Drag Racing

Question

Drag Racing Research

Drag racing is a type of competition specially designed for motorcycles and automobiles, usually two of them at a time. The person who reaches the designated finish line first wins the competition. The race uses level, straight, and fairly short tracks of a quarter or half of a mile through the distances vary and the cyclist's race in twos, side by side. The vehicles start the competition from a dead stop and accelerate to great speeds within a very short distance (Finn, 2011). Usually, the races are run in the heat, where heat is a complete drag race and there are several heats in a single racing event.

Before each race, every driver gets a chance to perform a burnout, which lays rubber down and heats the driving tires thus improving traction. Then the drivers line up at the starting line, then the races are started by a system referred to as Christmas, which comprises of six lights for every lane or driver; one blue, three ambers, one red, and one green, which are connected to the light beams on the track. The blue is split into 2 halves; when the front tire of the vehicle breaks the first beam light, it means that the driver pre-staged. When the second half lights up, it means that the driver is staged. When both drivers are staged, the tree is activated which allows it to start the race causing the amber light to light up followed by the green one. If the front tires leave the stage beam before the green light illuminates, then the red light illuminates indicating disqualification of the driver (Kelly, 2009).

The winner of the race is the first vehicle to cross the finish line meaning the driver with the lowest elapsed time and reaction time. The elapsed time acts as the measure of performance only and does not necessarily establish the winner. Reaction time, on the other hand, refers to the time between the lighting of the green lights and the driver leaving the stage beam. The elapsed time is the time between leaving the stage beam to the finish line. A speed trap is used to measure the speed covering 20m to the finish line. The trap indicates the maximum speed of each vehicle during the competition. Normally, the losing driver gets eliminated and the winner goes ahead to compete with the other winners until one remains as the ultimate winner.

Outline

A drag race is simply a contest between two vehicles racing beside each other in a short straight line, usually, a quarter or an eighth of a mile. In most cases, the first cases the first driver to the finish line wins the race though there are other considerations before determining the winning, like the reaction time and the elapsed time. A drag racing competition comprises a series of individual two-car races referred to as eliminations. Winners of each race advance to the next race until there is one winner left. In cases where the drivers in a race reach the finish line in the exact elapsed times, the winner will be the driver who reacted fastest to the green beam or the starting signal (Kelly, 2009). The clock does not start until the vehicles start moving and are timed independently. For this reason, one vehicle may appear to have an advantage mathematically in comparative elapsed times but ends up losing the race. This makes starting-line reflexes exceedingly crucial in any drag racing.

There are organizations in different nations that oversee drag racing competitions. For instance, the National Hot Rod Association in North America, The British Hot Rod Association in the united kingdom, Australian National Drag Racing Association in Australia among others. These organizations aim at bringing together the competitors, unifying clubs organizing races, and overseeing the overall activities.