Staging Your Car

If you have the autostage checkbox checked, the game will stage for you. If you are wanting to stage yourself, the first thing you want to do is go to settings and uncheck the autostage box.

The first thing to do is to perform a burnout. If you are unsure how to do that, you can check out our burnout guide by clicking here. After you perform the burnout you can begin pulling your car to the starting line. The starting line is indicated by a yellow stripe that says "Starting Line." As you get near the starting line there will be a view pop up in the top right corner of the game. This view is a close-up view of the starting line that you are aiming for. You will notice that it has 2 red lines going across it. These are the staging beams. The first beam is called the "Pre-Stage" and is there to let you know that you are getting very close to the starting line. The second beam is the staging beam that indicates you are on the starting line and ready for the race. While you stage you will notice the bulbs on the tree light up according to which beam you have crossed. As you get close to the starting line you will want to make sure the car is moving very slowly so that you can stop it right where you want it. The goal is to be touching the second red line, or the stage beam, so that the race can begin.

For a more in-depth description of the timing system, including the pre-stage and staging beams, and how reaction and elapsed times are calculated, click here.

Staging Techniques

You may hear people refer to deep staging and shallow staging. These are names for different staging techniques used in drag racing. Deep staging refers to going "deeper" into the stage beams. The benefit of this technique is that you can usually get a better reaction time. The downside is that your elapsed time is slower by a few hundreths or even a tenth of a second. To deep stage your car pull your car to the staging beams. Once you have staged continue slowly pulling forward untilt he "Pre-Stage" bulb on the tree turns off, but the "Staged" bulb is still lit up.

Shallow staging is the more common technique, and is the one used if you have autostage checked. This means you just barely touch the stage beam. A benefit is that your elapsed times are quicker because your car is already moving when the green bulb comes on, as if you are getting a head start. A downfall is that reaction times can be more difficult because your car has to move further before the reaction timer stops. To shallow stage your car, slowly pull forward into the staging beams until the "Staged" bulb has lit up. The goal is to just barely have that bulb lit up.