A drag race is an event that begins from a standing start between two vehicles over a measured distance. The distance is measured accordingly; it can either be quarter mile, or an eighth mile. A drag racing event involves the use of two vehicles, tournament style and eliminations. The game ends when the losing driver in each race is eliminated, and the winning drivers progress until one-driver remains.
The Christmas trees usually start the drag racing as they have multicolored starting lights. The Christmas trees on each side have seven lights. There are two small amber lights at the top of the fixture that are followed in descending order by a green bulb, a red bulb and three larger led lights.
Two light beams are wired to the Christmas tree and connect to trackside photocells. These two light beams cross the starting line area. The first light beam called the pre-stage beam, also called the pre-stage light on the Christmas tree indicates that the racer is seven inches from the starting line. This is when the front tires of a vehicle break.
When the front tires are positioned exactly on the starting line when the racer rolls forward into the stage beam. The stage bulb being lit on the Christmas tree indicates that the vehicle is ready to race. The starter activates the trees when both vehicles are fully staged. Each driver focuses on the large amber lights on their side.
All three amber lights flash together depending on the type of racing. Each run has two separate performances. Once the staging beams are left each vehicle is activated on an elapsed time clock. This time clock is stopped once the vehicle reaches the finish line.
The first vehicle that crosses the finished line wins.
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