I noticed this weekend some of the guys would change their dial-in after they seen what their opponent dialed. What is the adventage to this? I usually dial up .02-.03 from what I think the car will run in case the car slows or I can lift if I have to. I see some guys won't put the number up until they are almost to the burnout box? Just wondering some of the tricks of the game are?

I have a feeling not many people will be participating in this thread, haha.

I usually keep a little in the bag.

However, I think I'm going to dial tight and run it out the next time I'm up against a sub 9 sec car. I haven't had much luck judging them coming up on me latley.

IMO, anyone who lets his competitor affect what he dials at is just plain second guessing themselves, and is most likely a little unsure of what their doing. When you dial, you should only be concerned with racing your own race. Let the other guy do what he wants, you just need to hit your number with a solid RT and you're good. What he does should have nothing to do with it.

ok...here's how I do it...my car will run in the 9's....but I dial 10.75-10.85 depending on the track and weather...What I do is I have the motor at 22 degrees adv....99 squared jets....and I shift at 5500...and launch at 2200....reason I do this is because if I need to fender race someone I can hold a gear longer to pull them or just pull them then dump them at the stripe....but rarely do I have to do that...I just run my own race and pace...As far as changing your dial to match or shadow the other guys...no need for it if you know your car and dial your race...remember...bracket racing isnt about the pair of cars...its about each car running their own race....what if I made you dial and told you...you hit that number exactly and leave perfect and I'll give you 5,000 bucks even without someone in the other lane?....thats basically bracket racing....if you let the mind games take over pretty soon you've out thought the basics of bracket racing...win the race against yourself and they'll be on the trailer all night long.

the only time i take notice of a compeditors dial in is coming up to pre-stage. then it's just to figure out how much i have to wait or if i'm leaving first. if i'm leaving first i put on a bit of a show of power, this tends to encourage them to red light. if i'm last to leave i try & stage first & go in deep. then when they trigger the stage light i hit the limiter straight away. this encourages the starter to trip the lights. my competition then gets a bad reaction if they're not fast enough to get ready. minds games?? dunno.

A lot of guys who are changing the dial right at the end of the staging lanes are changing because a buddy of theirs just ran faster or slower than they anticipated, especially if a red light was involved, I see more of that going on myself than changing because of a competitor, you allways see this at tracks where there are a lot of "groups", you know, the Mopar guys, the Olds guys, the guys from 90 miles away all fronm the same area, the old guys ect, your bud who ussually runs really consistent runs .03 quicker than he thought because of a little wind, or the tracks going and he's off because he spun ect. Me, I'm allways a little soft like most.

My Dial in is affected by:

Who I am racing, how fast they are and what they are dialing compared to how they just ran
What I think the car will run
How consistent the car has been
How i have been on the tree or at the stripe.

Sometimes I hold a bunch, sometimes I'll dial what the car should run. Lots of variables.

Dial it tight, cut the tree down and run it out the back door.

I dial it to run dead on or a little bit soft. Don't care who I am racing.

Its really in how you run our race. There are many very successful drives out there that employ both principals. Dial tight and Hold a few. It is important that you know your competition. However it shouldnt change your game. If you always dial tight and run someone you know holds numbers you shouldn't hold just because he is. The reason you need to know you competitor is so that you can anticipate what he is going to do at the big end of the track. If he is holding you know he is coming around you, if he doesnt you know that you must be running a little faster than you anticipated and you can get on the binders.

The key is stay in YOUR comfort zone.

yeah I usually take the best run and add a tad to it. However if I find I'm on the brakes too much at the stripe I will change it before the next round.

My strategy is simple...I am a simple man.

If I am running someone a lot faster, like a digger or fast door car, I don't lift so I dial .02 under my best and go for it.

If I am running slower, I generally go with my quick time.

I have been running the same car/combo for forty plus years and have a pretty good handle on how weather effects it, so I will adjust a bit for that.

Other than that, if I meet my demise it is generally because some young whippersnapper (like an AJ Casini type) rips these old eyes out on the tree. But, over the years, its worked more often than not.

Lots of variables. Not sure I could expain what I do there..you just have to spend time with me dail the car for 2-3 weeks..It realy all depends on who where why how..the track..how the time trails went..how the car was on that given day or how jenni was driving

IMHO, fender racing is done a lot in index racing, see it all the time and need to get a grip on it myself....but for bracket racing I don't see how it would work and to me consistency would be what I'd be working on....knowing your car in relationship to track & weather....

Rickster