I asked this on another board, but would love a wide range of opinions and experiences:

well, with 1500 miles on my 2011 GT, i'll be heading off to the lapeer dragway this saturday. it'll be my first time at a drag strip and i'm very excited. a bunch of us are going there for my BIL's birthday.

one of the rules at the dragway is, "All vehicles running 13.99 or faster, or running slicks must have a drive shaft loop." i believe this is an NHRA rule.

does that apply to cars that are able to run 13.99 or better or for cars that actually run 13.99 or better? on paper the mustang GT runs under 14 seconds (some reviews got it to 13.0). i don't expect to run anything near that, being a total newb, i would be ecstatic about running mid 14's.

so any ideas on rule interpretation? am i looking at having to get a drive shaft loop?

also any advice for a newb would be appreciated.

 

When I go to the track with my '06 they check for a DS safety loop. I believe if your car is capable of running 13.99 then it's required. I installed one when I installed an aftermarket DS just in case.

 

Yeah............13.99 or quicker requires a driveshaft loop. Most tech inspectors will just sign off on cars that are stock, more than likely if you say it's stock, they won't even look under the hood. They will remind you about needing a helmet for 13.99 or quicker, that's about it.

Having said that, if you've ever seen a driveshaft come up through the floorboards.....it's pretty nasty looking. Usually, driveline components break at the starting line. I have pushed hundreds of cars off the starting line. All kinds. I've also picked up lots of driveshafts downtrack, and have only seen 3 or 4 instances where a drive shaft came up through the floor.

 

I didn't even know what a Drive Shaft Loop was until just now. Learn something new every day.

 

Uhhh, ditto.

I didn't even know that was possible

 

I haven't been to any track that enforces that rule unless it is a NHRA sanctioned event or you are running slicks.

The track down here only enforces the helmet rule for the weekly running on street cars.

 

thanks for all the info. i'll post times after the weekend.