ALWAYS ALWAYS PRELOAD!!!!
You want to preload the axles especially if you have stock axles.

The way i would launch...

I would do a burn out. Pull to the 1st bulb and light it. At this point i am grabbing the emergency break.

I will usually get my revs up, and start slipping the clutch, as soon as i hit the 2nd bulb i pull the emergency break up, you want to make sure when you pull it up that the car is still rolling some, that way you are keeping tension on the axles.

When i see the 3rd yellow bulb go off, I drop the emergency and go!

Doing this will save your axles and transmission , because think about it. If you just sitting there and reving the motor and dumping the clutch imagine how much tension gets to the axles and they just snap.

This method has been proven to work. Peter from ISP ran 9.6 on stock OEM axles trapping 151 MPH, theirs a reason for that!!