Willing To Hold...Again

[Mike Pearson]

I have a good weather station and my car is predictable. I dial my car what I think I can run and I don't hold. I rely on a better tree and running closer to my dial. I will lift if I have room. The competition in Super Stock is really tight so I rarely lift. I can tell you a .049 bulb and 1 over with a 4 wont get you many wins in SS.

[James Perrone]

You will figure it out when we race.

[L.Fite]

For me it depends on the race... sometimes hold, sometimes dial hard and wing it out...
Sometimes it works...
Sometimes it don't...

BUT... I think Harvey invented sandbagging, and the "Boys" have been doing it as long as they've been racing, and they are very good at it!...
Even back in the Datsun days...

[1700camaro]

Originally Posted by Mike Pearson

I have a good weather station and my car is predictable. I dial my car what I think I can run and I don't hold. I rely on a better tree and running closer to my dial. I will lift if I have room. The competition in Super Stock is really tight so I rarely lift. I can tell you a .049 bulb and 1 over with a 4 wont get you many wins in SS.

That slip was a perfect example of why I hold. We both had crappy lights, very unusual especially for my opponent. I'm almost 100% sure, if I dialed what the car would have run. I would have lost that round! My car would have run a 9.034 @ around 150 mph on that pass. My opponent came by after & we had a nice chat with some chuckles.

As for what you think about Super Stock. I picked a random race from Divisional Live Timing & took a look at your claim. I saw a good many winning with a similar light & also seen a good many winning with .050+ lights & worse (not heads-up races). Most of that was in the 1st 3 rounds & they started tightening up as the rounds went along.

I'm not pushing holding on anyone. I'm sharing what I do with my program. Many moons ago I used to dial honest/what I thought it would run. I started practicing holding & I will never go back to dialing honest. It's so much easier for me to race while holding.

[JP1738]

1700, I found your research on SS to be true in practice as well. I believe you have to be very very talented to win an NHRA stock/SS race, but I don't think you have to be incredible to win a couple rounds. That's just my experience. I have not and do not make stellar laps all the time, but I have won a few rounds here and there this year with 50-70 bulbs. I've won a few with sub 30 bulbs as well. But I was quickly dispatched 2nd or 3rd round at every event by a more talented driver. That's on me, if I wanna compete at a high level, my consistency will have to match it.

A good car goes a long way too, and as long as I had all my ducks in a row, my car was really good this year. Thanks to all the advice, parts, and expertise by those that frequent this forum, I built a really good, competitive car. If I just had a driver...

[goinbroke2]

Must be because I was running slower bracket classes with less experienced drivers but..I run my time trials to figure my dial for first round, but when racing starts, most of the time I tap the brakes before the stripe so my dial is never right in the first few rounds. When it tightens up in the later rounds I dial soft (.02) and decide just before the stripe depending on where the other car is. If he will make the strip first I dump at the line, if it's a toss up or a fast car that I can't judge I run it out the back door. If I break out then there's a good chance he did too..unless I missed the tree in which everything changes, lol!!

[KennyAnderson]

I NEVER hold..........unless I'm holdin!!!

Occasionally I'll miss the tree... and my kids/buds are all over me!! LOL! I tell them when YOU can be 100 and still light up the scoreboard come see me! LMAO!!

[curtis reed]

Originally Posted by Mike Pearson

I can tell you a .049 bulb and 1 over with a 4 wont get you many wins in SS.

Not a hero run but would/could have won a great number of rounds looking at Ennis.

[James Perrone]

1700
I see that you seem to hold a bunch
You were using the theory that you were the faster car so you make the decision
I like it ? You?re either just riding people or you doing a 20 mile an hour dump

[1700camaro]

Originally Posted by James Perrone

1700
I see that you seem to hold a bunch
You were using the theory that you were the faster car so you make the decision
I like it ? You?re either just riding people or you doing a 20 mile an hour dump

James,

When I voted in the poll, I chose all options except "Don't hold/try to dial honest".

I have a set range of hold numbers that work best for me in most situations.

I use my mph to my advantage, it has its pros & cons. For me, the pros outweigh the cons! My car will run 150mph+ but I'm not legal to run it that fast yet.

In my class (Pro), I chase 99+% of my opponents. I definitely don't ride my opponents or do a dump. The 2 slips shared showed me getting rid of around 15mph. Most of the time it's using the throttle around the 1000' mark & saving a little for the finish line. That is where I make my final decision to take or give up the stripe.

There's is no drama with me killing my hold numbers or getting rid of mph. The 1% of the time I do use the brakes it's only a slight amount & again no drama.

1700/781L