the type of tree and start that a race is using. The permitted, and spec gasoline is the only fuel allowed. "Standard” tree will light up each large amber light consecu- tively with a .500 second delay in between them, then fol- Also: Dragster, Top Alco- lowed by the green light after another .500 second delay. A hol Funny Car, Comp, Super Stock, "Professional" tree will light up all of the large amber lights Stock, , Super Gas, Super simultaneously, and then after a .400 second delay, light up Street, Top Dragster, Top Sportsman & the green light. We use this for Slot Car Racing. Some classes Mailing Address: PO Box 52 Pro Mod. will use a hybrid tree, known as a .500 Professional tree, Helper, UT 84526 where the delay is .500 seconds instead of the .400 seconds Call to schedule races at your next event !

used in a standard Professional tree. On the activation of the Phone: 435-472-4205 green light from either style of tree, the drivers are supposed to start the race. Leaving the "Staged" line before the green WebPages: http://www.fiberopticproducts.com/ light activates will instantly stop the count down and result NHRA_Slot_Car_Drag_Racing_123.htm in a lighting of the Red light and a provisional disqualification of the offending driver in heads-up starts only Email: [email protected] What Is Drag Racing? E.T. Racing ( Bracket Racing ) The staged beam will also trigger a red light if a false start A drag race is an acceleration contest from a standing start takes place. The staged beam is located just six inches past and How does it work? between two vehicles over a measured distance. A drag racing the pre-staged beam. In this form of racing, two vehicles of varying performance event is a series of such two-vehicle, tournament-style elimi- Interval Timers: In a real track there are five intervals along potentials can race on a potentially even basis. The anticipat- nation's. The losing racer in each contest is eliminated, and the track where time and speed are recorded, which include: ed elapsed times for each vehicle are compared, with the the winning racers continue until one remains. 60-foot, 330-foot, 1/8th-mile, 1,000-foot and ¼-mile. The last slower car receiving a head start equal to the difference of Each race is started by an electronic device commonly called of the infrared beams are your most important: the first is the two. Any two vehicles can be pared in a competitive drag a Christmas Tree. On each side of the Tree are six lights: The located 66 feet before the finish line and measures top race. top half for pre-staging and the bottom half for staging, then speed; the second is located at the finish line and shuts off The "Dial-In" Car "A" has been timed at 17.78, 17.74 and three larger amber bulbs, a green bulb, and a red bulb. See the elapsed time and top speed clocks, triggering the win 17.76 seconds for the quarter-mile, and the driver feels that a Starting Tree section. light. The 66-foot speed trap records top speed. Our 1/32 "dial-in" (or guessed time during a race) of 17.75 is appropri- Elapsed time (e.t.) and speed are monitored for each run. scale has a sensor at the start and Finish to determine the ate. Meanwhile, the driver of car "B" has recorded elapsed Upon leaving the staging beams, each vehicle activates an E.T. scale speed. times of 15.27, 15.22 and 15.26 on the same track and he has clock, which stops when the vehicle reaches the finish line. Reaction Time: In both vehicles cover the quarter-mile in opted for a "Dial-in" of 15.25. Accordingly, car "A" will get a The start-to-finish clocking is the E.T. Speed is measured in a exactly the predetermined elapsed time (each "dial-in"), the 2.5 second head-start over car "B" when the "Christmas Tree" 66-foot speed trap that ends at the finish line. Each lane is win will go to the driver who reacts quickest to the starting counts down to each car's starting green lights. timed independently. signal. That reaction to the starting signal is called "reaction The first vehicle across the finish line wins, unless, in applica- HOLE-SHOT time." A perfect "reaction time" is ..000 Both lanes are timed ble categories, it runs quicker than its dial-under or index (see A "Holeshot win" occurs when a driver wins a race because, independently of one another, and the clock does not start “Handicap, Index Racing & Hole-shot”). A racer also may be despite having a longer elapsed time (ET), the driver had a until the vehicle actually moves. Because of this, a vehicle disqualified for leaving the starting line too soon, leaving the shorter reaction time (RT) at the start of the race. The driver may sometimes appear to have a mathematical advantage in lane boundary, failing to stage, or failing a post-run inspec- with the fastest reaction time is said to have gotten the comparative elapsed times but actually loses the race. This tion. “Holeshot”. Notice Winner had slower MPH ! But faster RT. fact makes starting line reflexes extremely important in drag In Slot Car Racing we use a 1/32 scale Car & Track. The rac- racing! And you thought it was simple right? Well, actually ers must shift their Car down the track, if they shift to soon or Example: Todd Mike there's more, read on. late it will result in the car speed slowing down. (There is Au- HOLE SHOT .051 RT .071 Break-Out or Run-Out: Should a driver go quicker than his/ tomatic shifting for younger Drivers). Drivers Must win each WIN TO TODD 3.824 ET 3.813 her predetermined "dial-in" it is a "break-out" or "run-out" race and work their way up the Racing Ladder to become 323.27 MPH 323.89 which is grounds for disqualification (because the handicap Champ and win a Trophy. Errors in Electronics, track, or pub- provided to the other car was then incorrect – making it an lic interference will result in a Restart of the race. Scale Speed The Track , RULES & Starting unfair race for the competitor). In the case of both vehicles is computed by sensors. Races cost $2 to 3 making their runs under their dial-ins, the win goes to the Tree ! Race official oversees all races The length of a drag racing track is a quarter-mile, or 1,320 driver who breaks out the least. feet, with each lane measuring 30 feet wide Red Light: Another form of disqualification is a foul start (or Here are the various components of the track: "Red light"). This happens when the driver reacts to the Burnout (aka “water”) Box: An area reserved for vehicles "Christmas Tree" too quickly and drives his car away from the to enter that’s been sprayed down with water to help reduce starting line before the green "go" signal. When dual infrac- friction as a driver initiates a burnout. tions occur, say a red-light and then a break-out, the red-light

Pre-Stage Beam: As each vehicle’s front wheel enters this takes disqualification precedent over the break-out. area, it’ll break the “pre-stage” infrared beam, which triggers the Christmas Tree’s pre-staged lights, alerting drivers that they’re closing in on ‘”staging”. Staged Beam/Starting Line: This is another infrared beam in each lane that controls the starting and timing of the race, triggering an independent lane timer for elapsed time (E.T.) – and unless both drivers are fully staged, the race cannot be started. > > > >