Morrison – Drag racing must seem pretty simple from the Bandimere grandstand. Look for green, step on the gas and blow down the track at 300 miles per hour in a matter of seconds.
But there might be more action in the two minutes before the green than the five seconds that follow.
From the start of the engine to the green light, crew and driver are making constant adjustments to ready the car for its run, especially to fuel and the revolutions-per-minute of the engine.
Burn too much fuel, and the dragster’s nose will be tempted to go airborne. Burn too little and the car is too heavy to make a fast run. And if the RPMs aren’t exact, the car will respond like a teenager at the wheel of his first stick shift.
And that doesn’t even involve staging, the prepping a driver does between the first yellow and the final green.
“It’s like a football team; everybody has the plays and they know what they’re going to do,” said Alan Johnson, crew chief for Tony Schumacher’s U.S. Army team.
Follow the process with Schumacher’s team, the three-time defending NHRA top-fuel points champions.
Firing up the engine
Johnson begins by closing the fuel shutoffs to bypass some of the fuel being pumped to the engine, among other adjustments. “If we went up there and did a burnout with the pump wide open, the engine would flood out.”
Burnout
Schumacher readies the tires for the track by spinning them in water to clean the tires and heat them up, giving the tires better traction.
Final adjustments
Fuel pressure is adjusted again, Johnson checks the engine’s idle and richens the fuel mixture when he believes green is 10 to 15 seconds away. “We don’t want to stage too early, because we’ll burn too much fuel,” Johnson said.
Pre-staging
Now the car is Schumacher’s, about seven inches behind the starting line. At the first yellow light, Schumacher engages the clutch and holds the brake, allowing the car to come forward just enough for the countdown to green to begin.
Staging
Schumacher’s team tries to stage shallow, leaving a couple of inches between their wheels and the starting line, which makes for a slow reaction time but fast elapsed time, and elapsed time determines lane choice for the next round. Some drivers stage deep, cutting down on reaction time. For purposes of elapsed time, it’s the difference between a running start and a standing start.
