Got frustrated/nostalgic trying to explain bracket racing to my wife

There is a type of automobile racing for just about everyone. Personally I like it all. If money was no object I would go road racing (but then I would have to deal with the SCCA again ) there you get to use everything, the brakes, ch***is, steering, shifter, turn left and right. I have done the roundy round stuff, the late nights at the track tearing down to prove you are legal, giving up my engine for $350, spending all of the next week fixing the crash damage cause by some dumb*** back marker that lost it trying to stay on the lead lap. At this point in my life the bracket racing fits with the amount of time and money I am willing to spend to go make smoke and noise.

 

The original IMCA claim...$325 to claim a motor with the $25 going to the wrecker driver for yanking it worked well for awhile. Guys would build $1200 boneyard mills because there was a real chance that they might lose 'em. Some even built Fords, Caddies, Buicks and such thinking nobody would claim them. But racers being racers, those "Gentlemen's Agreements" to cir***vent the intent of the rule jacked the cost of a Claimer motor through the ceiling!

The only way for a claim rule to work is to set the claim artificially low and for the promotor to reserve the right to claim engines and then do it! He'd grab an engine or two per race night and then auction them off at the end of the season.

Sorry for being a bit OT..

Jan

 

I could not have said it better. That sums up my feeling perfectly. Except I am real compe***ive. I just compete with my last trips times instead of the guy in the lane next to me.

 

I agree... With Nelson Ledges road course just a stones throw from here, I'd love to try the left-right stuff.

Jan

 

I look at racing as entertainment. Some of us do it to entertain ourselves. Others are there to entertain the crowd. Many get a kick out of doing both.

Super cl*** racing and bracket racing are very compe***ive. There are plenty of guys that make a living doing it. I'm sure they're entertaining themselves, but they really thrive on doing whatever it takes to bring home a check. That's why they're out there. I don't think they're really worried about entertaining anybody in the stands.

Personally I'd rather watch a door car with a small block and a stick run 11s, (that's entertainment) than watch a rear engine dragster run 8.90 @175. But that's just me. There are a mul***ude of different ways to compete, race, show off, spectate, or just enjoy yourself at drag strip. Just pick one.

 

Not the same thing...those are "Super" cars...they leave on the limiter, then bog to nearly idle, then take off...that is electronics doing that, because those cars are capable of running quicker, but they run on an index, too...8.90, 9.90, and so forth...THAT...is the lamest thing to watch, ever! unless you wanna make 'em all dragsters, too...that is as boring as it gets!
The index racing I am talking about has NO electronics...they foot brake 'em...

 

Gotcha. I just know that whatever it was that we were watching ****ed.

Thanks for educating me on the difference.

 

Yeah...I'm gonna try to get a copy of the rule book from him...I'm curious, now more than ever...but, I'm with ya' on them ( Electronics/"Super" cl*** cars) ****ing...I guess if you are making $$$ that way, YOU are pretty happy...beats working in a factory! but, from a spectator standpoint...I'd rather watch gr*** grow...

 

try this............run a Nostalgia Super Stocker..........go deep into the 9s on 10.5s with a 3400 pound car and a 4 speed.........and run on your index........take a look at www.texasoutsiders.com

Will be in Tulsa with the Outsiders to run NSS ........bring em on..June 30th........

Mark

 

bracket racing is a oxy*****.

 

ya know as a guy that drives a flathead 32 beater to every race and somtimes home ? and races everybody all day long in two cl***es , I made it to the 4th round in street rod . and won 2nd in flathead and won 20 buck`s, and made 14 p***es down the track ! at little river last weekend I love bracket races ! I drive as fast as I can go , and have a blast, my car was a second slower than the last race ? but just barley made it after geting it back together at 1 am. heads up racing ****s unless the cars are running the same times ? day of the drags I sat on my *** all day waiting to race two blown cars ? that were 2 1/2 seconds faster than me ? that`s no fun ! it kills the fun and becomes who can afford the most speed !

 

thats funny rick ,we hit a party in south austn on the way home and I was trying to explain bracket racing to a friends wife. she got confused ? so we started talking about shoes . when I asked what they would do in the quarter mile she gave up and walked away ! ha.

 

usually when the "super" cars come out, i go get a beer EXCEPT one time a 69 camaro came out, ran the number dead on more than once.

big deal you say?
he was running a non-clutchless 4 speed.
sometimes you get to see a damn good driver

if you don't understand it, it's not that much fun to watch but i don't make a good spectater anyway...


btw, stock and superstock only run heads up IF both cars are in the same cl***.
averything else is dial-yer-own...even comp to some extent..

 

maybe the old guy can help explain a little. I love bracket racing because you have to outdrive me , not just out buy me.
The reason index cars ( mostly dragsters )seem to run the throttle stop so much is easy. The car with the highest speed at the end of the 1/4 or 1/8th has the advantage. The race is in front of him ( he doesn't have to turn around to see the other car ) and if he is faster he controls the race,he can slow up or continue faster. The slow car can't go any faster so must decide to continue or slow only.
The reason Dragsters are the car of choice is ,light weight and you can see the front end easily . They can judge where the front spoilers trip the win lights ( you didn't think it was the front wheel did you ?). In a door car it is very hard to know where the front is.
The only way you can run a slow E.T. and a high mph # is to slow yourself down somewhere in the race. If you want the high speed at the end you need as much run at the finish line as possible.
If anyone thinks that there is not any skill involved ,just make your way out to the track. A young racer (who supports himself very well with winnings ) recently won a big race. The last 5 rounds ,he ran reaction times of .00? in 4 of them and was never more than .02 (thats 2 hundreds of a second ) away from his dialin.
I could rave on about thirty pages worth of facts and tips and not cover everthing required to win consistently.(And my skill level is years behind most of these guys).
There is a tremendous head games factor that comes into play . Next time your at the track and someone red lights , watch close the next p***. Almost always the next p*** will be a slow reaction time as they unconciously try not to do it again. The postion of your car ,the routine in staging ,ability to drive the finish line all contribute to your success.
That being said certain things are killing bracket racing. In my opinion ,the big $ races will kill it . Very few average racers will pay the Big $ to enter with touring Pro's slowing up.The introduction of Buy-Backs hurt the sport and only benefit the track or promoter.Some races allow the losers to buy-back in several times, even selling them Mulligans they can use anytime like a Get Out of Jail Free card.
Just my opinion, I could be wrong !

 

Heads up is the ONLY real racing. Run and tune what you brought to the race track, first to the stripe wins.

No handicap, no 'gimmie 2 cars' like they do on Pinks, no breakouts and no throttle stops like they have in STUPIDCOMP.
<O

People who dismiss the knowledge involved in tuning a car piss me off. You won't be the first car to the stripe on money alone. <O

 

I have friend who runs a Super Pro car, There IS a tremendous amount of effort, and skill involved, and head games...I'd never take that away from them...but...it is a compe***ion, not a race...A race is a contest to get somewhere first. From a purely spectator standpoint...its a snoozer...
Still fun to do, hard to do well...but BORING to watch, unfortunately...( at least my friends car does not use a throttle stop, and does GIANT wheelstands, thus making the car itself, fun to watch!, and the other one is NO electronics...footbrake.