Lining up 101
So here is the part that I think keeps most people from the track. Many find it intimidating and would rather not try so they can't be embarrassed. Don't worry, you have made it to the track, the truck is ready to go and you have been called to the staging lanes. Here is what you need to know.
Follow the directions of the track crew. They will let you know when it is your turn to go. They have a lot of things going on, so pay attention to what they are telling you to do.
Once you have been motioned to come into the lanes there are a couple things to be aware of. Most of us who run in four wheel drive will want to avoid the water box. Wet tires make for crappy traction. Some tracks it is easy to avoid, others not so much. Try not to hit anything or anyone as you go around the water box. If you want to do a burnout, again, watch the track official. They will let you know when to stop, and when to start your burnout.
Once the starter calls you forward to stage there are several things to keep in mind. MAKE SURE YOU ARE IN FOUR WHEEL DRIVE!!! Your truck will go no where and it will piss off the track officials if you do a 300 ft burnout.
As you are pulling up to the staging beams, make sure you are pointed straight down the track and that you are lined up in the 'groove'. This will generally be the dull looking part of the track. Not the shiny part.
Staging is every first timers biggest fear, so here are a few tips. The staging beams are delineated by the 3 holes spaced a little apart on either side of your lane. These are the staging beams and what will activate the staging lights once your FRONT tire has rolled into the beams.
The "TREE" has several sets of lights, and many tracks will have slighty different setups, but this pattern holds true. On the top you have your pre-stage light and then your stage light. These are the lights you want to be watching as you are rolling into the beams. It will be wise to practice building boost before you get to the track to know how your truck responds. I personally start building boost before I light the pre-stage bulb. I then roll forward to light the pre-stage bulb. Once my first light, or pre-stage bulb, is lit, I come up on full boost and slowly creep forward until the second, or staged bulb is lit. Once you have lit both the pre-stage and the staged bulb, this indicates to the starter that you are ready to race. At this point depending on how the TREE is set up, the next three yellow bulbs will light up.
The actual dropping of the TREE is done in a couple of ways. The most common for test and tunes and bracket racing is called a sportsman tree. It works like this. After you are fully staged the next three yellow lights will light up one after the other starting from the top. When the top one lights, the next one will light .5 seconds later and the third one .5 seconds after that. .5 Seconds after the last yellow has lit, the green light will come on. If you want to win your race, don't wait for the green light to come one before you launch. If you do, your reaction time will be very slow giving your competitor a large advantage. You will have to learn your truck and how deep you stage, but rule of thumb is leave on the third yellow.
The second style of of light is known as the pro tree. This is used mainly in Index and heads up racing. The staging process is the same as the sportsman tree, but once staged, things get funky. Once fully staged you had better be ready to go. In the pro tree all three yellows lite at once followed by the green either .5 or .4 seconds later depending on how the tree is set up. It is very important when racing on a pro tree that you are ready to race when you light your second stage bulb. Once it is lit the three yellows can happen at any time.
This moves us into what is called courtesy staging. This is not a rule, but any quality racer will follow this practice. Courtesy staging goes as follows. Once you light your pre-stage bulb, you wait for your competitor to light his pre-stage bulb. Once you both have pre-stage lit, then you can roll into the staged bulb. Double bulbing somebody is a dick move. Don't do it. It may happen due to weak brakes or apprehension, but apologize to whoever you raced and try not to do it again.
What a long post. Lastly, you will want to know about autostart and if it is active. If it is, it works as follows. Once three of the staging bulbs are lit, a timer starts, usually 7-10 seconds. That is the amount of time you or your competitor have to get the fourth bulb lit for staging. If it is not lit in that time, the person with only one staging bulb lit will be timed out and lose the race.
Wow, Racing in a nut shell. Hope that most of that is comprehensible. Please add any tips or tricks you may have.
