IHRA sanctioned 1/8 mile drag racing
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Racing Basics

Drag Racing Terms Explained: Burnout, Staging, ET, And More

Drag racing has its own language. Learn the key terms so you can follow the action and talk trackside with confidence.

December 16, 20251 min readBy English Mountain Raceway
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A burnout heats and cleans the tires, staging is the process of lining up at the start, and ET is the elapsed time from start to finish.

Reaction time and trap speed are two stats that explain how fast and how clean a run really was.

Listen for announcers at the track and you will pick up the lingo quickly.