D.I. COLUMNIST
Tuned Up
with Will Hanna
THE RUN
I
n my last column, we
went over getting to the line.
An experienced driver and
team will make the part of mak-
ing a run look very easy. While it
can look easy, there’s quite a bit
to making a successful run. In
this column, we’ll go over some
keys to making one of those runs.
As with everything else, the
key is everyone on the line be-
ing on the same page and hav-
ing assigned roles. I like to have
checklists in plain sight that
whoever starting the car can
see and verbally confirm: air
bottle on, switches armed, etc.
Ninety-nine percent of the time
those pre-start-up tasks are rou-
tine, but when you’re rushing up
there at the last minute, having
those checklists help make sure
everything is done when your
mind might still be on some-
thing else.
Once everything is turned on
and the car is fired up, it’s time
to roll up to the burnout. Per-
sonally, I prefer to do a shorter
burnout as the track warms up.
New tires get a nice long burn-
out. A new trend that started in
the Top Fuel ranks, especially
when the track is hot, is to do a
burnout out of the groove. Now
that we are in the era of tire ro-
tator prep at the big events, the
rotator puts down a nice thin
layer of rubber. When the track
temp goes up, it’s very easy, espe-
cially for the higher horsepower cars,
to burn through that thin layer and
make the track bald. So, many teams
do a burnout off to the side of the
groove. This protects their desired
starting-line groove.
Generally, whoever is in charge
on the starting line will line the car
up for the burnout and pick the
“line” for the run. I normally try to
line up the car center mass of the
groove down track, with slight ad-
justments on the line compensate
for bald spots. Very rarely is it a good
idea to line up a car completely out
of the down-track groove to avoid
a bald spot. I will usually mark an
X in the rubber before a run to use
as a target to line the car up with.
Sometimes it’s not a bad idea to use
chalk to mark your spot too.
It’s one thing to have a target to
line up the car on. Getting the car
backed up and lined up straight on
that target is a lot harder than it
looks. Some teams use someone out
front, other teams talk to the driver
via radio. In either instance, the key
is everyone being on the same page.
What I have found the most suc-
cess with over the years is instruct-
ing the driver to make small adjust-
ments. So, let’s say the car is to the
right of the spot I want it in line
with. I will signal a quick bump to
the left. I prefer the driver to just
make a small adjustment left or
right each time, basically moving
the car an inch or two. If it needs
some more, we’ll do a bump to the
left again. I always tell the driver
it’s their responsibility to get back
to “straight.” If we went left, it’s
a small bump left, and the driver
knows to get the car back straight.
It’s not turn the wheel left until you
see me tell you right, then try to get
back on line by directions from the
rear. That is very difficult to achieve
because of the delay between the
person directing the car and the
driver making that adjustment.
Now with that said, having been
a driver, you realize that these
cars rarely will back up straight
with the wheel straight. They
just aren’t designed with going
backward in mind. As a driver,
you need to have that “seat of the
pants” feel and make your own
small adjustments in the car to
keep the car backing up straight.
Ideally, you get the car “on
line” as far as you can out, so that
you minimize the need for any
adjustments moving forward.
One thing I have noticed going
from solid suspension dragsters
and Funny Cars to the door car
world is it’s pretty common for
teams to make adjustments one
way or the other in the door car
world. With dragsters or Funny
Cars, we really try to get on line
backing up. I will say it’s easier
with a shorter wheelbase car to
move a car over an inch or two
driving up to the line. It’s very
difficult with a dragster due to
the long wheelbase, and with a
Funny Car, using a steering arm
rather than a rack and pinion.
While it’s possible to move a
car over left or right moving up
to the line, I try to avoid it at
all costs. Moving forward to the
line, the only thing I want to do
is make sure the car is pointed
straight. I have found it is easier
to line up the car from the center
of the car looking forward rather
than the side of the car. With
many cars having contour from the
rear to the front, it’s easy for that to
throw you off.
Now that the car is straight, typi-
cally the last step before staging is
setting the wheelie bar. I prefer to
do this with the car almost to pre-
stage. The reason being is this is
about the closest you can set the
bar to the actual spot it will hit