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Hard launch by a '55 Stude

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  • Hard launch by a '55 Stude

    From BangShift , this morning .

    '55 launch by Bill H, on Flickr
    Bill H
    Daytona Beach
    SDC member since 1970
    Owner of The Skeeter Hawk .

  • #2
    amazed it didn't pop some glass!

    Comment


    • #3
      I like it!
      Pat Dilling
      Olivehurst, CA
      Custom '53 Starlight aka STU COOL


      LS1 Engine Swap Journal: http://www.hotrodders.com/forum/jour...ournalid=33611

      Comment


      • #4
        Me, too. Heading for the Pure Stock Drags on Wednesday. Hoping to get some vintage competition this year.
        Dave Warren (Perry Mason by day, Perry Como by night)

        Comment


        • #5
          Would that be the 185 or the 170 flathead 6 cylinder in that Champion .. ??
          Love my Lark

          Comment


          • #6
            Originally posted by Mrs K Corbin View Post
            amazed it didn't pop some glass!
            My brothers and I used to drag race our Studebakers all the time in the 60s and often pulled some starts like this. I never experienced or heard of this happening. Is that actually possible?
            Ed Sallia
            Dundee, OR

            Sol Lucet Omnibus

            Comment


            • #7
              Originally posted by warrlaw1 View Post
              Me, too. Heading for the Pure Stock Drags on Wednesday. Hoping to get some vintage competition this year.
              Dave, if your '55 Commander hardtop pulls the front wheels like that, I'll pretty much guarantee you another front cover on Turning Wheels! BP
              We've got to quit saying, "How stupid can you be?" Too many people are taking it as a challenge.

              G. K. Chesterton: This triangle of truisms, of father, mother, and child, cannot be destroyed; it can only destroy those civilizations which disregard it.

              Comment


              • #8
                Prolly just a power pack 259, yes?

                Comment


                • #9

                  ...........
                  HTIH (Hope The Info Helps)

                  Jeff


                  Get your facts first, and then you can distort them as much as you please. Mark Twain



                  Note: SDC# 070190 (and earlier...)

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    What's the 7.55 on the windshield represent?

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Originally posted by Tom B View Post
                      What's the 7.55 on the windshield represent?
                      Probably his "dial in" - meaning his best elapsed time (ET) in qualifying: 7.55 seconds for the 1/8 mile. (I'm assuming 1/8 mile because that car would have to be much more heavily modified to do a 7.55 in the 1/4- 7.55 seconds in the 1/8 roughly converts to 11.58 seconds in the 1/4 mile)

                      Some drag racing classes just run heads up- meaning, go as fast as you can, first one to the finish line wins. But this means it is very expensive to compete because you can go as fast as you have the money to spend, up to the technology/physics/rulebook limitations. Other classes have what they call an "index", meaning the cars in your class cannot run quicker than a predetermined ET. In NHRA heritage racing, those index classes are often 7.60, 8.60 and 9.60 seconds for the 1/4 mile. But that still takes $$$ because you have to be able to make your car run close to the index, if not a little faster.

                      So what's left is what they call bracket racing, which allows you to just run your car as is, and whatever the ET is, is what it is. You will have a class to race in. Your class will have an ET spread - i.e. 10.99 - 12.99 (again 1/4 mile ETs, because that's what's in my neck of the woods.) The difference between ETs of cars is made up via the handicap start.

                      In bracket racing, once you establish your "dial in" it allows the track to pair you up with other cars in your class that have different times and to know how much of a head start to give the slower car. If the guy in the photo with the 7.55 ET is going against a car with a 8.05 ET dial in, the slower car will get a .50 second head start. The theory is that it will make things evenly matched by the finish line. But the catch is once you've established your dial in, you can not run quicker than that in eliminations. If he ran even a 7.54 ET, he would automatically become disqualified. (aka "breaking out") So it makes it interesting, because if you're the faster car you not only have to run down the slower car and pass it by the finish line, but you have to do it without breaking out. Likewise, the guy with the head start can't freak out because another car is running him down and run quicker than an 8.05, otherwise he loses, even if he made it to the finish line first. It makes qualifying important, because you can't "sandbag" and purposely run your car slower than it can go, figuring that you'll then get paired up with cars you can easily beat. But small things like track temperature and condition at any given time, and air density and so forth sometimes can make it so your car picks up a .100th on a run and you break out.

                      So that's the long answer and more than you probably wanted to know!

                      Dean
                      Last edited by voxnut; 09-09-2016, 01:28 PM.
                      Dean Seavers
                      Sacramento, CA

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Originally posted by voxnut View Post
                        Probably his "dial in" - meaning his best elapsed time (ET) in qualifying: 7.55 seconds for the 1/8 mile. (I'm assuming 1/8 mile because that car would have to be much more heavily modified to do a 7.55 in the 1/4- 7.55 seconds in the 1/8 roughly converts to 11.58 seconds in the 1/4 mile)

                        Some drag racing classes just run heads up- meaning, go as fast as you can, first one to the finish line wins. But this means it is very expensive to compete because you can go as fast as you have the money to spend, up to the technology/physics/rulebook limitations. Other classes have what they call an "index", meaning the cars in your class cannot run quicker than a predetermined ET. In NHRA heritage racing, those index classes are often 7.60, 8.60 and 9.60 seconds for the 1/4 mile. But that still takes $$$ because you have to be able to make your car run close to the index, if not a little faster.

                        So what's left is what they call bracket racing, which allows you to just run your car as is, and whatever the ET is, is what it is. You will have a class to race in. Your class will have an ET spread - i.e. 10.99 - 12.99 (again 1/4 mile ETs, because that's what's in my neck of the woods.) The difference between ETs of cars is made up via the handicap start.

                        In bracket racing, once you establish your "dial in" it allows the track to pair you up with other cars in your class that have different times and to know how much of a head start to give the slower car. If the guy in the photo with the 7.55 ET is going against a car with a 8.05 ET dial in, the slower car will get a .50 second head start. The theory is that it will make things evenly matched by the finish line. But the catch is once you've established your dial in, you can not run quicker than that in eliminations. If he ran even a 7.54 ET, he would automatically become disqualified. (aka "breaking out") So it makes it interesting, because if you're the faster car you not only have to run down the slower car and pass it by the finish line, but you have to do it without breaking out. Likewise, the guy with the head start can't freak out because another car is running him down and run quicker than an 8.05, otherwise he loses, even if he made it to the finish line first. It makes qualifying important, because you can't "sandbag" and purposely run your car slower than it can go, figuring that you'll then get paired up with cars you can easily beat. But small things like track temperature and condition at any given time, and air density and so forth sometimes can make it so your car picks up a .100th on a run and you break out.

                        So that's the long answer and more than you probably wanted to know!

                        Dean
                        Exactly right , and that's why I wish a few more Stude people would run their cars now and then at their local Drag Strip .
                        Most of the time when I run my car ,the Skeeter Hawk , I do so at the Test and Tune sessions , and then you don't even need to
                        worry about a dial in at all.
                        Just go as hard as you can against whatever is in the other lane . I'd say that about 50% of the time , I get a car that is quicker than
                        me , but even then sometimes cutting a better light brings a win . It is just for fun , and beating the more conventional cars adds happy time .

                        BTW , my " dial in" would be about 8.95 currently , so I'd like to know what engine is, in the '55 in the pic .
                        Mine is a very mild Studebaker , no blower .
                        Bill H
                        Daytona Beach
                        SDC member since 1970
                        Owner of The Skeeter Hawk .

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Probably a Buick Gran National V6. I remember seeing launches on TV shows about the Buick Grand National with a little higher wheel lift. I don't think I would like to try that on Lazarus or Meshach when I do finally have them on the road.

                          Bob Miles

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Originally posted by voxnut View Post
                            Probably his "dial in" - meaning his best elapsed time (ET) in qualifying: 7.55 seconds for the 1/8 mile. (I'm assuming 1/8 mile because that car would have to be much more heavily modified to do a 7.55 in the 1/4- 7.55 seconds in the 1/8 roughly converts to 11.58 seconds in the 1/4 mile)

                            Some drag racing classes just run heads up- meaning, go as fast as you can, first one to the finish line wins. But this means it is very expensive to compete because you can go as fast as you have the money to spend, up to the technology/physics/rulebook limitations. Other classes have what they call an "index", meaning the cars in your class cannot run quicker than a predetermined ET. In NHRA heritage racing, those index classes are often 7.60, 8.60 and 9.60 seconds for the 1/4 mile. But that still takes $$$ because you have to be able to make your car run close to the index, if not a little faster.

                            So what's left is what they call bracket racing, which allows you to just run your car as is, and whatever the ET is, is what it is. You will have a class to race in. Your class will have an ET spread - i.e. 10.99 - 12.99 (again 1/4 mile ETs, because that's what's in my neck of the woods.) The difference between ETs of cars is made up via the handicap start.

                            In bracket racing, once you establish your "dial in" it allows the track to pair you up with other cars in your class that have different times and to know how much of a head start to give the slower car. If the guy in the photo with the 7.55 ET is going against a car with a 8.05 ET dial in, the slower car will get a .50 second head start. The theory is that it will make things evenly matched by the finish line. But the catch is once you've established your dial in, you can not run quicker than that in eliminations. If he ran even a 7.54 ET, he would automatically become disqualified. (aka "breaking out") So it makes it interesting, because if you're the faster car you not only have to run down the slower car and pass it by the finish line, but you have to do it without breaking out. Likewise, the guy with the head start can't freak out because another car is running him down and run quicker than an 8.05, otherwise he loses, even if he made it to the finish line first. It makes qualifying important, because you can't "sandbag" and purposely run your car slower than it can go, figuring that you'll then get paired up with cars you can easily beat. But small things like track temperature and condition at any given time, and air density and so forth sometimes can make it so your car picks up a .100th on a run and you break out.

                            So that's the long answer and more than you probably wanted to know!

                            Dean
                            Dean, that's a great concise explanation. Well Done! The only other variables are the driver's reaction time to the green light. If one driver "leaves" quicker than the other, he or she can win, that is get to the finish live first, even if their performance is not as close to the dial in.

                            I agree with shifter4, taking our cars to the track is fun. A great chance to drive our cars flat out in a safe and controlled environment. I usually take STU COOL to Sacramento Raceway Wednesday night Fun Drags about once a year, just for the fun of it. Last year I made it all the way to the final round before getting beat. Beating faster cars and drivers equipped with drag radials etc really made my day. Try it, you'll like it!
                            Pat Dilling
                            Olivehurst, CA
                            Custom '53 Starlight aka STU COOL


                            LS1 Engine Swap Journal: http://www.hotrodders.com/forum/jour...ournalid=33611

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              I had a '73 Mud-Stang that had so much body flex that after the first launch like that I learned real quick to roll down the windows as the right side exploded.... after that, Subframe Connectors...

                              Comment

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