Bracket Drag Racing Basics
Bracket Racing
Bracket Racing is not like Pro Drag Racing. Pro Drag Racing is Heads Up Racing, Meaning the cars, take off at the same time and the first one to the finish line wins, as long as the car does not foul out along the way. The cars in Pro Drag Racing are very strictly controlled by the rules, such as, they are limited to 500 Cubic Inch Motors. The car bodies are very similar in each Pro Class.
Bracket Racing is Based on Consistency. Meaning your Vehicle needs to do the same ET (Elapsed Time) down the track every time, or very close to the same ET every time. You as a Driver also have to be consistent with your RT (Reaction Time). Reaction Time is the time it takes you and your Race Vehicle to cross the start line after the Green light comes on. A Perfect Reaction Time is .000 of a second. A very good Reaction Time would be .010 to .001 of a second. A, RT of -.001 means you just Red Lighted or fouled, meaning you took off to Fast. If you Red Light in Competition you Lose the Race. It takes a lot of practice, but the Reaction Time is dependant on you and your Vehicle acting the same way, every time you Launch off the start Line.
Bracket Racing is Based on a Handicap System. With this system you may Race a Vehicle that is Faster or Slower than your Vehicle. This is how it works, we will say your Vehicle goes down the ¼ Mile track in 11.24 seconds. (The speed is not important) 11.24 is your ET. We’ll say you put this number on your car for Competition. This is known as a Dial in. To win the Race you have to beat the other Vehicle to the Finish Line, but, do not go faster than your Dial in. If your Vehicle would go Faster say it went down the Track and had an ET of 11.23, you would lose the Race. They call this a Breakout, simply meaning you ran faster than your Dial in ET. To be safe you could Dial in at 11.00, that way you would not Breakout. You can go slower than your Dial in like 11.30 with no problem except the other guy will probably beat you to the Finish Line and you would lose.
So the Handicap System works like this, if the other Vehicle has a Dial in of 10.00. You Dial your Vehicle in at 11.00. That means, his Vehicle is Faster than yours, so to make it a Even Race, they let you take off 1.00 before he does, that means they gave you a Handicap and let you start first, but that does not mean you will win, you will both get to the finish line about the same time. You have to beat him to the finish line and not Breakout, Red Light or Foul Out. The Race could be won or lost on the Starting line by you or your Vehicles RT (Reaction Time). The Track officials set the Starting Tree to let you take off first. If your Vehicle is Faster than the other Vehicle then the Handicap goes the other way and the other Vehicle takes off first.
