Well, I went to Firebird Raceway last Friday night, and it didn't turn out so well. (I'm a road racer, not a drag racer, so this was only my second time drag racing in ten years.) Out of four runs, here's my best:
R/T .005
60' 2.444
1/8 9.917
mph 74.32
1/4 15.20
mph 93.52

I had ESP off and launched at ~1,500rpm. There was maybe 5' of wheelspin, but other than that, it hooked up fine.
I tried both starting in "D" and starting in 1st with Autostick and letting it upshift at redline, and performance was the same. I tried doing a burnout, but since I wasn't getting much wheelspin anyway, it was mostly for show.
The temperature throughout the night was 90 degrees, and Firebird is at 1,100' elevation, so those could contribute to the times. That and the fact that the engine was idling for ten minutes between runs. I guess those all have a detrimental effect on things.
Would any of you seasoned drag racers have done anything differently?

 

Your reaction time is very good!

The elevation and temperature probably hurt your times and speed.

Is your RT stock?

Any mods?

Bob

 

I agree--my reaction times definitely weren't the problem! For my four runs, they were .005, .255, .310, and .361.
Mods are just a K&N, Magnaflows in place of the suitcase muffler, and resonators removed.
I figured the temp and elevation would hurt times, but I just don't know if there's a standard to use for calculating what the time would be at a lower temperature and elevation. In other words, is my car down on power, or would it be roughly equivalent to other RTs raced at normal temps and near sea level?

 

Reaction times never matter for the E.T. The clock starts whenever the car moves.

It looks like most people are doing high 14s, so your E.T. is about in line with what the car can do. New mufflers and an air filter aren't going to make a huge difference.