Bracket Racing?

[Big Paul]

I'm pretty sure that most of you guys don't bracket race.

Seeing how fast most GN's and TR's are. And I figure its harder to bracket race a turbo'd car and be consistent.

But since my truck is slow, i've been considering this for awhile now.

On a GTECH my best was an 18.1, I forget MPH.

But it would consitantly knock off 18.4's and 18.5's.

I want to get some headers a TB spacer, a chip and some other things, just to be a little bit faster, but still plan on bracket racing.

Whats the best way to dial in my truck, set myself consistantly, and what can I win?

I really don't know too much about it, except for being consistant, and dial in better then the other guy.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Wes]

best way to dial it in is to go to the track and make passes... i dont think there is any easier way ... there is a lot to bracket racing .. turbo cars can do fine .. my bud bracket races his gn every time we go to lvd .. he usually does real good .. the thing is .. a lot of ppl will red light .. so you can win off of that .. i think money is usually what you win .. or maybe a trophy .. it just really depends on the event .. or how big it is

 

[Big Paul]

Thanks WES, I guess there isn't much too it!

 

[drive805]

brackets.....

consistancy is the key to bracket racing if you can cut a good light and know how your car runs then you could dial in and run your car to that dial a friend in high school bracket raced his moms labaron.....usually dialed in-between a 18.5-19.0 depending on weather and usually ran within a few thousands of his dial and usually won his bracket because he would cut a good light .510-.520 and run real colse to his dial in but it was about having fun ......... he wanted to go faster too....so he built a big block chevy for a nova but never ran well ..... but it did go 11.70's when it hooked but thats another story

 

[mandersgtp]

Usually - at least in the bracket races I've been in - they'll have T&T runs in the morning and usually around two or three dial-in runs before the actual bracket races. I was put up against the 2nd fastest GP in the country in a bracket race last month - and I WON! I couldn't believe it, but I was closer to my dial-in time than he was. That's what makes it fun - a hella slow car (like mine) can knock a really quick car out of the brackets.

 

[ez at nova]

In the same sense, that's why bracket racing sort of seems dumb to me. Drag racing should be about who has the faster ET. I mean, why not put a block under the pedal to only let it travel 1/4 of the way to avoid tire spin, then just work on a consistent good RT, mash the pedal, and you can do your 20.5 all day long over and over and win. What fun is that?

 

[salvageV6]

None at all.

I would just use the time to test and tune.

Gotta shoot for that lower ET.

 

[drive805]

racing

just mashing and going fast are great...but imagine your 12 sec buick going against a 10 sec mustang(yikes) in heads up race the mustang will always win!!!! but in bracket racing you have a chance that if you drive better and dial your car in then you can beat the (yuk) mustang..... or course you want to go fast!!! but you want an even playing field that is what bracket racing is all about...... run what ya brung !!!!!!!is great if all cars are running about the same but what if they weren't then the faster cars will always win just another thing to think about!!! just my 2 cents.... but i sometimes ramble!

 

[tim87tr]

I would like to learn more about how Heads Up racing works. I have been around bracket racing and understand most of that. With the heads up I know there are no ambers, just the green. But you would have to run the green light off dial-in, and would have racers leaving at different times, right? Less likely to redlight, no ambers, and first to the finish wins with no "breaking out", right?. How do they deal with sandbagging? Tim

 

[blackbuick87]

I think it sucks too. I saw a 11 sec Mustang lose to a Geo Metro running 19's. What fun is that?

Its all about reaction time. Bracket racing shows who is the better driver, not who has the best car IMO. You do need practice at the track to get that RT down. Gtech wont cut it

 

[drive805]

heads up racing

tim quick example....... say you run super gas.....its a 8:90 index meaning that you can't run faster then 8:90 all cars are trying to run that # so its more about rreaction time and setting up the car to run exactly 8:90 nobody is perfect but they try to be running perfect would be a .400 reaction and a 8:90 et that is heads up racing...............no sandbagging becasue the guy next to you is trying to run 8:90 just like you theres other catagories like pro gas and pro comp etc that are heads up racing running on an index...10:90 9:90 8:90 7:90 your get the picture they run on the pro tree which is one amber( all three at once) then green 4 tenths tree...instead of the three amber then green 5 tenths tree hope that this explains a little

 

[kjhansen]

I'm not a bracket racer, but I think that in most classes there's a maximum time as well as an index, i.e., if you're running a 3 liter engine you have to at least be capable of a 17.0 or something. Or is that just the local track rules?
Keith

 

[drive805]

bracket index.

yes there are bracket indexing or classes..by that i mean most tracks have classes (brackets) class 1 is usually 0.00-10.99 class 2 is 11.00-12.99 class 3 is 13.00-and slower sometimes there is a slower but depends on the amount or cars and different tracks have different brackets but usually it is pretty close HTH's