Here’s a contest where showmanship and a little attention to detail can make all the difference. First of all, you don’t have to have a killer car to win the show. It’s as much about pleasing the crowd as it is about smoke. You absolutely have to have posi (traction) in the car that will spin both tires. Single-leg burnouts are lame. Cars with a strong exhaust note, especially big-block cars, can really deliver the sound. It should be loud, but it still has to come from mufflers. Think of your effort as thunder and lighting. The tire smoke is the lightening, but you still need to bring the thunder too. Route the exhaust to exit right in front of the rear tires to push the smoke toward the rear of the car so the crowd can still see you.
Come prepared. It makes no sense to burn up a perfectly good set of drags when a wimpy set of older 15-inch stockers will do the job. Want to look professional? Mount the burnout tires on matching wheels. The contest is not about exploding tires, either. Especially since pressure or rubber shrapnel would damage your quarter-panels. Choose a pair of tires that really put out the smoke. Some tires are limp-wristed- stay away from them. You’re looking for grade-A smoke, the kind that will bring out the fire department during testing. Pump up the air pressure a little. That will make the burnout easier to maintain. We’ve seen competitors who can’t sustain the burnout because they don’t have the horsepower. Do that and your buddies will never let you live it down.
Standing on the hood, banging your chest always gets the crowd going as well!
To participate you must tech your vehicle on grounds, as well as be a registered Street Machine Nationals participants.
