Have you ever notice when you attend street legal drag racing events, the “Christmas tree” which is the staging light reacts different from the NHRA Pro drag racing events?

 You are correct, in drag racing there are two different types of sequence for the Christmas Tree.  Both types will utilize the same staging sequence where the front tires of the race vehicle crosses the first invisible beam which indicates that the racer is about seven inches form the starting line. Once the front tires touches the first invisible beam, the pre-stage light turns on which is the two small bulbs at the very top of the Tree. The race vehicle would then roll inches forward and stop when the staging light turns on which is the two small bulbs right under the pre-stage lights (The staging light indicates that the vehicle is ready to race).

 Now, this is when the Christmas Tree will react different depending on the type of racing. The first type which is mainly used by the NHRA Pro drag racing is called the Pro Tree. The Pro Tree is when all three amber lights flash simultaneously followed four-tenths of a second later by the green light ( green is when you gas the vehicle forward). It is always wise to try to gas the vehicle right when the green turns on but be careful you might get a red light which means that you jumped off the starting line before the green turned on.

The second type which all of us street draggers are more familiar with is the Sportsman Tree. The Sportsman Tree is used for exhibition, Street Legal Drag events and other non Pro NHRA events (Dragsters, Funny cars etc.). The three amber lights flash consecutively five-tenths of a second apart, followed about five-tenths later by the green light. The Sportsman Tree allows us to have a bit more timing to get that perfect reaction time without hitting a red light. So there you have it, next time you’re watching or participating in a drag race event and wonder how the rules are set for the race, just look to see what type of tree they have set up. 

 Note: Need brake rotors and pads for your drag race vehicle? Visit us at R1 Concepts

The “#1″ in R1 Concepts, fools many people into thinking it’s RL Concepts or RI Concepts (Ri Concepts.)  It’s not the people fault, because we know the #1, also looks like the letter “L” and “I.”  Also, many of us forget the “Concepts” in “R1 Concepts” and use R1 brakes - R1 rotors or even RL brakes - RL rotors or Ri brakes - Ri rotors.  So remember, “R1 Concepts,” your #1one stop brake shop.

As you know Dodge Sprinter Vans is a very reliable vehicle and a lot of people use it for deliveries. The only problem that people is running into is that the rotors will warp on them within 8-10k miles. With this van weighting in about 5000 lbs, the braking system is carrying a lot of load on its back. We get reports again and again from customers saying that they get horrible brake fades and vibrations issue when they’re doing a lot of stop and go.

A solution to this problem is by going with R1 Concepts Performance Cross Drilled Slotted rotors. With better cooling that will keep the rotors about 200 degrees cooler, these rotors will definitely last twice as long as the OEM rotors that came on the vehicle. Not only that it lasts twice as long, but the cost is much cheaper than going to your local dealer.

We are now offering 10% off the R1 Concepts Premium Sprinter rotors from now until September. As gas prices are still on the rise, the price of our rotors remains constant.

Dodge Sprinter 2500/3500: Front and Rear Premium Cross Drill slotted rotors
Reg. Price: $313.45
%10 off Discount: $279.99

If you have any questions, feel free to to give us a call at our toll free number 1-888-712-6623 or email us at sales@r1concepts.com.

2008 Dodge Sprinter 2500 144 WB Van

I’ve watch WALL-E 2 weeks ago after hearing from my friends that it’s a really good animated movie. I’ve always been a fan of Pixar Animation Studios movies (I’m a kid at heart). The animation in this film is amazing like always. The story is very touching. I won’t go into much detail incase you haven’t watch it yet. But the story will open your eyes to what the future may lie ahead in a over exajurated way.

I’ve written a blog on how R1 Concepts Inc. has gone green. Well this movie shows what the future might be like if we don’t change how we dispose trash, not recycling, rely so much on technology to make our life easier, and just mainly being careless of how we treat our Earth. To me this movie was a big eye opener of how we take everything for granted.

So who is WALL-E and what does he do? WALL-E (stands for Waste Allocation Load Lifter Earth-Class) is a robot and his job is to pile up the trash that surrounds the whole city. The Earth was no longer bearable to live so the Humans left the Earth and lived in outspace in a very big space ship. All the robots similar to WALL-E was shut off except for him. 700 years later the Humans sent out a robot name EVE (female robot I guess) to Earth to search for a object that can prove Earth is once again,  livable. Once WALL-E meets EVE he goes on a really big advanture to help bring the Humans home to Earth. That is all I’m going to say and I’m sorry if I have told too much.

Once again, go see this movie. I hope it will open up your eyes about going GREEN as it has to me. If it didn’t, you will still love the heart warming story and many humorous scenes. This movie gets 2 thumbs up from me. Also give it a A-.

WALL-E Movie Trailer:

Congress passed a new law in 2005 to convert analog transmission signals to digital transmission signals by Feb.17, 2009.  So you might have to purchase a new digital television or your existing analog TV set wont work, or do you? I will explain later how to go around this new soon to be effective law.

 The reason congress passed this law is to open up the broadcast signals traveling over the electromagnetic spectrum, which carries all sorts of transmissions, including  AM and FM radio, shortwave radio, radar and television.  From what I’ve heard, it is made to make room and open up for better emergency transmissions. 

There is the good and the bad in this digital conversion.  The bad reason is depending on your situation, you might have to pull money out of your pocket to purchase a new TV set and if your digital signal is not strong, you might not hear any audio. The good reason is it displays a clearer, crisper picture, which also has the ability to be high-definition with surround-sound encoded.   

Analog TV Set

Digital TV Set

How do you know if you are vulnerable to the new law Congress passed? If you have cable or satellite in your household for every TV, you are safe because each box has a built-in digital tuner, also called an ATSC tuner. This law only affects households who don’t have cable or satellite.

If you don’t have cable or satellite and are receiving TV broadcasts over-the-air using an antenna, you have two options to make sure your analog television works:

• One is to purchase a digital television and make sure it has the ATSC tuner built-in.
• Second option is to keep your analog TV set, but purchase a set-top box or a converter box for about $49.99 in local electronic stores. There is a coupon you can apply for to receive $40 dollars off toward the cost of an eligible converter box.  The only thing is it takes approximately 2 months to receive your coupon in the mail, so if the date is coming soon and you need it, apply or call to get your coupon.  If you would like to get more information or apply for a converter box, you can call 1-888-DTV-2009 or go online to https://www.dtv2009.gov/