The Apple iPhone is the Swiss Army knife of drag raging. There are many apps, most free, that can assist the drag racer. Many of these same apps are available on some of the other smart phones — but they appear to be a “ported” app that don’t work well of the other than iPhone platforms. Ask Doug Duell about that.
One of the best apps is Jeg’s Perfect Start. I own a Portatree with a full size lights using LED bulbs — but this free app is just as good of a tool — and you can use it in Doctor waiting rooms, stop lights, even in the staging lanes. You have the ability to set the roll out for your car and how you like to stage. Doug had this app for his non-iPhone smart phone — and it didn’t work well. We will ofter sit in the pits at night with a cold Frosty — and pass it around for the best light per round of pass around.
Another of my favorite apps is Google MAPS . It is a great GPS with turn by turn directions. I know most everyone has a GPS in their tow vehicle, and while great for long distance — this is better for a navigator to use for off the course directions. Since our rig is so long — we stay over night at Walmart. This is perfect to find one just off the route and getting turn by turn directions. Same for locating a Flying J to dump tanks, or a place to fix a trailer flat.
The weather Channel app is great to see radar in motion and plan for where your car is or if you need to roll up the awning. Looking at the weekend forecast for the worst weather for the event may help in deciding what index to run. You may be able to run a 9.50 in Friday’s good weather — but what if Sunday is 20 degrees hotter with rain coming in?
At the track you might get parked at the end of the track or under a speaker that sounds like a Jack in the Box drive-thru speaker. Some stay outside to watch others in their class or sit in their truck to listen to the radio. With Geddex ($8.99 — and the only app I’ve paid for) I can sit in the motorhome and watch Judge Judy — knowing I’ll get a text when my class is called. I set it up for my class and the one before me — so I have time to adjust weight and tires.
Another great track app is the 1320go app. You see real times (from RT to ET — and every mark in between) from your competition. You can get an idea of if everyone is too fast or too slow, how their car is running, what lane they’re doing better in, and what kind lights their having. If you have Crew Chief’s “Finish Line Manager” you can use this information to see where you and you competition should be in relation to each other at the 1000′ and mph cone.
iTorch takes the LED camera flash on your iPhone and use it as a flashlight at night for time slips, blown fuse, the missing submarine belt, …
There are a lot of iPhone apps like the above that can assist you in racing — and more coming out all of the time.
Point is that Information is power. Your competition is using this information to race against you — so you might as well use it to race against them. Next time you trade in your phone — think about if your racing could use a Swiss Army knife.
