No, like others stated the timer starts when your front tires roll out of the stage beam. Reaction time is very important if you run heads up or bracket race. Bracket racers are running a package which is your reaction time plus how much you run above your dial. If you run 13.431 on a 13.43 dial with a .495 light your package is ((13.431-13.43) + .495) which comes out to a .496 package. If your only looking for fast times (ET only) try staging as shallow as possible. Try to just turn on (flicker) the stage light. This will give you the max roll out and quickest ET's. However in more advanced theories of bracket racing ET, RT, and 60' are all related to each other (each affect each other).

 

+1 on shallow staging if you are only going for ET. Like said above, this will give you some more track to actually start moving before the ET timer starts.

 

So what's the best 60' time a stock GT can expect to achieve w/3.55 gears on the 235/55 pirellis?

 

My guess is a 1.9x sixty foot.

 

While everything you say is true, it only comes into play if the other guy is actually trying to race you. For example, if I am working on something specific in my cars set-up at a test and tune night, I usually don't pay any attention to the car in the other lane, in fact at test and tune I do not try for a good R/T unless I am able to get a .400 Pro-Tree, for me practicing on a .500 Sportsman tree is useless. Claiming a win on car that is not actually racing you is kinda ricer

 

I think I've heard of a 1.89 for a completely stock GT. But GTvert probably has the best assumption of 1.9x.

 

So I guess no one would be impressed by my 2.17 - 2.19's on drag radials.