The Short Drag Strip: How much of a compromise is it?
When it comes to the ultra-competitve world of diecast drag racing, there are many, many means that come to (usually) the same end: 20.6 feet of orange track; the vaunted distance of a 1/64-scale quarter mile.
But what if you don't have that?
Twenty straight feet sounds like nothing until the finish line at the end of the orange plastic has escaped the room and is now in your hallway. But WAIT! The upstairs game room has a good 15 or 16' wall... hm.
So that brings us to our discussion: At what point can a short track escape being a compromise compared to a full-size one? In other words, what magic combination makes a car behave the same over a shorter distance, especially in the speed department? Sharp ramp with long run-out, make half the track a lower-degree ramp and half the flat..? Or is it 100% a compromise and that's the end of it?
There's a ton of science that could happen in this. Write your theories below, I'm interested in what you think!
Discussion
A fan's perspective only, I have seen a terrific show wrung out of a four lane, 9 foot long strip. My enjoyment arose from the filming, format, direct & ongoing fan engagement and energy from the host.
Two lane racing is a format I respect of course. Filming techniques, properly used, can polish up the presentation on even a short track if skill & resources allow.
Something to consider. . .AFAIK, there no longer is quarter mile NHRA/IHRA (apologies for my inaccuracies) competition now having the distance cut to 1000 feet, so the argument for shorter tracks realism may have gotten a boost?
- Good insight Chris. There is still 1/4 mile drag racing but as cars have become faster & faster some upper classes have gone to the shorter distances for safety reasons to allow for more distance on the track to slow down after the finish line. Racing is racing. Start line to finish 1st car to cross. A shorter track is just that. It still has a start and a finish. A car builder (better ones than myself) can build a car according to track conditions, length, ramp height etc. — Dutch_Clutch_Racing
Great discussion topic!
I tried to apply so-called science when I was putting together my short drag strip track...but in the end I made my hill and drop angle to fit the speed I wanted to get out of the cars so it would work well with the camera I had.
I always slowed down the video of my drag races, it was just necessary to make them watchable (regardless of entertainment value). So ultimately I knew it didn't really matter how fast the cars were really going because people weren't going to be watching reality anyway. Plus the racers had the actual dimensions so they can build accordingly if they wanted to.
BUT there was a point where the cars were going so fast that the edited video still resulted in unwatchable action, so I had to adjust the track to slow the cars down. Reality speed had to be compatible with what my camera and video editing could support and still get a decent video out of the deal.
There's a big difference between recorded and live racing...two totally different methods of audience engagement. I never had to worry about people watching my track in person so my track was engineered for video production and convenience.
Yet as I'm typing this, I never thought of doing the opposite, lol - make the track as slow as necessary to ensure the cars get to the finish line but then SPEED UP the video to make them appear faster. Instead of turning a 2 second video into a 5 second, turn the 10 second into a 5 second! Plus, The Whump wouldn't be much of an issue at that point and the worry about cars flying off the track would be minimal. Hmmm...
- So, as it goes, our goals are almost polar opposites LOL. But that's just another great aspect of what makes this hobby so multifaceted. So I mail out a fair amount to other tracks, and thankfully have a local (and I mean quite literally 2 miles down the road) racer wirh his own, ah, 'sanction length' strip/timer/gate, whole kit. Unfortunately our schedules often clash and that prevents me from visiting, plus you really can't get much hardcore testing done when both of you are trying to do it simultaneously lol. So I have a sense of how various cars behave at terminal velocity, you could say. You've raced for a while, you know there are certain seriously hot cars in the hobby, a great deal of them from the early 80s with GHO wheels. Obviously those aren't the end-all be-all in the world of speed, but let's focus on them and the related Ultra Hot. Those cars have a pretty evil tendency to reach top speed and then begin to wobble, but with my track being short, there is a very real possibility they don't reach that speed, and therefore do not reveal the trait, creating a genuine False Positive. Now, the question is, do we somehow acquire means to get a speed trap reading at the end of the track, or just after the transition, and do I attempt to match those figures? Or can this be mathed out by other means? It's a very fun brain exercise to say the least, to crack the 'riddle of speed', as a certain member here has said in the past. — Scoupe
I bought a timer system that only comes with 13' of cable. It seemed to work fine to distinguish which cars were faster, until I decided to run my actual track out to 22'. Now I'm seeing that most of the cars that are faster at 13' are still faster at 22' but not all of them. So if you're looking to participate in mail-in tournaments you might want to consider that.
So... there is a lot of math involved, but I can summarize (or paraphrase) this article and its second part that says all objects fall at the same rate which equals gravity... weight does not come into play. Weight comes into play on a sloped or ramp surface in the form of inertia with causes a body in motion to tend to want to stay in motion while drag and other effects try to stop it. Longer tracks tend to emphasize inertia and shorter tracks emphasize acceleration. More weight, slower acceleration but higher inertia. Light cars, faster acceleration, but less inertia. Longer tracks favor heavier cars, shorter tracks favor light weight cars, all other things being equal. There is alot of theory available on the subject. The entire series on gravity powered cars is here... gravity cars
With all that being said... the best way to ensure your cars run the way you want is to build what you will be racing on as near as possible and length is only 1 aspect. In theory, it is possible to calculate the end speed, time, etc of any track, but I am not capable of doing it. If I were I would have gotten through that 2nd calculus class...lol
Also, to be upfront... I do not drag race and I have not built a drag track because I, like you, probably do not have the space to build what I think I would need to test cars and compare their performance.
One option is to build your own track, do your testing, find some cars you think are good and then send them to one of the guys who can run them for you. David over at Elevation Diecast Racing has been kind enough to run something for me and I have seen him do many others.
Good luck with your project!
- Excellent info my friend. — GryphonSoul
- thanks brother! I am still a noob, but will share whatever I can to whoever wants it... hopefully it is useful! — Stoopid_Fish_Racing
Nice topic here ! Let me share my personal experience , when I decided to build my short track my goal was to emphasize in good rolling capability and I do agree with a previous post regarding how the weight affects the acceleration. During recent testing for a mail in tournament I was testing some cars at 60 grams and one of them was dominating all other five with ease but after setting the weight down to 50 grams as per the tournament specs it was a complete diferent story from being the number one qualifier for the event went to be number 3 and number 3 became no.1 even by having a more aerodynamic body.Btw my track lay out is a 8 inch drop over 10 feet 3 inches lanes and evevn on that distance you get some serious racing action.
- good info there... thanks for sharing! — Stoopid_Fish_Racing
- It's crazy all the factors that can cause the results to shift; weight, start gate height, ramp angle, transition, runout.. Couple that with the idea that everyone is doing this formula slightly differently and it begins to really make you question your sanity in racing toys lol — Scoupe
A lot of great replies in here, and I thank you all! So to get to the real meat and potatoes of this little exercise, I enter in a fair amount of mail-in races, most notably between Scale Racing Channel and Elevation Diecast, though I've visited other tracks in the past.
Things have changed recently in the hobby, with the advent of timers becoming much more accessible (much less, affordable) meaning that many more folks are discovering above-average speed and seeing net gains from changing their practices. Not having such an excellent tool (or even a track haha) means you're getting left behind quickly, and, on the host's track during an event, quite literally.
But herein lies the crux of this situation: many cars behave very differently both at top speed, and coasting after the initial acceleration on the flat. So to have possibly less of both means that the car doesn't provide evidence of its actual evil traits, and that can be the several thousandths difference between you being on the podium and you fighting to tread water in 20th position in the first round.
So that's the basis of my question, full roundabout haha.
- I I think it would be nice if more races didn't use a timer, simply denote who was 1st, etc. I always felt once numbers and math gets involved it can get discouraging fast because you suddenly have a hard number to beat rather than using your gut and feeling (with a dash of hope). But I get it...sorry I don't have any good answer, lol - I guess it's more a way to avoid the heartache — redlinederby
I had an idea for a track called 4 speed. The starting drop would be small and the flat would be short, that’s first gear. Second hill and flat would get a little bigger, that’s second gear. ...etc
I’m a big fan of having steps on a straight track. One of my favorite track builds had three, 1’ drops. They would be hauling ass at the bottom. I think 4speed would be boring at the top but all this talk about slow racing made me rethink the whole thing. I’m just thinking out loud here. Thanks.
Great conversion. I'll be following closely. I'm still experimenting with my first drg strip setup. So hopefully I'll gain some insights to share in the future.
Thank you to all that have shared so far.
Chris
I think a short track can be interestion, and a flat sloped one would look just like looking down a real track, nice for film angles, and some realism.
While I was on vacation, I took track to do some outdoor stuff, planed a simple mt, drag, and joust
the mt track worked OK, but drag would not at all. (failure but learned alot)
Long story short, was real hard/impossible to make 2 lanes run the same in the grass. one was always faster.
So, I am going to build some portable sections to support the track
the design would also work for inside, disassemble-able track
It's a constant slope drag strip, like my micro track
I made some meme'- structions
For home use I'll use some 8' long ones,
and make 4' ones that will fit in my trunk
My scroll saw or jigsaw cuts the foam nice, I'd bet a fine jigsaw may do OK, too
Unsure on holding the track, but probably will mount washers or connecters on the foam to keep the track centered,
dr
I have a short track setup indoors so I can continue racing during the summer months. From what I have seen, not eveyrone likes the idea, but I am sure there are some who are ok with it. I think if the track is setup to get the most speed out of the short distance, without comprimising stopping the cars, it should be all good. To me, the fun is the only thing that matters.
Lloyd