The Art of Launching a Fox Body Mustang

The art of the launch is how many races are won, especially at the dragway. As you know time is a factor at the drags, and taking the hole-shot is crucial. Drivers are always finding more speed, raising the sweet spot between the limits of adhesion and total control.

It takes expert finesse dragging cars with overpowered engines like this meaty maroon Fox Body Ford Mustang. BigKleib34 captures this video from the Cecil County Dragway, where they held a streetcar (license plate equipped) drag shootout back in August.

In the video below, Big Kleib gets great orienting angles of the dragway. From behind, we see the Mustang coupe struggle off the line to find grip with all that power. As the blown V8 engine spins to high RPM, you can hear and see the tires engage, thrusting the Fox Body sky high in a huge wheelie. Not modulating the throttle well enough, he rockets up into a wheel stand instead of forward. The driver finds balance, recovers, sets a line, and he’s off. A little out of control from the start, this champ looks like he knows how to shift that Mustang, goosing it the last half of the quarter-mile, and almost catching up with the competition.

A few more miles at the dragway and some launch practicing on closed roadways and this guy will be a pro. You can be too. There are many driving schools, professional drivers and YouTube videos that can teach you to launch faster with control. There are many disciplines of racing, and they all start with a tight launch.

Do you have any special dragway driving techniques you’d like to share? If you have been to a driving school, which one? I always like to say that driving is like cooking; everyone has their own style.

Chime in with your thoughts on the forum. >>

Via [BigKleib34]