I'm going to the track tomorrow weather permitting and am wondering on anything i should know for the first timer. I drive a 2k 5spd. any useful info would be awesome.

 

I'm not a believer in removing the spare/jack ect... but its good practice. Bring a tire pressure gauge in case you want to adjust your pressure down. Watch others in front of you carefully as well as the people around the pit and staging area. That way you can observe what they other people dragging are doing and what signals the staging people give to them to get staged. Avoid the water pit if possible and always wait for the other guy you're running against to stage with you its common courtesy.

Right before staging, the water pit guy will signal you to spin your tires. If you avoid the water box and are on street tires, don't worry about it. Then there is another guy right at the laser beams (its about 50ft away from the christmas tree). This is where you stage, do not drive up to the lights. There are two sets of yellow lights on top of the christmas tree. Once you trigger the first set, wait until the other guy triggers his. And then move forward until you just barely trigger the second set of yellow lights. This means you are ready and the other guy will do the same, or you vice versa. Since you're new, I suggest you let the other guy make the first move in the stagging area. Go on the last yellow because if you punch it on the green light, your reaction time will be like .5-.6 seconds. Reaction makes no difference in the final ET, but it is a determining factor on who gets to the finish line first.