drag racing 101

At our track they let you spin the tires in the water to get 'em wet (a little spin and the guy working the box has a little hand motion to tell you to spin if that is what you do) and then you pull out of the water to burnout on dry (rubber covered) pavement. I sometimes use the little wet spin to complete my turn onto the lane.

Agree about getting water up in the quarters. Funny story... First time I had the stroker installed and fired up was TnT day at the track and since I live close I can hear them running there. I finally got the engine running and drove the car down my backyard grass airstrip to see how it did with the engine. Did a little spin on the grass and then loaded it up on the trailer and took it to the track. On my first pass all the debris that was thrown up into my rotten quarter panels came out. Kinda pissed off the starting line guy who had to sweep it up. Guess they really didn't mind though as the car had open headers, I did a huge burnout (crowd pleaser), and the car went 1 1/4 second faster (1/8th) than the last time they saw it.

Yeah, a stroker is that much better than a worn out 340. Maybe 200 HP better.

The 340 was good to bust my racing cherry with and learn how to get down the track. Luckily the guy who used to own the fish had it running really straight. For the OP - I was scared sh*tless about screwing up and getting into the wall my first day with the car. I had already figured out how to do burnouts with the linelock on my street and my car seems to want to fishtail after I let off the line lock and stand on it. Made 5 passes the first day and the goal was to have fun and not get in trouble or hit the wall. Was a successful day. Another story about first times - carried a friend from the track in the car (before the stroker which is too fast for carrying a passenger) who had his newly built car out for the first time - hadn't made a pass in over 20 yrs. He was so nervous he was shaking all over and good thing his car wouldn't get out of 1st.

So enjoy, be careful, and it's normal to be nervous. Just don't let the crowd influence your thinking. Same for the other guy. If he takes his sweet time getting the 2nd bulb lit don't worry, just focus on your side of the tree. Another tip I learned when I was on the line and it started sprinkling - they shut down racing and instead of backing up I just drove slowly down the track. I hit the throttle a couple times (sprinkle, not rain) and was amazed at how the tires would just spin. Rain is a definate no-go so respect it.