Stick car, too much clutch?

[Rory McNeil]

I have 2 stick cars, my 85 Mustang Stocker, and a 78 Fairmont with a FE Ford engine, back halved ladder bar bracket car. Both have Jerico 4 speeds and McLeod Soft Lok clutches (10" on the Mustang, 10 1/2" in the Fairmont). I`ve been running both cars ( as sticks)for over 10 years each, and thought that I had a fairly decent handle on the clutch setup, as I normally get 2 years out of a disc, and have minimal breakage. Neither car is high RPM, and the clutch is set low enough that a drive up the return road in 3rd gear, at about 25 MPH, will result in considerable slippage if I lean into the throttle much.
However, a local track photographer recently made a DVD of a few of my runs in the Fairmont, and I gotta admit I was suprised to hear the tires barking on the gear changes. It is quite noticable in the recording. I had always assumed that with this style of clutch, there would have been enough "cushion" to prevent the clutch from hitting so hard. Is this normal, or am I way off on my clutch setup? I know that Mr Gullett and Mr. Lee will be saying to get a Youngblood clutch, but a pair of dual 7"ers are not in the budget anytime soon.