Courtesy staging explained along with some other info:

[FlyByU]

Just an FYI, we use courtesy staging at the MSHS events so I figured Id explain it a little here.


Here is my explanation:


Quick explanation for those reading along. Courtesy staging is simple and as amateur racers we should abide by it:


After your burnout, roll up to the line, light one bulb on the tree. Do not light the second bulb until the car in the other lane has at least lit one bulb. They can roll in and light both bulbs if you already have one lit but nobody should light both bulbs until the other car has one lit.


What happens is if you light both bulbs, the other car only has a certain amount of time to get staged. I think its 10 seconds but whatever it is, its not a lot of time especially if you dont notice the other car is already up there. So good sportsmanship is to only light one bulb until the other car is in position with his one light lit. Now you can either wait for him to light the second bulb at this point or light your second bulb. That doesnt matter you just dont want to put the other guy on the clock.


Make sense?


Here is a cut and paste of how they explained it on a corvette forum but same stuff applies to us, pay attention to the autostart stuff too. That is used for us too:


Staging Etiquette


How do you handle staging? What is the courtesy or rule regarding who stages first? This question comes up every now and then.


Different drivers will require a different amount of time to stage their cars. Some are naturally slow stagers. This means they want to delicately place the car in the same spot every time so they are careful to "bump" into the right spot. When matched against an opponent that is not a slow stager, this can be a disadvantage as if the opponent stages quickly, it puts a little pressure on you to stage quicker so you don't get caught by surprise by the tree.


Here the tree shows the car staged with both sets of lights on for this C3 belonging to Bob Hollingshead


It is okay to approach the tree 1st. Try not to light the first set of lights until your opponent has a started to approach the tree. The generally accepted courtesy is to light up the first set of lights and wait for your opponent to do the same. Once both drivers have the first set of lights on, usually the first one in lights the second set but either one can do it.


What about Deep staging


If your opponent is going to deep stage, try not to light the second set of stage lights until your opponent has deep staged (deep staging means the driver rolls forward until the 1st set of lights are turned off and only the second set remain on). Sometimes the track officials are not aware the driver is going to deep stage and may start the tree before the Deep stage is completed (this is rare but it has happened).
Staging Etiquette Courtesy


Bracket racers appreciate this courtesy so lets do us all a favor and abide by this "unwritten rule". Remember we are all doing this for fun.


Autostart and Deep Staging


Beginning with the first race of the 2008 season, all East Coast Supercharging Corvette Challenge and the Pro classes will be on Autostart (Pro classes have always been on autostart) and deep staging will no longer result in the manual starting the tree by the Raceway Park starting line official. What does this mean?


Autostart - Autostart will be activated when one driver has lit both their pre-stage and stage bulbs, and the second driver lights their pre-stage bulb. When three sets of stage bulbs are lit, a timer in the computer will begin counting down. The un-staged driver will have 10 seconds to fully stage their car. Failing to stage the car within the 10 seconds will result in a disqualification of that driver. Once both drivers are fully staged, the tree will start automatically between 1.2 and 1.7 seconds. The starting line official will not override the autostart, which used to be the case when one or both drivers wanted to deep stage.
Deep Staging - Raceway Park will still allow deep staging; however will no longer hold the tree for a deep staging driver. This means if a driver wishes to stage deep, he/she must get in and stage first. Since Raceway Park will no longer hold the tree, there is no longer a need to write "DEEP" on your car as it will not be acknowledged. If you must go deep be aware when the tree has all four sets of stage lights on, you are on the 1.2 to 1.7 clock (see above).


Courtesy Staging - Corvette Challenge racers are expected to be courteous to their opponents as we have always been. Drivers should wait until both have lit the pre-stage bulbs before fully staging. If you intend to go deep, since it is no longer written on your car, please advise your opponent that you wish to do this so that you each can factor this into staging.

[rtr0id]

thought i'd throw this in here also, its from an old thread of mine.


Drag racing 101

for the newbs to the track. feel free to post up others.

Dragstrip Etiquette


1. Don't start your burnout until directed by an official. He'll usually give you some sort of hand signal. Also make sure you are all the way on the track and facing directly forwards.

2. Don't do burnouts in the water with treaded street tires. Water gets into the treads and tracks all the way to the starting line. This makes the drivers with slicks very angry. It won't help you're 1/8 mile times either.

3. Don't do a John Force-style burnout (i.e. spinning the tires through and past the starting line, forcing you to back up) unless you don't have any front brakes and/or you are John Force.

4. If you are bracket racing, don't lock up your brakes at the end of the track in an attempt to not "break out". Locking 'em up at this speed could be very dangerous. This isn't an issue for test-n-tune nights, but be sure you leave plenty of room to brake at the end of the track without doing a massive ABS stop.

5. Some tracks employ a courtesy rule. This means that the first car into the staging beams should light only the pre-stage light. When the second car is is pre-staged, then either of you can move up slightly into the staging lights.

6. Make sure your numbers and dial-in (if applicable) are visible from the tower.

7. Make sure you get in the right staging lane, and make sure that you don't attempt to run in a class where your car would not be appropriate. Ask if you are unsure

8. Don't pass/go around cars in the staging lanes unless he motions you around

9. Have fun

[fnkychkn]

above all else; let fnky win.

[legmaker]

some good info for the newbie racers........... the nice thing about the MSHS races in their current state is that things are still relatively relaxed and offers a great place/time for newbies to come out and give racing a try!

[06Charger R/T]

Not going to lie may 4th was my very first 1/4mile pass and while I probably didn't follow etiquet (Noob) I found my biggest stress was trying to stage quickly, which resulted in bad R/T worst being 1.7 (I was in reverse when the light turned green) Thanks for the write up.

[sgcuda]

After the burnout, I like to stop before the beams and take a couple of deep breathes and gain my senses. Then, pulling into the lights seems to become an automatic response.
As far as deep staging, probably an explanation of it along with pros and cons should be brought up. The staging beams are designed to line up the front tires of the cars usually within 4-6 inches of each other, depending on tire diameter, wheel stagger, ride height, and maybe a couple of other factors. You have some room to move your tires a little foward or back without effecting the beams. The timers start when the stage light goes out. Deep staging is the practice of rolling foward enough to turn off the prestage light. The thought behind this is you are closer to the finish line than your opponent. Since you have almost no rollout (the movement of the tires to turn both prestage and stage lights out), your mph in each given distance will be slower than your opponent, but your et should be quicker. Heavy cars with a lot of rotation can benefit from this because it cuts down reaction time (the time when the light turns green to the time you knock out the staging lights). On the down side, a lot of red light starts can be contributed to this practice, especially as the cars become faster with mods.
Personally, I have always liked to stage as shallow as possible to basically "Get a running start" by the time the lights come down.

[4t5Gunner]

I thought this was actually in the MSHS rules for last year... I know my first couple of times at the track I was so overwhelmed with what was going on at the lights that I completly forgot about it. Now I do it all the time, even T n T. Heck I am such a slow stager that by the time I get up there most of the time the other lane already has the prestage lit and is waiting on me... Especially when I hit limp mode doing a burn out.

[FlyByU]

With the Reaction Time awards being offered, we have decided to disallow deep staging so everyone has the same shot at it. Hasnt come up in the past so its an evolving process.

[slideway]

^ Understood Dan, So if you deep stage your not eligable to win the RTA, Anything else would be a bit harsh like DQ for instance...Deep staging by accident happens like double bulbing, But there's no time to back out with DS.

[FlyByU]

Id think the best way to handle it is to back the cars out. Just like with courtesy staging, if someone double bulbs you, you back the car out and start over. Nobody will get DQ'd.

[Deep blue rt]

just a heads up MIR will try to rush you trough your burnout and staging process I go there often and thats my only complaint about that track your trying to get yourself together to run and they will constently weave you forward.

[Carfinish]

just a heads up MIR will try to rush you trough your burnout and staging process I go there often and thats my only complaint about that track your trying to get yourself together to run and they will constently weave you forward.

noticed that last year Antonio.... you just have to hold your ground and go at your speed

[OSTMIKE]

Good Post Dan! It is something that should be focused on by all drivers that often gets neglected in the excitement of the moment.

[BMWDON]

I've been a few times and never heard of this....I will try and keep this in mind from here on in anytime I go...thanks for the info

[novawagonmaster]

I got double bulbed today. I was afraid to wait for the guy to back out (I don't think he had any intention of doing so) because the way the track was running today, they would have just sent him and DQ'd me. So I rushed into the lights and off we went.

We need to remember to address this in the driver's meeting, and we should also talk to the track personnel (starter) about it.