Can some of you knowledgeable folks tell me if my reaction time changes my ET? I don't understand how it could, but guys I pit with at the track are always talking about it. " Yea I was dead late so my car didn't run its number "

I understand how staging differently can change my ET.... Going in shallow or deep... That I understand. But the reaction time thing, I don't get it.
Jeff.

RT never affects ET. Ever.

No. The clock does not start until your front tires break the starting line beam.

Well, I'm not going to argue with a scientist! Thanks man,. I wonder if the guys at the track really believe that or are trying to jack with me. Got me thinking now....

Jeff

I'm with ya girl.... Thanks.

No problem. Lots of people don't understand how it works.

Seek out guys like this to try and line up against! If they don't know this, there's a lot more about racing they don't understand!

I think everyone gave you the wrong answer because you asked the wrong question. Your friends at the track are probaly not referring to their et changing due to a late rt, they are talking about their package changing due to a late rt. In bracket racing your package is rt plus how much you are above your dial in. The guy with the lowest package wins.

Everyone above answered the question correctly, just not the right question.

I totally understand what you are saying cuda. And I agree with you.

But that is not what these guys are talking about. I had one try to explain it to me last night.... They believe the RT directly effects the ET of the car.

Sorry for such a stupid question. But hey at least it wasn't about oil or 8-3/4 Vs Dana rear ends.....
Jeff

And that's not how low you're dragging your [censored]!

OK...how about sack-o-nuts?

Lots of people who drag race don't really understand how it works.

I had a guy swear that if you redlight you will always run exactly on your dial.

I'd like to hear the explaination for that!

Ok, then I will have to concur with everyone else. Rt stops when et starts so no direct correlation. BUT if the the increase in rt was caused by the car leaving softer than normal instead of driver being late then yes the et will likely be effected.

After reading this response I almost went back and changed lowest to smallest. Lol , not any better.

Yep, I Crack up sitting in the stands at national events and listening to people who dont know try to explain to someone why the car that got there first or got the lowest et didn't win. Once heard someone say the track was too good because all the cars were bogging. You guessed it, throttle stop races.

Almost forgot the best one. After 3 Cars in a row redlit a fan said the starter was pushing the button too soon.

shadow staging or deep staging will change it very little if that helps

I theory no RT wont effect et. But you can see a small change sometimes by the type of tree you run. Like running a standard bracket tree compared to a Pro Tree. RT is the time from when the green light comes on until your car moves and breaks the beams. Now on a full tree you can shallow stage as you have the time to leave a bit before the green light comes on and get some rollout in your car. In other words get the car to be moving a bit before the green comes on as you have the distance of the tire sidewall with rollout to actually have the car moving before you break the beam. So your car can be moving a tiny bit when you break the beam for a small advantage when compared to running a Pro Tree. A Pro tree is when all three yellow lights come on at the same time. And you dont have the time to launch a tad early and get the car moving a bit. And thats because as soon as you see a yellow light the green will be coming on right away so if your car does not react real fast you just dont have the time to move it fast enough to break the beam so many deep stage when running a Pro tree so you break the beam as soon as the car moves. You can get a better RT but you may slow down about 1/2 a tenth in ET since you dont have time to get the rollout of the tire sidewall and get the car moving a bit. So when running a Pro tree if your car is not set up for it and you have to deep stage as much as they allow (some turn the top bulb out if allowed) you dont get the slight rollout movement and may loose a very small amount of et. I have heard some say almost a tenth but I never tried it. If your car is set up for quick reaction then you may not loose much or any ET. But the actual reaction time will not change your et. Ron

Reaction time is the time between when a perfect light can occur and the time when your front tires started the timers.
Shallow or deep staging can affect both 60 FT times and every other measured time down the track as well as reaction times
I know of several NHRA racers that carry several sets of different height front tires in their trailers to help them on reaction times, put shorter ones on the front to make it react quicker and taller ones to slow down the reaction and 60 Ft. times
I use to race NHRA M.W. stocker, I had a old set of Stahl 31.0 inch tall tires, another set of Firestone 29 inch front runners and a set of Moroso that where 27 inches tall. I liked the 31 inch tall ones the best, I cut a lot of .500 to .513 reaction times back when we where measured off of .500 being perfect on the Sportmans tree
I also had my share of .489 to .499 red lights Many different things can affect the car and reaction time, weather, distractions, tuning, track conditions, attitude and health as well as a lot of other things
IHTHs

I spectated in Tulsa this weekend and the mouthbreathers behind my buddy and I had us shaking our heads. The definitely weren't shy about sharing their ignorance...

will effect et as why you need to put the tire in the beams the same place everytime,its a small amount,deep stage for grins and see if your et changes