Not talking about making a living at racing just talkin about what I liked..I use to class race in sportman catagories and it was much more fun than the stand on the brakes bracket racing..try running 3 or 4 tenths under your index with no break outs...not EZ to do..but if we were all the same it would be a dull world..if ya want to see the best heads up door slammer racing attend the US Nationals and check out the Hemi Challenge..the 32 fastest legal Super Stockers on the planet..they are running for braggin rights..not the $$$..LS motors are nice but there is nothing that sounds like a Hemi at 7500 RPM's.. .. 3160 lbs running in the 8's at 150

 

Oh yeah, now that is awesome. I see exactly what you are saying, we have run Comp. Elim. before, not exactly class racing, but similar.

Definitely hard to stay competitive, that for sure.

Like you said, to each his own, if we all liked the same thing, the world would indeed be dull!

G'day!
Taco

 

Comp eliminator is very tough too..ya gotta run way under your index to be competitive..I am just not much at stompin on the brakes on the other side of 100 mph..

 

Bracket racing is the shiznit. i first started racing when i was 16.

i could only afford a ford probe but it was sweet to bracket race with, ive eliminated cars that were way faster than me (once a sprayed vette running 10.90s, i got a 4 second head start, lol). it really makes racing more of a drivers race rather than who got the faster car, because everybody doesnt have a fast car (like me, but im getting there).

hell, i won 70 bucks with my probe before, that payed gas for that car for like 2 months.

well when i had the probe i usually was given the start, but when i had my mustang it was cool letting somebody leave before you, and your waiting for your light and have to play catch up

my mustang was sweet because the motor was screaming at 5 grand, and im just waiting to let that clutch out so them street ets could do their magic, then you get to rip through them gears to run down that peske civic, as the fart can gets bigger and you fly by him right at the finish line... then you find out you broke out and the civic goes to the next round

 

Ahhhh yes, the dreaded break out. The great equalizer!!!

I love bracket racing so much for several reasons.

1. I was practically raised at one of the better tracks in the southeast that was and still is home to some of the best bracket racers in the country.

2. I felt from an early age that I understood not only the concept but the strategies and little things that make for decent success in bracket racing.

3. I was actually taught, at 16 years old, a lot more of the subtle little things that really help in many different situations by one of the best all around drivers out there today, Todd "Bones" Ewing.

4. I have always had top-shelf equipment, which gave me the comfort to concentrate on my driving and not having to be concerned with my car letting me down.

Those things together led me to 3 wins in my very first season racing, and given the learning curve needed to go from footbraking a low 9 second Camaro (1/8th mile) to a 5.20 Dragster, I was more than stoked. After my first season, we got a new car and I "re-grooved my swing" ie., completely changed my driving method, and didn't win for a couple of years (I also didn't race as often, as I was pretty into dating and going out with friends at the same time). But in 2004 I put my mind to getting back in the winners circle and I did. Only once that season, but I went to the semi and quarter-finals many times, enough to take home the track championship for 2004.

Wow, I just realized I summed up my whole racing life, sorry for the long post!

I couldn't have done any of this without the support of my wife and my parents and many friends who are there when I screw up and give up the finish line or have a horrendous light...

Take care!
Taco

 

The great equalizer is figuring out how to run way under your index (be a better tuner or innovator) and running the slower car down and there is no such thing as a breakout..racing a real slow car is like kissing your sister.. .. who would want to do that...in comp eliminator (there are no slow cars in comp eliminator..just fast and faster)...or better yet line them up heads up (class eliminator) and hope you figured out how to make more HP than the guy in the other lane or out drive him... that is real drag racing....

 

ya, thats real drag racing, be we all cant afford real drag racing i guess, so for us less fortunate people that dont have a lot of money to build a race car (like me) there is bracket racing.

 

OK, this is starting to sound like a contest and that is not what I personally intended on it being, nor do I think anybody else intended such.

This is an inarguable topic, there are those who don't see the appeal of bracket racing and those who love it.

Most bracket racers would love to be able to (financially or otherwise) race heads-up rather than run brackets.

Most heads-up racers would (if you could get them to admit it) like to know that no matter how much the "other guy" spent on his car, he had a fair race on his hands.

It is a compromise, and it is not something to try to push upon somebody else to like. If you like bracket racing, great, if you don't, great!

As long as we're racing, everybody is happy!!!

Taco

 

Any kind of racing is better than no racing.. More money does not always win races..I have raced a bunch of guys who had real deep pockets but could not get their car to run as well as mine..paying attention to all the details is very important and tuning engine and chassis during the rounds of racing makes the difference a lot of the time..