you would think that when it comes to 1/4 mi drags, the track (all of them), being the same distance from start to finish and the surface being paved that drag racers would have a 'number' and just leave it there. it probably works for production type bikes. the serious though use that, ignition timing, jetting, VALVE timing, spring rates, and tire pressure in an endless game of calculated guesses to shave off less than one hundredth of a second, or to keep the loss due to the day warming up to minimum. for a man like me who is very engine conscious I tip my hat continually to these guys that go out week after week and ram their heads into a proverbial wall. the quarter mile is so easily run, and all you have to do to complicate it is to have to line up next to a guy that wants to win just as badly as you do. all in all one of the groups that is just plain classy in my book.