There's the terms "deep staging" and "shallow staging". If this was your first time drag racing, you don't need to worry about that just yet. Deep staging refers to rolling a little further after the staging light comes on, to help reduce RTs and ETs. The further in you stage, the lower your RT and ET will be. However, when doing this, you also need to change your launch so that you don't red light.
Cutting a perfect light would be an RT of .500 with a normal tree (which is what most tracks run on test n tune nights). The RT begins after the last yellow light goes out, so by simple nature of the beast, the deeper you're staged, the less distance you have to cover to get a better 60', and also a better ET.
All of this stuff should come as you get more practice at the strip. It's nice to know this stuff, but you'll need to get your launch down, what your car likes, what you're comfortable with, etc.
As far as launch, there's all types of techniques that work for different cars, different drivers, etc. Some people prefer the 4k dump the clutch method, others are more graceful about it (especially if you have to drive the car home afterwards!).
I'd say for your first time out, you did very well! The trap speed is impressive, and I'd say the work you did to lighten it paid off well.
In comparison, I suck at drag racing, because I'm afraid to break my car. The best time I ran last year, in the cool dry weather of New Hampshire, was a 15.2. My car has a full interior and moonroof, nothing done to lighten it, a 3.2 mtx, and crappy all season tires. No LSD, no welded diff, so I'm particularly careful about launching.
Here's a good article about drag racing, and how to get all OCD about shit:
http://www.modernracer.com/tips/dragracingbasics.html
