The cool thing about reaction times is they tell you how much time elasped after the light turns green and before you leave the stage lights. Plus if you red light you can tell how early you left the stage lights before the light turned green.
Lets say that your reaction time is .1 second slower than the guy next to you and you run the same ET at the same MPH (lets say 90 MPH at the traps) you will lose by 13.2 ft. In theory. Yes, .1 second at 90 MPH is 13.2 feet. Now granted you aren't doing 90 MPH the whole race. So it might be more like 10 feet. But you see the point. I have lost races because of a .04 slower reaction time in ET drags.
This is why reaction time is so important.
For example: 5280 ft in a mile, 90 MPH is 1.5 miles per minute.
5280 x 1.5 = 7920 feet per minute. 7920 divided by 60 = 132 feet per second, 132 divided by 10 = 13.2 feet in .1 second at 90 MPH.
So in street racing if you get the jump (.5 sec.) you blow away the other guy even if he has more power than you.
Talk is talk till you get to the strip which is why I have stated in other posts (Mainly Hemi posts) "The bullsh!t stops when the green flag drops".
At the strip even if you leave early or late the time slip still shows the actual 1/4 time. Then you can compare slips to really see who is faster and/or quicker.
