I just recently bought an ‘81 Camaro Z28 that has a lot of engine upgrades on it. One thing it has is a B&M slap shifter, or 'his and hers' shifter as I've heard them called. I plan on taking it down to the drag strip to see what she can do in the quarter mile, but I have no idea how to drag race with this type of shifter. How do you get the best launch off the line?

Brad Thomas
Indianapolis, IN

Brad,

As far as drag racing your Camaro goes Brad, that’s what we call a foot brake car, mainly because it has no transbrake. The best way to launch a foot brake car is to pump up the foot brake a little. As you turn the staging lights on, bring the throttle up a little off idle just barely and turn on the second stage beam. On your last yellow, mash the gas and come off the foot brake. You will have to experiment with staging, as each car will react differently. The first point (bumping in) is when you put your second stage light on and then bump in a couple of inches deeper. Deep staging is when you go in so deep the first light goes out. It’s pretty easy to red light this way, and some classes don’t allow deep staging. Second point is when you’re going to leave. On the Sportsman tree, you have three amber lights five tenths apart, then green. Depending on how deep you are and how quickly your car reacts, you might leave on the second yellow, or when the last yellow lights up. All of this is for reaction time, one of the most important things the driver can do. As for shifting, you may want to let the car shift automatically for consistency’s sake, or manually if you so desire. Either way, have fun!

Thanks, Mike

Mike’s Transmission
Lancaster CA
(661) 723-0081
www.mikestransmission.com