From the Rookie Seat

by Karen Keefer (aka Lady Dude)
06/03/03
I've spent the past three years pitting for Ken at NMCA and Pontiac events. I have learned about drag racing from the ground-up....literally...he started me out taking care of his tires and then let me drag race the 76 T/A with a mild 400 and this past year his 68 Firebird Funny Car. Starting out in the mid 12's and progressing to 9.43@144. This page is for those of us who are just starting out. I'm very fortunate to have Ken to turn to (and his friends) and would like to pass on some of what he's taught me. If there's something you would like to share, email me or post it on the message board and I'll get it in here. Karen aka 'Lady Dude'
When it comes to the tires, the best advice I can give you is KEEP THEM EQUAL!!! I see racers setting their tires in the pits and never checking them again. If you're stuck in staging for a while and the sun goes down your tires will start to shrink. If the sun is getting hotter, the tires will grow so always check your tires in staging and if they are smaller and you can't get the air pressure in them you want...make them equal! Also, keep an ear out for the announcer, nothing says "rookie" louder than being in the wrong staging lane or missing the call for your class. Be ready to go before you even do your burnout cause once you get your tires hot you gotta go... The burn-out: with slicks (like on the GTO) Ken would have me put him right at the edge of the water box-just barely out of the water. With the radials he wants to be completely out of the water, it's harder to get these tires hot and make them hook-after sixteen passes in the T/A in two days, this much I do know.
Staging: You bump through the beams one at a time and this lights the two small yellow lights at the top of the tree. If you are racing someone you don't bump into your second staging light until your competitor bumps into his first,...after that...don't blink, don't breathe, don't sneeze...When that last yellow light comes on your gone...if you wait for the green you'll get beat every time.

Ken has a line lock on the T/A and the Funny Car has a transbrake....two totally different concepts. Now, besides the fact that a linelock is used for a burnout and a transbrake is used at the tree what is the difference between the two of them? Simply put: a linelock applies the front brakes but lets the back tires spin while a transbrake is like putting your car in park with a button (actually, you have the car in low and pushing the transbrake puts it into reverse at the same time so the car is stationary). Right before I bump into the staging lights I always take a second to gather my thoughts and check my equipment one last time. Check your shifter, check your tack, belts...just a quick moment to collect your thoughts cause believe me, there won't be any time to do this while you are bumping in.

See all those tire marks down the strip? Stay in them!!! This is what keeps your car hooked and stuck to the pavement like glue!!! If you get out of that "groove" your car will get loose so stay alert. The lights come down, keep it floored, go straight...you've done it!! When you get to the electronic timer board (this is called the traps), lift and start slowing your car down. You have three return roads and there's no reason you can't make one of them. I guess there are some people that don't know about return roads as the announcer at Silver Dollar Raceway in GA, kept telling people not to turn around at the end of the drag strip and drive back the way they went down!!! Now if you've had a good run you're going to have one last problem...adrenaline is going make it hard to sit still...this is usually where I allow myself a little seat dancing and an Indian war whoop! You did it...you're allowed!!!! There are two other things that Pontiac Dude did before I ever drag raced myself that really helped me. One is, more than once, he walked down to the tree with me, (before any racing was being done) so I could set it in my mind where the water box was, where the staging bulbs were and how much space there is between them and to show me how sticky the track was (if it's been prepped good you almost walk out of your shoes). I really like doing this, it's like the calm before the storm, you know it's coming but the clouds are just out of sight, there's a feeling of anticipation in the air like when you hear distant thunder.

The other thing he did was take me down the track as a passenger once so I could see how everything worked and this really helps answer any other questions I had about what was going on. The last thing the Dude did was ride with me several times and this was really good too...you then have "in car" instruction and a back-up if anything out of the ordinary should happen. He stayed with me until I was comfortable with the car (the T/A is not your daddy's Oldsmobile) and I said I was ready. One last parting thought, if you can't complete the run, if it's either mechanical or electrical, get it over as close to the guardrail as you possibly can so if you're leaking any fluids it won't go all over the crucial part of the track. I'm speaking from personal experience on this one as the Funny Car shut off on me at half track the second weekend in the car. Luckily no fluids were spilled, it was an electrical shut off but I just drifted straight down the middle and Pontiac Dude chewed my butt out, but then apologized cause he previously told me to stay in the groove but forgot to tell me what to do if you have a problem. I now know and so do you. This also keeps you from getting chased through the pits by angry racers with crowbars cause you just screwed up the track for the rest of the day!!!!!! Take care, have fun and, as Ken always tells me right before I leave, run it like you stole it!!!!!!!