Can you go racing by yourself, and if not WHY

About 5 years ago I found myself in a position where I was counting on my Son to much in the shop and at the track and missed a few races because of it. I looked at my racing program and I had a choice to either quit or man-up and be more self-sufficient. I bought and modified a few shop tools to make engine and transmission installs easier as I don't have a lift and work on the floor and last year lost 55 pounds to make life easier. Turning 60 this year I got a laugh listening to a group of 20 something racers begging for help to go racing. To make things easier at the track I stalled an alternator, 8 gallon fuel cell with a trap door so I don't have to remove the fiberglass trunk lid, and replaced my fiberglass doors with steel doors and wind-up windows so I can drive it in the trailer and climb out the window. My bracket car is now a one man show and now I will be trying to do so with a BIGGER challenge this year in a car that won't be raced quit so often, my heads-up car. Now I am back to fiberglass doors and for the first time in my life NITROUS. Switching bottles, checking pressures, between round tuning, and data reading. I don't or won't go back to relying on others to race so are there any tips that you nitrous guys can pass on to ease the transition?

Been doing it for the past several years, no problems, and I got 10 years on you..Plus, I'm not as "High Tech" as you. All "old School" here. The most High Tech I have is an Open Trailer and a winch.....

One man show here, too. Open trailer, come alongs, planning on going into the 8's all motor. When I was younger, I had my best friend wrenching with me for a few years. He moved to Florida, I moved to North Carolina. Been working as a mechanic since 16. Never really relied on anyone else, at work or at the track. I work out of my garage, no lift, lots of jackstands. Best advice I can give is to keep accurate records of everything you do, ask lots of questions, do your best to decipher all the info you get. Figured out long ago, at the track, the faster you go, the more people see you as competition, and will tend to give wrong advice. Lost 50 pounds last year, but found 20. Trying to get rid of that again. Will be 57 this month. Keep at it. Life is short...Go fast...

My engine builder generally goes with me....He is a big help, but I have, and do go, to the races on my own throughout the season depending on his availability. If its a points race, I have to go regardless. I have made it as easy on myself as I can with certain gear I keep in the trailer and how I set everything up.

My biggest issue is getting the trans out when it needs to be removed as I have no lift either. I struggle, but it comes out.

I raced on my own for 7 years with an open trailer...Since owning an enclosed, other than the extra trailer maintenance, life has been a lot better...Everything is where it needs to be, and it really helps.

Pretty much a one man show here also. I can do it on my own, but its always nice to have an extra hand. My brother and I are partners, but with his work schedule, it makes it tough for him to get as much time off work as I can get. A lot of the time when we go to a 3 day race I will be by myself on Friday, then he shows up on Saturday morning. I can load and unload the car without help, and pretty much set up pit on my own. I'm no help to ya with the N02 data stuff, but I got to believe that if you keep good data(log book)and get a good base line tune up, you can come up with a routine that you can do on your own without any help. I've always found it funny that my help would show up after all the hard work was done..lol

I turned 66 and it is getting tougher, so I understand the moves to make life easier! I run my own deal, no help with the car, just the wife video taping some times. If I raced a lot I would go with a bigger fuel cell and E85 for at least three rounds per fill, a magneto, dual 16V batteries, removable drivers door, low maintenance motor and run 10.00 or slower. I had a good combo in 97, but wanted to go fast and started chasing ET. My hat is off to the other guys that race in my ET range or quicker, and enter all the classes they can. Lots of work to keep it going.

I raced for years by myself... just had to get
into a retinue for every round... was nice when
the wife would come with me

Have always been a one man deal. Since 1978. Dual entries at bigger $$ events. Can't help with any nitrous info. I would think solid shop prep, to anticipate track issues, still trumps.

I'm 61 and do it by myself. Enclosed trailer so I crawl through the window to get the car out. Everything comes out and goes back in trailer in a set spot. Takes about 1 hour to break down my slide-in camper (hillbilly motorhome) and load everything. Car is low maintenance at the track. Hinged deck lid so fuel fill is easy. I can get the hood off by myself. If it breaks big, I go home. A hoist in the shop is a must have. For the price you can buy one used, mine was $750. I do all my own motors, trans, axles. Fortunately my health is good and pulling that stuff when maintenance time comes around is not an issue.
Doug

My Daytona running 8's was a pain but doable. The big thing with it was the front end had to come off to load so I bought a 6 foot pair of aluminium ramps and mounted them on the rear door so that wasn't necessary anymore. A close Friend of mine that rents the spot next to me at PRP is also doing some heads-up racing so he is going to show me how he made his nitrous bottle heater so I will have that to help out. I am going to get a mother bottle so hopefully I can fill a few bottles at home to take care of that issue. Norwalk has really fair prices to fill bottles so even though I don't race there real often that will help out too. Steve at Induction Solutions offers a very nice flow tool so that should help also. Trying to read up on how to do progressive nitrous controller settings so I won't be totally blind on my first few test n tunes. I wish I would have taken this venture a few years earlier. Lol

Wait a second, if you are going heads-up racing, don't you need at least 6 guys to help you do a burnout and stage the car?

lol...this ^^

I have been a "one man band" for as long as I can remember, but I do have a couple of racing buddies that we try and pit together so we help each other when needed and that helps a lot,,I also have a enclosed with tools, spares and anything else I can think of, if I break anything serious then it's load up and go home if I am local or hang out with my bud's, BS and drink beer for the rest of the weekend,,a home it's a 24X24 garage with out a floor hoist but engine hoist and engine stand, I do almost everything my self except engine machining and I put it all together, I have a son that is just starting to get into racing cars after spending numerous years racing quad runner's and mini-mod dirt cars so I am going to start showing him the rope's and get him started,,oh, and I just turned 60 so it's not as easy as it once was.

DAM!!!!!!!!!!!! heck I won't even be able to make a pass. What the heck was I ever thinking???? For Sale. 1974 heads-up garage art piece.

I usually operate by myself but try to go the same time as my race buddies I use a enclosed trailer also and only bring what I need.


When I'm the only one that goes racing ( buddies busy that day) some reason I go more rounds. Lol

LOL

I have a crew of 2, sometimes 3 if the backup babe wants her butt photographed. The 2 regulars are vital to me doing rounds. In the pit it takes 2 to remove the front clip so we can access the engine, my crew take care of servicing the car while I deal with the in pit visitors. Once on the line 1 crew does the pressures & locks me in when it's my turn to race. The other is checking the competition n checks out how they run, react etc... Most race days we run into the finals, without them taking care of Bussiness we wouldn't be there.

Doable of course as noted above, easier to get things done and more fun than one if you have a side kick or two, but one "can" do....

I have always been a one man show. But always pit by my buddies. We help each other when needed.

John,
If Scott quit I'd quit...From the bottle bath along with keeping correct bottle pressure in the car,reading the data logger,changing the progressive controller along with changing the tune-up with the lap top and constantly reading the plugs is a lot for one guy to do....Didn't even talk about the normal/regular stuff !!

It's not as easy as some think to run fast with a small tire in a street legal type car !!

I go by myself most of the time. But I am not an every weekend racer as I only get to race a few times a year. And I drive my car to the track most of the time and its nice I dont have to crawl under the car to tie it down with my back and knee problems. I dont normally do any maintenance between rounds as I dont even take my hood off unless there is a problem. I usually race at test & tunes or when they have a local NSS race that I can run in. Many times my brother is also there racing and there is always many friends who will help if needed. Thats one thing I love about drag racing and that is most all racers will help each other when a racer needs help. Ron

I'll give it a try by myself to see how it goes. If it's to bad I'll stick to my bracket cars as I have a great system set up for that type of racing. Even with adding alcohol after every pass I could run that car alone in my sleep. I even have a line drawn on the wall of my 24 foot enclosed trailer so I have a nice gap between my quad and duster to tie it down.

Just put a ad on craigslist looking for a possie .

I hope you spelled the last word incorrectly

I used to always go by myself, went some rounds but could never get that first win. Finally after about 25 yrs a high school buddy started going with me and bingo started to win some races. We had good chemistry, he takes care of the car at the track and I try and concentrate on driving, we discuss the dial In and how much weight for the index, sometimes we agree and sometimes we don't I usually leave it up to him. ( he's always right) lol. Then 2yrs ago his mom was in hospice and didn't go racing with me, I was able to win some races, but not not much fun when your the only one in the winners circle and nobody to share the moment with.

Hey every now and then ya gotta take her too!

Whoops..... I fixed it..

Most of the time I'm by myself. Always someone at the track will help if your in a jam, went once to a different track did not know anyone finel round at 11 pm had 4/5 people helping me!

If you need help I have Nitrous Big Block Chrysler experience, you will just have to fly me over from Australia, give me a bed and beer

I think you will be fine once you get a set routine going between rounds of what and when you need to do certain things as well as what you need to do in the staging lanes. You already have found some tricks like marking your trailer and leaving the window open. It seems like most on here go by themselves and have been for years whether its having friends pitting next to you or meeting new pit pals at different tracks and it always seems like someone is willing to help out when the rounds start going round robin when they are out and kind of get excited for you!! Good luck and have some fun!!

I've raced a bunch of different cars over the last 30 yrs by myself now after pizzing the better half off She use to tow me around like we where big time racers I did win a bunch of Pro bracket races at LACR back in the day, before everyone else got better. I made the mistake once to often of hollering at her to hurry up when she was towing me near the 1/4 or semi final rounds, that was her last trip to the races with me a regular helper I run mostly bracket 1 and 2 cars now, not hard to make a car run consistently without breaking it N/A if your careful I do run a alternator and volt meter to make sure it is working, I charge both RV/Marine batterys at 3 amps for two or three dyas before racing and again during the lunch and drivers meeting breaks at the local track IHTH

I'm 71. In pretty good shape for my age, but still hard at my age. Load the car, drive 90 miles to the track. unload. Make 3 time runs ( average 1/2 hr in the lanes each time - if no one breaks ). By the time eliminations comes around, I'm pretty used up - and I still gotta load up and drive home - and unload at home. just can't do it all by myself anymore. I was fortunate to have my wife as my pit helper for the last 5/6 years, but she has kinda begged off. Don't blame her. She also shared the tow driving duty's. Can't hardly do it by myself anymore and not many drag race fans up here where I live. A real bummer. BTW, I am often the oldest guy racing at many events - or in the top 3 oldest - and that ain't no "old wives tale"!

Crizilla: Great looking Magnum. When I met my wife, she got stuck in the snow with her Magnum. Had to tow her back to my shop. Drove her home, took her out to dinner the same night. 34 years later...No, she doesn't have the car any more. She had the louvres in the opera windows at the time.

Thanks. It's a 300, not a magnum. Same platform though - Cordoba - late B body.

Mine was a dirt car and differs significantly but for me being organized was key.
Most of the tasks that were more detail oriented had to be made idiot proof if others decided to help.
Tool placement always the same...small things like your line in the trailer will make things more manageable.
Look on the bright side...you don't have to scrape off mud and stack tear-offs on the helmet...
I may be up to a few races next year at PRP...I can help some and maybe learn too...

Used to go alone all the time. With a slow street car you really don't help anyway.

I won a Drag News Ring race and Drag News never put the winner's circle picture in because I was alone. Lol!

Its more fun with good buddies, that's for sure.

Get a bottle heater that wraps around the bottle when the bottle is in the car. You probably have a generator so plug the heater in, to bring the pressure up to where you want it. We set the pressure at 950 psi. Between rounds we use the in car heater that runs on 120V, also has a 12V wiring if needed but we use the generator. If you use the bath heater for your spare bottles that is good, obviously it has a thermostat to maintain temp. You will have to figure out what that temp is as not to over-pressurize the bottles. If you are in the lanes a long time the 12V heater wiring will come in handy. Wrap a thick towel around the bottle in the car to keep the temp and pressure from falling too quick.
DO NOT USE AN OPEN FLAME OR PROPANE TORCH TO HEAT THE BOTTLE. Have seen this too many times and I pray that nothing happens to the guy doing it. But I am sure that you already know this.
Have generator, then you have a battery charger to keep up the battery up between rounds, especially if you are using the 12V heater.
Make sure that your nitrous fuel flow gauge has at least a 3 to 5 foot hose to go into a fuel jug or make sure it will reach your fuel cell if it is mounted under the hood for when you are adjusting the fuel pressure to fine tune.
DON'T FORGET to open the tank valve as well as the main line valve...
You have been racing a long time so you know that you need a routine and stick to it, for the most part.
Have fun!

Racing a bracket car by yourself and a heads up, small tire nitrous car by yourself, are two entirely different things. For one thing, reading the plugs is going to be impossible if you have to drive the car to the lanes and back from the top end

I run by myself , just works out that way , wife not that keen neither my son . Not quite as old or fast as most of you guys
I don't tow my car though .
This weekend i drove 9 1/2 hrs straight through interstate , qualified and raced over 2 days . Then drove home this morning . All solo . Yes i pit with guys i know . I did have to repair my shifter after snapping the top/handle off it on saturday morning in q1 . Result didnt bear up though , that was a [censored] .
Major repairs i do in my shop , 1 man deal .
Hey no arguements over the music choice
You just make do .

Tex

When Mike Graham had his Gold 64 Polara usually 3 of us went. Mike did all the laptop and fuel and NOS adjusting, we did the tire pressure, repack the chute, change out the bottle after we had it warmed up to the correct pressure, filled it with fuel, pulled the plugs and reinstalled them, etc. People will want to go and help you on the KOS car John.
Mike drove up to the lanes so no towing was involved but he did want us to watch the launch or tape it to see if it spun some or the tires wadded up etc. We would make any adjustments after he got back and we gave him our impute.
It is Hard to do a NOS car by yourself but it can be done.
I am sure you will get it figured out John.
David

Only have a slow street/strip car that I run brackets with, no trailer, load up the tools in the trunk and head to the track.

I used to race sportbikes, and would have everything loaded onto a tiny open trailer and the back of my Jeep. It was important to streamline the simple stuff (loading/unloading, finding tools, etc) so I could spend more energy on tire/shock tuning and getting my head in the game. As someone else mentioned, a routine that is second nature helps immensely.

Can, and have.

ive been a one man show forever.im 65 and have suffered many broken bones and dislocations.for all yoyu old ferts out there that climb out the window in an enclosed trailer,do yourself a BIG favor and install an escape door.at the end of a hot grueling day at the track you bones will thank you for it.

Thanks for the tips on the nitrous side of the equation. I will probably take the car out for some NA hits early season to make sure the small block to big block switch-over went well and start slowly adding power. My Son Matt will be with me on some occasions but with him racing to we try to run our own program as much as possible. PRP (now Keystone again) has track rentals almost every Friday during the Summer but they are early in the day before our regular test n tune sessions so its harder to round up help.

for sure on the being organized thing. Had my racing check list that I always used( and constantly in flux ). Wife made her own check list for the track - included tires, belts /hoses, fuel, lights for night races, blower lube, loading/unloading. She also logged the runs, comments, and any changes we made between runs. Ya, no tear-offs, but I did paint a line on my trailer floor for loading / unloading consistency. Like staging, having a consistent routine helped. BTW, I love sprint car racing - I could have missed my calling.

I'm not usually alone at the track, but I do everything to the car myself. It was much easier running naturally aspirated. Nitrous adds a lot of work, but it's worth it, lol.

For a normal bracket car, I don't see any reason you couldn't do it all by yourself.

I see several posts about crawling out the window. I hope to avoid that with my new enclosed trailer with a driver side escape door. I noticed many trailers have the bottom of that about 11.5 to 12 inches off the floor, and some car doors are lower. My United trailer has the escape door 9.5 inches off the floor, so my next race car needs to clear that. My previous Dart would, Just to clarify, my new trailer escape door is 9.5 inches off the floor with the trailer fender 7.75 off the floor and 1.75 for the escape door frame.
Then there are
tube chassis racers that take off the drivers door and hang it on the wall before pulling into the trailer.

I can drive my cuda in my enclosed trailer and get out, but I still have the factory roll down windows. If I had fixed lexan windows, it wouldn't be possible...for me anyway. I'm 6'5" and 320 lbs.

I have more fun when the pit crew is there. They each do one thing and it frees me up enough to relax a little. My new car is a tow to the lanes kind of car. Hard to do by your self.

my tube chassis cuda was to low to clear the trailer fender where the escape door was so just screwed a 2x10 plank to the floor and it raised it up enough to clear.i just did it on the drvers side but if you leave your car in the trailer for storage you may want to raise both sides so it sits level.

Wholly crud. Note to self, never ever ever start crap with this guy. Hey LOVE your car.

wholly crud!!! your pretty agile for a big boy.Any relation to Houdini?

Being that I race small cars I can drive into the
trailer and still get out without any issues... my
hardest thing is some times I have to crank up the
landing leg so I can clear the angle at the door and
the ramp.. thats also with 7' alum extension ramps
that are mounted to the door

why don't anyone use a winch to pull the car in and out. a lot easier than climbing out the window

Not for me it isn't. I have a brand new remote control winch and its there for emergencies (breakage) and for my later years when I get old.

I use to winch my car in backwards to balance the load..
but I changed things around in the trailer so I pull in
now... the winch is just for break downs now days.. I cant
remember when I last used it

I always winched my car in the trailer.........never once drove it in. Winch is easy.........just takes an extra 10 minutes. Is everybody in such a hurry that 10 minutes is a killer

On cars with glass doors and lexan windows. If you want to drive it in the trailer, just remove drivers door and make a rack on the wall to hold it.

We had a guy get seriously hurt this past year out at Bremerton loading his car by himself. Not really sure how it happened, but afterward track officials asked everyone to please not attempt to load your car by yourself. Ask for help, and help when asked. I guess the guy broke his leg pretty bad, somehow got pinned between the car and the trailer.

The doors will come off that car in a sec John. You might see about making a bracket that you can hang it on the wall of the trailer so you can drive in and get out. I had a mount in my trailer and took the door off everytime in and out so crawling out was easy when you drove it in there. Just something to think about.

He is a big teddy bear. LOL You would think he played in the NFL if you ever just saw him though. Love ya Chip

John, I hear ya on trying to do it alone. I do come to the track myself and I can mostly handle the dragster removal from the trailer, warm up and all the other [censored] that takes place prior to the car going to the lanes. I do have some guys that will show up, and that is extremely helpful. However, if they show up, they show up after TT#1.

My biggest pain is trying to pack the chute, return to the trailer, put it on charge, look at the weather, do the tires and make it back to the lanes. It’s not an issue early in the day, but when they call round robin it is almost impossible. I usually go up without a charge and by those rounds, I know what the number should be.

With a new car and setup, it will be tough. I would be more than happy to help if I am out of competition early, just stop by.

Bob

That's how I did it with my Daytona (wall hangers) but the only pain in the butt thing about it was the front-end over lapped it so it needed un-zuezed and slid forward every time. Trying to keep it fun and easy so I have more time to BS. My black car is so easy a monkey could race it and its spoiled me.

Well I ran Division stuff for years by myself. From loading to driving there to unloading and racing the car. Removable door makes driving in a breeze if that what you want. I winched my car in 99.9% of the time. On the odd occasion it was driven in it was usually a weather thing. I never put my car up at night it has always stayed outside unless in climate weather was in the forecast. It can be done you need to be organized.

If you have a car that HAS to be towed to the lanes obviously racing alone is a mute point. Our old heads up car and the new TS car I will need help. The heads up car was my son all the time with occasional help from others as well. The new TS car will likely be my and the wife. Running divisional stuff takes 4-5 days and most folks do not have that kind of time off. SO she will help with the tires and getting me to and from the lanes and the rest will be on me. Maintenance etc. The plan is to be organized and efficient. No choice if I wanna do this stuff.

I have never had a problem loading a car on a trailer, never had anyone to guide me up, seems when I watch people load with a person guiding them ,they don't know where the car is suppose to be positioned on the trailer. I winch my barracuda into the enclosed trailer now, getting to old to wiggle over the bars and out. So much easier, just hook it up and push the button.

This. I don't bend as well at almost 63

Dragster= help. I can do it by myself, but it's much nicer if I have help. As someone else said, it's much more fun when 2 people are focused on the right outcome.

I bought a race car thinking my wife would get into it. It could've been fun, but sorry, no.

Then it turns out here you have to pull out of the lanes onto the track at a 90* angle and back into the water. With the rear end of the car up in the air so no vis out the back window, all belted in to where I couldn't turn around to see out the door, not to mention my car and 5-10 others all thumping, I wasn't able to pull it off by myself. Not without pissing everyone else off, anyway.

The water is in a depression made in the asphalt that people kept saying I should be able to feel but I never could. If you back up too far, there's a cinder block wall to let you know. I just gave up after 2 or 3 T&T attempts.

From reading a couple replies here John............like the winch is too much trouble and having to slide the front end forward to get door off pins is too much trouble..........it appears you may be veering off into the wrong kind of racing here. EVERYTHING about heads-up racing is too much trouble, too much work, too much money, too much waiting around at the track and just generally TOO MUCH all around. You gotta LOVE IT to do it. Heads up racing is usually in your blood and it's definitely not for everybody.

Simple and easy........so more time to BS.........yeah, right. Let me know how that works out.......LOL!!!

I may surprise you Monte as I don't give up or quit easily. Remember the average bracket racer has to go 7-8 rounds and most heads-up racing is a 16 car or less field and only 3-4 rounds. I'm just looking for some tips to make the NITROUS side of the equation a little easier or shorten the learning curve. I don't or won't let my racing program rely on others. 40 years in this sport and a divorce and heart attach hasn't slowed me down or made me miss a race season yet. I don't have to win to have FUN. I have 3 cars so I will be hitting the track almost every week from April 1st to the 2nd week of November.

Raced my small tire, heads up, Nitrous Duster for years by myself.

Always nice when someone goes, but not necessary.

The bottle bath, flow tool, multiple bottles, easy access to sparkplugs, quick release fittings, quick release bottle holder, mounting bottle where you can turn on from drivers seat, big gauge to easily read bottle pressure, etc, all help.

Didn't have a data logger, but used a Dual FAST A/F meter to help with tuning.

Once I had a good handle on the tuneup, I would just coast over on the return road and pull a couple plugs to avoid having to be towed up and back.

Never had an issue turning it around between rounds by myself.

Won my class last year, and was the only Mopar in it!

My Dad is 72...runs his low 10 sec Dart all by himself...loads it...unloads it...fixes it...pulls motors...rebuilds motors...pulls trans...rebuilds trans...all of it...by HIMSELF....and is not slowing down. He says if he cant do it himself....he shouldn't be doing it in the first place...LOL

I can race by myself , either with my Dart or my driven to the track D150. However most of the time I race with my friends and there is always some one I know at the track to give me a hand should I need it and vise versa as I am always ready to give a hand to someone if needed and do all the time.

I can relate to that, being born in 1945 your dad has two years on me I don't do paint, body work or upholstery as well as automatic trannys any more due to not having all the proper selective thrust washers needed to set the racing 727s up properly. I do assemble motors and put them in the car and do most of the other dutys needed to race my cars All my enclosed car trailer and the last three car hauling trucks before them had winches on them Way better to be able to rely on your self only instead of having to ask for help at the track from a stranger you don't know when you race by yourself

I'm really cool, people like to help me LOL!

i am not sure how much your spraying but i use two of the big bottles mounted in the car..the pressure stays stable longer..and doesnt drop off as fast as you make hits..
i dont spray a whole lot..but i usually have enough for the 6-8 rounds. and less dealing with heating to get psi.
they are heavier to install and remove..but less trouble at the races.
i also winch my car in the trailer..i have a pulley to compound the speed .. my winch has a progressive activation so it doesnt jerk when you first hit it...then it ramps up..and with the pulley you need more cable on the reel since it goes to the car and back.but it pulls twice as fast up into the trailer...the progressive activation is nice too..wouldnt do it with out it...
fwiw.

I CAN do it, especially at a track day or autox. But I welcome all the help I can get. I have been a one man band my whole life but as I age I like help.

I don't doubt that, but in a "go as fast as we can" heads up class. After a run with a nitrous car.....you have to get it back, look at some plugs, look at the data, make tuning changes, cool the car, swap the bottle, pack the chute............all this is assuming nothing goes WRONG. Nothing against bracket racers, but this ain't bracket racing, where usually between rounds you cool, maybe change the dial and charge the battery.

The first few trips will be a good bit of work, until you get the tune dialed in and learn what the car WANTS. After that, it is just learning how to make it go faster. Depending on how much you spray, whoever you choose to have help you with your system, is going to want to see some plugs after a run. NOT one or two, but the SET. This pretty much mandates towing the car back, or pulling the whole set at the end, which is a pain. When you first get started, you will need to buy plugs by the case and you will go through a LOT, to do it right and get the tune right. After this, you may be able to just look at your problem holes after a run, but you WILL need to look a SOME after every pass and driving it back, KILLS the plug reading.

Even the Street Outlaw guys........although you see them drive the cars back on the show.........when we are testing, we tow back, to get the tunes dialed in. It's just part of it, if you spray it hard and are anything like leaning on the tune. And if you aren't leaning on it pretty good, you likely are not going rounds, because you can bet the OTHER guys are leaning on it.

Best things to do are build the headers, so that the plugs are a snap to change and have some tools to do JUST that. Sockets welded on extensions, whatever you have to do. Design bottle bracket and place it, so you can change bottles in seconds, NOT a few minutes. You will need a hot water bath at the trailer and keep extra bottles heating in it all the time and ready to go. We have a little pouch in our car, by the bottles, that holds the bottle line wrench, any tools to swap bottles and the temp gun to monitor bottles. The nitrous line needs a ball valve within reach of the driver. At the stripe, kill the motor, shut ball valve off and purge the line empty. If not, you will be replacing plungers in nitrous solenoids like candy. And they are 40 bucks a pop.

Setting up a nitrous car is NOT tough, it just needs to be easy to service, turn around and be well thought out.

Some race HARD doing this. We have put pistons in between rounds. Changed gears, trans, converters, just whatever needs to be done. Of course we are usually a long way from home and we go to RACE and do whatever is required. I realize you are talking more local, home track heads-up racing, but if the strategy is "put it in the box" if it requires more than just routine between rounds stuff...........you may not race much. Because "stuff" is GOING to happen, no matter how well prepared you are

My wife goes with me about 80% of the time, she's always liked going to the track, she can be excellent help, mines a easy car to race though, Ive moved around the country quite a bit and raced at a lot different tracks and have never been at a track where help isn't offered if it looked like someone needed it. Ive made lots of very good friends over the years either helping them out, or them giving me a hand if I needed it. Think that OP though is talking more about a car that is really hard to run without 2 people, never been in that category.

yes i can, i do it regularly. i dont understand all the people that i see with 12 second cars that have to have a spotter for the burnout box, and to line them up on the line, and push the car around, if you cant find the water box and you are too stupid to know when you have heated the tires up enough you shouldent be there- i understand on a fast car but not the slower ones. it doesent take three people to unload a car either, sorry for the rant.

I prefer my help. We have fun, and he cooks a mean breakfast burrito! If my buddy Dave isn't with me, my dad is. Could I do it solo? Sure.... but sure is easier with help!

Dave is the MAN!!! He whips up a mean breakfast for sure. Hopefully he makes it to the Mopar race in Vegas

Yeah, or the dragster guys sitting at eye level, needing someone to direct them into the grove. That's a laugher unless it's a BAD. If you can't see the groove in a low 7 second rear engine dragster, you're blind.

I agree with Monty and as I said earlier a KOS type car isn't normally a 1 man deal. Bracket racing is usually Easy for 1 person to do. I can bracket race my car by myself no problem, I can TnT a KOS car no problem where between round times aren't an issue. Now when you go to an actual race it is a different story for the kos car because of the faster turn around time and all that needs done between rounds.

I winch our 11 sec car into the trailer all the time so there is no issues with scratching the paint, denting the fender, or any other mishaps. Getting a car repainted isn't cheap now a days so I take the extra couple minutes to load it. I Loved my 53' trailer with the driver side excess door we had back in 2009. We drove the car in all the time opened the car door and got out. Simple right, till 1 time we were loading the car because it started raining. Going up the ramp the slicks lost traction, the car slide sideways, 1/4 panel hit the cable on the door and scratched and dented the 1/4 panel. After that repair we No Longer drive the car into the 32' trailer I have now and that is why I bought a winch.
David

Always raced by myself, built the cars by myself. Learned a lot of lessons along the way since 1968. I made me a fast car, chasing et, found the faster you go the more you need someone. To hard to strap in, tie the net, then find the water box, then find the groove, to bad if you have to back up by yourself. Sold it after one aborted season. Gave it up for 12 years. Now I'm going back to a slow car, no cage, no net, just side bar. One I can actually turn around in the seat to SEE everything and not feel like I'm in a space capsule. Big fuel cell, alternator, tire gage, shoe polish, no wrenching, full circle. Leave the ego at home and race for fun, smell the smells and listen to the sounds.

Well after a rather sleepless night thinking about some of the replies in this post I would like to thank Monte and several others for their thoughts. Calculating some costs and upgrades needed at this time I'm about 7000 dollars away from making my first nitrous hit by time I would buy the nitrous system and needed bottles, mother bottle and heaters, flow tool, nitrous programmer, fire system, racepak, and a few other goodies. My car trailer a 24 foot with 3500 pound axles is also in need of upgrading. Thinking at this time I will put the brakes on this program and just aim at getting the car out as a NA combo and doing some test n tunes as I know I can handle that by myself. I will miss the heads-up target but the bottom line is I LOVE to race and I love to race every week. Thanks again guys.

Other than when I travel with Wafflebatter I'm a solo operation. The Arrow is a bit of a pain to get in and out of quickly so about the only issue I every have is catching an opponents dial in early sometimes when I bracket race.

Trust me I know the NA side of the sport can easily be accomplished by yourself. Even the added pit work I'm sure I could handle but as others have added about good plug reading with nitrous requiring towing to and from the lanes. I take pride in being able to handle every job from the shop to the track by myself. I swear I enjoy that side of it more than driving.

Any plug reading should be done at the end of the
shut down or tow back... I have pulled many a plug
at the shut down(coasted to a safe area that most
guys are doing the same thing).. I carried the tools
with me on the pass in a canvas bag that straps in
place
EDIT
I take my golf cart with me all the time so if I
can get someone to drag me back I will.. let the
engine cool a bit then pull the plugs

Spending more time in the shop and less time at he track. Shorter distance to take a pee.

What I took from these posts, we are all getting long in tooth, I'd say over 60 average. We need more lists each day just to get what we need done. LOL. Think hard about that commitment, old dogs sit on the porch and let the young ones run. Never thought I would see it that way.

I now limit my creeper trips to 10 a day.

I leave the house by my self about every race I go to. having a slower car helps with that. Im 30 I learned when I was about 18-19 that I shouldn't rely on anyone to bring stuff or be there 100% of the time at the track. but if I ever need anything my race track family is there for me as I am there for them. some times at big races when I have more family there it get more frustrating because they think you should be doing this when your doing the same thing you do every week they decide not to come.. Golf cart in the bed of the truck and hook up to the car and im gone.

I can, but prefer not.

It looks like most do go by themselfs or atleast leave the house by themselfs. But I agree with a very fast car like a blower car or an NOS car you do really need some help. I think most with street/strip cars and bracket cars are like me and when you want to go racing if no one is around to go with you we go by ourselfs. Course it is always more fun when some friends go. Ron

Really? Is it that hard to run nitrous ?

I ran no racepak, and backyard tuned for years. I don't see it as such a complicated deal, but I have used it for years.....I didn't know trailers won races, I went to races on an open trailer and won, I made my flow tool, made my bottle heater....etc

I almost always have my son with me. He has been at tracks since he was 6 or 7 . He helps me a lot and he can read a starting line pretty good. Best part about him is he can walk the starting line and pretty much tell me exactly what the car needs. He can change bottles, pack chutes, maintain tires, adjust shocks, tables may turn though as his car is too slow for him, and he is about 50 lbs lighter than me. Best part is he trees every car in the other lane !

Ok I'll give you some tips

Get a bottle Heater, keep extra bottles in it so they are at temp/pressure ready to go when you need them. I can make a bottle heater for under 50.00 is that too much ?

Get/make a flow tool, it's not that hard

Make plugs easy to,pull.

What's so hard about winching a car into a trailer ? I never drive mine in


Didn't you used to go on Josh'S board saying.......it's SO easy to bolt some nitrous on and race heads up.....yet SO hard to be a good bracket racer ? LOL

I can go racing by myself, but much easier if I have some help. Hard to reach a few things when belted in and better not forget the battery switch or scoop plug. I can and will do it by myself, but I try to get a commitment from someone else to go if possible. If my wife goes it is no problem.

I can't believe some of you guys can't read or understand my main issue but yet say you race alone with your Son. My Son is now grown and lives elsewhere. He works and only raced 3 times last year. I will say AGAIN what my issue is. I'm being told by others that with nitrous to get a good tune you should tow to and from the lanes. How the heck can I tow the car and drive it too. Seems easy to understand to me but if not I will spell it out again

John I KNOW you can do the NOS stuff but what most are saying is for a SERIOUS NOS effort you need to tow back or pull plugs at the high end. THE difference in the effort is making a good showing or winning the whole race. For you getting used to the NOS you can have it a little on the rich side so you don't hurt parts and not have to be so detailed in your efforts.
The TnT passes are a BIG help in getting it dialed in for the racing.
Mike had Good tunes on the polara and he just pulled a plug or 2 at the high end then drove it back most times. He ran 8.60 @ 160 in his 4000 lb car on 10" tires back in 2005/2006. I ran NOS on my grey RR, I just had the big shot kit and used their safe jetting from the instructions and never pulled a plug or hurt the motor, 9.29 @ 144.
You could always run it NA in the KOS series like a few others are just for the seat time. You can also get by without the laptop but it makes tuning a lot easier for engine tune and suspension tune also. Once you run the NOS you will be hooked on it as it makes a Big Difference and is a rush.
Cost is the determining factor for this type of racing so do your homework and make sure it's affordable.
Hope you can continue on the path of power. LOL
David

My car HAS NEVER BEEN TOWED up or back....
your running a big block, pull #8 and any other plugs on the return road. Honestly....you can read the straps for timing after driving back. do you really expect to come out guns blazing right from the first pass? WHy not start with a little and get your feet wet, add from there

Nope can't go by myself, I have to take my basset hound ( Roscoe ) with me.He knows when duallie comes out of the barn we're going racing. He loves cruising the pits on the golf cart. Sometimes I take the wife and get her buy fuel for the truck! LOL