(non f-body) Island Dragway NJ... first timer

[Formulaboy95]

I might take my car to Island Dragway. Got a few questions for the track people.

What is the difference between a Street Legal Night, and a Test/Tune? Wed night is a Streel Legal, and I am not sure what to expect. A friend wants to run against me in his 98 Talon - front wheel drive, w/16G little turbo, and a few other things, basic porting, around 18psi. More of a friendly race, no $ envolved... will we be able to go head-to-head?

Race Gas worth it?

Any tips?
I have heard lowering the tire pressure to 32 & 30 (not sure which is front and rear)
Lose Spare and Jack
1/4 tank of gas?

[Joe 1320]

A test and tune is simply that..... you run, tune, refine your technique. It is not an event with eliminations all the way down to a single winner of a class. You still get to run against other cars, get timeslips, etc.... just no eliminations. Get rid of all the excess weight you can. Spare tire, jack, rear deck, etc. Anything that you can.

[Formulaboy95]

What is different about "Street Legal Night"?

Is Street Legal Night like class based, with eliminations? Sorry a little confused...

[Craig 2000 TA]

The track probably has a website which would explain for sure but most likely street legal night probably has some sort of elimination...like a king of the hill kind of thing but the car has to be street legal...so exhaust, registered that kind of thing.

As for the rest of it...

generally people lower the rear tire pressure some to make a larger contact patch with the pavement. Lower it to far and your tire will begin to cup and the middle of the tire will actually lose contact. You will have to experiment to see what works best for your tire and track conditions.

Your best bet will likely be to go to a test and tune. For your own safetly since you haven't raced before do not run your first run full on. run good and strong for 3/4 of the track and let off. Get a feel for where the exits are. Its also common courtesy that if you line up in a lane opposite the exits then be sure to wait for the guy in the lane closer to the exits to exit first. There have been cases where guys in the outer lane cut across and get T-boned! not pretty. That being said have yourself a good time and please dont race the guy the first time though...get a lay of the land first and hook it up the second time around Good luck!

[Injuneer]

Link to Island Dragway "street legal"

Looks like all they did was expand their usual Friday night program to include the same thing on Wednesday night. Only difference is that on Friday they run a 0.500 "pro tree"..... all 3 ambers come on at the same time. Surprised me the first time.... had a good view of the tail lights on an El Camino that left 1/2-second before I realized what was happening. Appears that now on Wednesdays you can request a "full tree"... the three ambers count down 1/2-second apart. Only place I have ever raced that uses a pro tree for T&T ?????

I have heard some people complaining recently that on Fridays they have blocked the center of the lanes, forcing street tire cars to stay out of "the groove" of rubber that the slick tire cars are putting down.

Some good advice in the above post. Make sure you spend a few minutes watching what everyone else does before you enter the staging lanes. Do not run your A/C in the staging lanes, you will drip water on the track. Make sure your windos are up and your helmet is secure before passing through the gate that separates the staging lanes from the burnout area. If you are running on street tires, drive around the water box, not through it. Make sure you know where the starting line is... but you wouldn't be the first person to drive past the line and try to stage closer to the tree. When you approach the starting line, light the top yellow, and wait for the other car to do the same, then roll in to light the second yellow. Just inch forward, so you don't roll out of the top light and deep stage.

That's when you block out the other car. DO NOT race him on your first try... watch the lights and move on the bottom yellow. Don't even worry about that though... if you wait for the green, you'll have a weak reaction time, but you'll still avoid the pressure of trying to do too many things at once the first time.

Be sure you know where the finish line is. That will be easier to spot the first time if you let off a little before the line as advised in the post above. Then look for the exits... they are all on the left side at Island, and observe the rule posted above... car on the right does not exit until the car on the left (exit side at Island) has cleared the track. Might mean you have to ride the brakes for a while and roll all the way to the last exit, but its a smart/safe/courteous thing to do.

Good luck.