ya,......it's actually amazing how low we can launch these things.
we had a 4500 rpm chip in the 2 step, which really limited us to about 4100 rpm. we had noticed that these chips seem to start their thing around 400 to 500 rpm below their labeled rating.
so, my typical run, would be hit the bleach box, "burp" the throttle, and pull out of the water. set the linelocks, 1st gear, run her up to about 5500 rpm, shift to 2nd, and by 4000 rpm, i could feel the tires grabbing, so i'd release the lock, let her roll forward, and when i did this right, i was only a couple feet from staging.
back to 1st gear, and do a couple throttle hops, to be sure the tires are hot enough, then pre-stage and wait to see the other guys pre-stage light come on. as soon as it did, he dissappeared, and i staged(i always liked to stage first), and VERY shallow, then on the transbrake.
we ran a delay box, which was already set before i got into the bleach box. if i was giving the headstart, i set it up for a double hit, if i was taking it, i set it for single(obviously). so, both cars staged, transbrake set, and at the flicker of anythign yellow, i'm off, and throttle firewalled. transbrake lets go, she launches like you saw in the picture(deadly consistantly too). the front never just "dropped", but rather "settled" and i could feel a little wiggle in the wheel. that's about when the shift light came on, and i hit 2nd, look around a little, see that everything "looks right" for how she sounds and feels. pull 3rd, another look around, and then look for the guy i'm running down(if i took headstart, i only checked landmarks). if i;m running you down, i pull up on ya, and lift, then work the throttle to maintain about 1/2 a fender on ya.
all of my shifts were at 6400 rpm. never had a need to wind her any higher. she'd be flickering the shift light going through the traps.
it's a fun car, and is straight as an arrow. rarely ever had to really steer her, although i did kinda "drive around" a trail i could see from the schmuck that blew his rear, and coasted the entire length of the track.
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