This is where I need to practice.

Burnouts

If you’re running slicks, then by all means you need to be doing burnouts before your run. This will heat up the rubber and knock off any debris that may be on the tread. The burnout is considered an art by many guys at the tracks.

They all have their own ways of doing it, but the point that everyone will agree on is to do a burnout just long enough to clean the rubber and heat the tires. If you’ve ever been to the dragstrip, you’ll notice that the asphalt near the starting line is a lot stickier than anywhere else. You can even hear the tires sticking to the asphalt as the cars roll up to the line. The burnout can mean the difference between a great launch and a terrible one, assuming that everything is equal and that the tires are a good set of slicks.

Many of the racers also had mixed feelings about what gear to do a burnout in. Most of them say to put the car in Second (in a five-speed), rev it up, and side-step the clutch while lightly stepping on the brakes for about five or six seconds until you see a light amount of smoke. Others (the minority) say they like to burnout in First in order to break the tires loose quicker, which means a shorter burnout. When performing the burnout with DOTs or slicks, the best way, according to 95 percent of the guys we talked to, is to roll through the water box to the edge closest to the line and then turn ‘em and burn ‘em. Some people drive around the water box, then back into it for the burnout. This way, the front tires don’t get wet and carry water to the starting line.

Drag radials don’t require as much attention as slicks. The reason is because drag radials, although a lot better than street tires, still have grooves and tread that can retain water from the water box and drip onto the asphalt near the starting line. A definite no-no. Instead of burning-out in the water box, our experts say to go around the water box and then proceed to do a quick burn-out. This will keep the tires clean, hot, and everyone else happy. One thing to consider is a line-lock, which will make it much easier to do a burnout with a five-speed car.