|
"Drag racing is a sport in which cars or motorcycles race down
a track with a set distance as fast as possible.
While usually thought of as an American and Canadian pastime, drag racing
is also very popular in Australia, New Zealand, Japan, the Caribbean in
particular Aruba, Mexico, Greece, Malta, South Africa and Scandinavian
countries especially Finland and Sweden. At any given time there are over
325 drag strips operating world-wide. {read more
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drag_racing}
——
Drag races are an acceleration contest from a standing start between two
vehicles side by side over a measured distance. The accepted standard
for that distance is either a quarter-mile (1,320 feet) (402.3 m) or an
eighth-mile (660 feet) (201 m). A drag racing event is a series of such
two-vehicle, tournament-style eliminations. The losing driver in each
race is eliminated, and the winning drivers progress until one driver
remains.In drag racing the car with the fastest time in qualifying, moves
to the pre finals.
These contests are started by means of an electronic device commonly
called a Christmas Tree because of its multicolored starting lights. On
each side of the Tree are seven lights: two small amber lights at the
top of the fixture, followed in descending order by three larger yellow
LED lights, a green bulb, and a red bulb.
Two light beams cross the starting-line area and connect to trackside
photocells, which are wired to the Christmas Tree and electronic timers
in the control tower. When the front tires of a vehicle break the first
light beam, called the prestage beam, the pre-stage light on the Christmas
Tree indicates that the racer is approximately seven inches from the starting
line.
When the racer rolls forward into the stage beam, the front tires are
positioned exactly on the starting line and the stage bulb is lit on the
Tree, which indicates that the vehicle is ready to race. When both vehicles
are fully staged, the starter will activate the Tree, and each driver
will focus on the three large amber lights on his or her side of the Tree.
Depending on the type of racing, all three large amber lights will flash
simultaneously, followed four-tenths of a second later by the green light
(called a Pro Tree), or the three bulbs will flash consecutively five-tenths
of a second apart, followed five-tenths later by the green light (called
a Sportsman, or full, Tree)."
{read more
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drag_racing}
|
