Another weekend racing with Dany
Second time I have heard "driving the stripe ".. what it s that??
Basically, knowing where your opponent is, and not crossing the finish line too far in front of them. On the bottom of the time slip is a MOV (Margin of Victory), I usually like to cross the stripe first (with a few exceptions), but only by couple hundredths of a second (which equates to 1-3 feet ish).
Example 1: You and the other driver both dial 16.5 (heads up race). After you leave the line you notice that you got the jump and are ahead by half a car length. You wisely stay on the gas and watch your opponent as you go down track. If you are still half a car ahead by the 1000' marker, to effectively "drive the stripe" you should slow down a little by either lightly dragging the brake or womping the gas (on and off the gas peddle). When you cross the stripe you only want to have them covered by a fender at most (I like to only have a wheel on them). That is driving the stripe.
On that same note, if you know you can't win at the other guy is going to cross first...tap the brake...the other guy maybe on a brake out pass, so slowing a little will ensure that IF he is, you should win with a smaller breakout (if any).
The terms sandbagging, holding numbers, dialing soft...they all basically mean the same thing. An example would be, if your car can run 16.5 and you dial 16.7...that would be dialing soft give, which would give you 2 tenths of a second to "play with" at the stripe. This is not for everyone, and I would not suggest using this tactic on a regular basis (if at all) until you have mastered cutting a light and are very comfortable driving the stripe....However, if you are able to add this to your "tool kit", you will be able to pull out a few wins that you would not be able win if you dialed the car "honest".
Explaining that last one would take a couple paragraphs....I could type many pages about bracket racing tactics...but I don't have that kind of time on my lunch brake (maybe I should write a book, lol). You really just need to be able to cut a good light and know how to drive the stripe (and set a dial that is achievable).