Density altitude › Florida drag strips
Density altitude at Gainesville Raceway
Gainesville Raceway is the quarter-mile home of the NHRA Gatornationals, a few miles northeast of Gainesville. The numbers below are live for the track and refresh every 5 minutes.
Enter a zip code or city, or click the map, to load the air there.
Click anywhere on the map to move to that spot.
Forecast model at the selected location
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Measured at nearest airport
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Tuning numbers
| Model | Measured |
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Power is an estimate for a naturally aspirated engine, against a 60 °F, 29.92 inHg dry day. Multiply measured power by the SAE J1349 factor to correct it to 77 °F and 29.23 inHg. The dry air figure ignores humidity, for comparing with calculators that leave it out.
Turbo
This assumes the tune holds the same absolute manifold pressure in any air, and it ignores losses in the intake and intercooler. Use it to compare days and locations. The ratio follows barometric pressure and elevation; temperature affects a turbo engine mostly through intake heat and ignition timing, which this does not model.
Forecast
The hourly forecast appears here once a location is chosen.
| Best air | Worst air |
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Forecasts past about three days are a rough guide. Check again closer to race day.
Typical air by month
| Typical best of the day | Typical worst of the day |
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Your own weather station
Enter readings from a handheld meter in the pits. This is the most accurate option.
Run projector
Enter a run you made. The page finds the air you ran in and estimates the same run somewhere else.
1. What did you run?
2. Where and when?
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Air of the run
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This is density altitude: how thin the air was. Lower means thicker air and a faster car.
3. What would it run somewhere else?
About the air at Gainesville Raceway
Florida tracks sit within a few hundred feet of sea level, so the air there changes mostly with heat and humidity. A hot, humid summer afternoon typically puts density altitude around 2,000 to 2,700 ft, while a cool, dry winter night can drop it below sea level. That swing of 3,000 ft or more is worth a noticeable amount of ET and trap speed, which is why the same car runs so differently in January and July.
The forecast above marks the best air of the coming week at Gainesville Raceway, the History section shows what each month is usually like, and the run projector estimates what your time slip would be in different air with the same car.
Other Florida drag strips
Bradenton Motorsports Park · Orlando Speed World Dragway · Showtime Dragstrip · Lead Foot City · North Florida Motorplex · Hicken Power Dragstrip
What density altitude means for your car
Density altitude is the altitude the air "feels like" to an engine. Heat, humidity and low pressure all thin the air, so a hot, humid day at sea level can feel like a few thousand feet up. Thinner air means less power, a slower ET and a lower trap speed, and turbo engines have to work harder to make the same boost.
This page shows density altitude right now from the forecast model and the nearest airport, the best air in the next 7 days, what each month is usually like, and what a time slip would be in different air.