STICK WITH IT
Traction isn’t promised. That’s always been the case on aban- clean. Typically, leaf blowers stir the dirt up, brooms spread
doned back roads and barren industrial areas, but in 2016 it’s the dirt around and water turns the dirt into mud. Air from
not at all shocking to find yourself at the local drag strip fight- the cars making passes is really the best way to get it clean.”
ing to hook up your hot rod – especially with the surge of “no
prep” events popping up all over the country. While a multitude SPRAY IT
of factors come into play when it comes to maximizing trac- McGuire, along with
tion – everything from the condition, type and temperature numerous other
of the racing surface to tire pressure, shock settings and the racers, rely on PJ1
likes – there is no denying that a little bit of glue can go a TrackBite – available
long way.
at most performance
retailers – for tracYou may never find yourself in a high-stakes street race (we tion compounds.
could never condone such a thing) or in the finals of a big Commonplace in
money “no prep” drag race, but if you’ve ever wondered how drag racing for
those guys on YouTube.com or primetime television manage decades has been
to even come close to hooking up their 1,000-plus horsepower the practice of
street cars, you can bet your bottom dollar that amongst the cutting the traction
key factors is a good batch of the sticky stuff. As with all things compound with
involving racers and their respective vehicles, there are in- racing methanol to
numerable opinions and perspectives when it comes to the thin the glue-like
perfect track/strep-prep fix. “I know guys that swear by Dr. substance and help
Pepper,” says Dalton McGuire, a high-level street car enthusiast, it dry more quickly
best known for his work behind the wheel of the internet- once sprayed onto
famous “BoostLee” 1,500-horsepower Toyota Supra. “My go-to the racing surface.
is PJ1 TrackBite mixed with MEK [methyl ethyl ketone] or toluene “Some people believe
– either will work and are used to break down the rubber and the more glue the
put it on the racing surface.”
better, but that’s not
exactly correct,” says
TIDY UP
drag racing track
“I don’t think there is anything more important, at least for prep specialist Tyler
traction, than a clean racing surface,” says Justin “Big Chief” Crossnoe. “You have
Shearer, star of Discovery Channel’s hit reality television show to take into account
Street Outlaws. “Broom the street off by hand for the first few the surface and the
hundred feet at least, but we’ve always made a practice of ambient temperature as well as the road/track temperature.”
letting the slower cars go down first to really get the surface The rule-of-thumb is 50-percent compound to 50-percent
30
STREETRACE
PHOTOS: 1320VIDEO
TIPS AND POINTERS ON PUTTING THE POWER TO THE
GROUND WHEN IT MATTERS MOST BY ROBERT KING