Brittany Reaction Times (2 Viewers)

[none]

It used to be that a .90 light in top fuel was considered a good light. Now you're late. Young guys like Justin have made everyone be more focused on lights so you see the reaction times for the entire class coming down.

A big part of that is that the cars are slow to react. A PS car with the engine at 6,500 ish RPM when you drop the clutch is going to get moving pretty quickly once the pedal is released.

But with a Nitro car, the engine is idling with a centrifugal clutch. When the driver hits the throttle, the engine begins to come up, the clutch starts to engage, the wheel starts to rotate inside the tire, the tire wraps, the car squats, the wheelie bar hits the ground, the car rebounds from that, then it starts to move forward. It all takes a little time.

And the tune-up plays a roll as well, the guys who study this stuff will look at how long between butterflies open and car motion. There was a classic example with Ron Capps and Tommy Johnson when they were both driving for Snake a few years back.

What Justin does regularly is very impressive, but it's not just him. They also have a quick reacting car.

Alan

 

[LoPony]

A big part of that is that the cars are slow to react. A PS car with the engine at 6,500 ish RPM when you drop the clutch is going to get moving pretty quickly once the pedal is released.

But with a Nitro car, the engine is idling with a centrifugal clutch. When the driver hits the throttle, the engine begins to come up, the clutch starts to engage, the wheel starts to rotate inside the tire, the tire wraps, the car squats, the wheelie bar hits the ground, the car rebounds from that, then it starts to move forward. It all takes a little time.

And the tune-up plays a roll as well, the guys who study this stuff will look at how long between butterflies open and car motion. There was a classic example with Ron Capps and Tommy Johnson when they were both driving for Snake a few years back.

What Justin does regularly is very impressive, but it's not just him. They also have a quick reacting car.

Alan

Yes, it’s surreal. A 0.02-something for him is not uncommon. The car reacts quick, but the driver also reacts very quick. I don’t know what they’ve done to the car, but I bet there are about 18 other TF teams that would like to know the secret.

 

[mick]

Yeah! I’m proud of her that she made it to a final.

i'm not sure that you are picking up the intended sarcasm

 

[cknight]

A big part of that is that the cars are slow to react. A PS car with the engine at 6,500 ish RPM when you drop the clutch is going to get moving pretty quickly once the pedal is released.

But with a Nitro car, the engine is idling with a centrifugal clutch. When the driver hits the throttle, the engine begins to come up, the clutch starts to engage, the wheel starts to rotate inside the tire, the tire wraps, the car squats, the wheelie bar hits the ground, the car rebounds from that, then it starts to move forward. It all takes a little time.

And the tune-up plays a roll as well, the guys who study this stuff will look at how long between butterflies open and car motion. There was a classic example with Ron Capps and Tommy Johnson when they were both driving for Snake a few years back.

What Justin does regularly is very impressive, but it's not just him. They also have a quick reacting car.

Alan

There's the staging factor, too. Just because the top bulb is stil on, doesn't mean that it's a shallow stage....

 

[Professional Fan]

I do think a significant factor is the driver. All the top teams have smart crew chiefs who can set the car up to react optimally. The reason drivers like Justin and Erica are so good is their talent. I believe some of that is genetic so to be at the top is just not possible for everyone.

 

[Butch]

To me the perfect practice tree would be, take an old car say TF and save the driver's tub back with a sensor on the end of the throttle cable at the hat end.
That should be almost identical to the real in car scenario, the handheld practice tree in my thinking is useless your thumb compared to your foot reaction has to be much different.
Thoughts?

 

[J. S.]

To me the perfect practice tree would be, take an old car say TF and save the driver's tub back with a sensor on the end of the throttle cable at the hat end.
That should be almost identical to the real in car scenario, the handheld practice tree in my thinking is useless your thumb compared to your foot reaction has to be much different.
Thoughts?

I think some of the drivers do have a set-up along the lines of what you are describing.

 

[Ramjet]

To me the perfect practice tree would be, take an old car say TF and save the driver's tub back with a sensor on the end of the throttle cable at the hat end.
That should be almost identical to the real in car scenario, the handheld practice tree in my thinking is useless your thumb compared to your foot reaction has to be much different.
Thoughts?

It is absolutely different - BUT: The missing part of this equation is the pressure of competition - being in a 11,000 H.P. potentially uncontrolable machine that decisions are made in Milliseconds and what you have to lose (or win) in the moment vs just "Motor Skills". Some people (very few) can get into the "ZONE" and have 100% concentration without being aprehensive but everyone can't. In Brittny's case can you imagine the pressure of thinking that you have to be a Clone of the winningest person ever in Professional Drag Racing when almost everyone else named "JAFO" is looking for an excuse to ridicule you. Some of these same people are Lightning quick on a keyboard but have a whole lot more time, invisable on the "Keyboard" than they do in a pressure situation. By the way if you don't know JAFO (pronoun ) it stands for "Just Another F------ Observer".

 

[Slowpoke96z28]

To me the perfect practice tree would be, take an old car say TF and save the driver's tub back with a sensor on the end of the throttle cable at the hat end.
That should be almost identical to the real in car scenario, the handheld practice tree in my thinking is useless your thumb compared to your foot reaction has to be much different.
Thoughts?

The portatree e practice tree has a foot switch plug in, and iirc, someone has made an adapter that will tie into the timer switch under the actual pedal in the car. The thing can be programmed with whatever delay the car has to reacting to WOT. Pro tip: if you’re ever using a portatree for money and it isn’t yours, CHECK THE DELAY. Hustlers will set it to something ridiculous so you’ll almost never win lol.

As for Justin, don’t forget he’s coming from a background of decently high level college football as a wide receiver. Eye/body coordination has been fostered not only since the juniors, but also on the football field. Perfect brake pressure, perfect brake release, perfect throttle application are all skills that translate from playing receiver at the level he did.

 

[Z28LT1]

OK. Not Brittany, but let’s take a look at Phoenix. Schumacher versus Ashley for Winternationals final. I don’t know what light Tony had, seems like a 40 or so. The Brat hooked a 20-something light. How is that even possible? It sounds like a good guess, on his part, but he sure guesses well most of the time! I don’t even know how it can be that quick. How is it even possible that someone can, consistently, cut 20 to 40 lights in a 300 inch long top fuel car? This isn’t a one time occurrence. The Brat does it all the time! That’s just weird.

Austin Prock was on par with Ashley in TF last year. If I recall, a younger Shawn Langdon would do the same thing pretty consistently back a few years ago. He's not the first to be a good leaver. I know bottom bulb foot brake bracket racers that can do even better pretty consistently. It's not impossible. MLB batters have 0.15 seconds to decide if they are going to swing at a pitch, and there is actual thinking involved with that. All we do is see yellow and go. I don't like the kid either, but my like or dislike doesn't make him any more or less talented.

 

[DanTheFan]

It’s tough being a Force fan with the lights she cuts. She left first (slightly) only one round this year with a .089 light against Billy and lost anyway due to performance. And lost on a hole shot last week. Rather than beat up on her, let’s talk philosophy. In years past, she qualified first so lights didn’t matter much in round one. Sometimes multiple rounds. Now that it’s tougher to do that, isn’t it worth risking a red light against top cars/drivers to try to land a good one? Fuel cars never red light but if you need to get the feel of a good light, why not press when you’re pretty sure the guy in the other lane is going to be sub .060 and can match your ets?

 

[twostep]

Yes, it’s surreal. A 0.02-something for him is not uncommon. The car reacts quick, but the driver also reacts very quick. I don’t know what they’ve done to the car, but I bet there are about 18 other TF teams that would like to know the secret.

.02 is opening the door to Guessland in a top fuel car but .040 is still lightning quick...that's four 100ths of one second...think about how quick that is for Ashley to react to the lights and then the car react to Ashley. I've brought up Brittany's and Alexis' characteristically slow reaction times myself but when you think about it, even a tenth of a second while concentrating on trying to outrun the person in the other lane and knowing the hell that's about to be unleashed, is something not very many people can accomplish.

Pro Stock is even more amazing. They're a lot quicker reacting by nature but look at what the driver has to deal with to stage and launch compared to a fuel car. Yet the better drivers routinely cut teenage lights.

 

[Sparky]

How many Championships has she won? She wouldn't have won any if she was going red so I think her lights are good enough.