What makes a driver good?
 

Just wondering, how is one considered a skillful driver in a drag race?

When you don't miss a shift and your 60' times are low

Being able to launch the car and bang all the gears. If you can do that consistently and pull better than expected times I would consider you to be a skillful driver.

I raced on the streets for thirty years before I ever ventured to the track. What shocked me was how different the launch is. And, with a standard tranny it takes a heck of a lot of practice. Banging the gears was something natural after all these years.......the launch was a whole different story.

Launch also shifting at the right spot to keep your car in it power band....I do both very poorly D:

an automatic transmission makes any driver look good ;)

although I still need to work on my launch..

If I had a good stall then it would be an issue of doing a proper burnout and hooking with the right tires.

To me the good drivers get the best ETs out of a stock vehicle. Anyone can run fast with the right tires/suspension, although many still dont.

so that involves figuring out how to launch on street tires followed by power shifting and shifting at the right point consistently.

If you want to win bracket races all it takes is consistency and knowing your car and how it repsonds in different weather. Typically automatics win, but at my track the guy that frequently wins actually has a high horse power fox body manual, so i'd say he is an excellent driver, never misses a shift, always shifts at the same time, and runs good ETs.

I suck at launch, but banging the gears isn't too difficult for me. Keeping her on the power band isn't that difficult either.

Imho, us automatic guys don't get enough credit. There's more to an auto than just "point and shoot". I've witnessed too many automatics with a lot more mods than me run slower on tires than mine does on street rubber. Anyone who thinks the 60' us the end all to a good ET for an automatic doesn't realize all the little details that go along with a good ET.

Same goes for roll racing an automatic. If you dont know where to be in your RPM and preselect, your done before you start.

Winning a drag race when you have the slower car.

Im new to this, so how do you miss a shift? It would be very hard to not get into the gear you are aiming for