Re: Bracket Racing vs Class Racing
 

Something else that hasn't been mentioned ... We bracket raced for a decade before buying a class car ... One thing that we did with our bracket car from the first spring race, till the last one in the fall.... Don't touch it ..! Run the valves, change the oil and race it ... Every single race ...Week end, and week out .. Then we tried class racing ...The true "class" racing method.... Being fast.. .Fast as your wallet will allow anyways .. Now it seems every single race we show up at, we have a different car under us ... Different carbs,convertors, transmission gears, camshafts, rear end gears, fuels, timing curves , fuel maps, and on and on ... Plus the weight of the car changes dramatically because of the changing air density,as your trying to not get your combo hit .... And lets throw in a smaller throttle body plate and restrict some air flow ... Its just not the same deal.. There's no consistency, and that's what bracket racing is ...consistency ....Of course it can be done ,but if your striving to keep your car fast, and continuing to get faster... its certainly harder .

Re: Bracket Racing vs Class Racing
 

Agree with Jeff. "Class racers" work on their combo to maintain / improve performance on a regular basis. Some guys with a legal class car go in with a bracket mode mindset. Big difference.

Re: Bracket Racing vs Class Racing
 

Of the two combos described above, whitch one will get you to the winners circle easier? Are you there to win or just a pi$$ing contest.
Mike

Re: Bracket Racing vs Class Racing
 

I don't see bracket racers as "performance " incentive .....for the most part they put a car together , or buy it , and let the cars performance take a back seat to perfect lights and dial ins. In other words , whatever it runs is good enough. Just dial it in.
I have a "disdain" for bracket racing.............always have , always will.

Re: Bracket Racing vs Class Racing
 

Everybody goes to the track for a different reason. Personal performance goals is no less of a cause then trying to win a million dollar race. All in the eye of the beholder

Re: Bracket Racing vs Class Racing
 

What Todd said ^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Re: Bracket Racing vs Class Racing
 

I am no class racer, just a lowly bracket racer, but I love what you guys do. I have often wondered and asked some people why more s/ss guys don't change engines and come race with us more. I do understand that it would be hard on your performance engine, but there is nothing like hits at the tree and seat time to improve part of your racing program.

The more you race the better you get even if the performance of your car changes. I won 3 races in a row at the end of this year running 5.80s 1/8 mile, then 9.30s 1/4 mile, then 6.0s 1/8 mile leaving in high gear. It really helps my driving overall.

Heck, Ed Wright comes out and races with us once in a while and I know he hates 1/8 mile racing. We have a few other guys that do come out once in a great while and I love seeing new cars and faces. There are a lot of guys on here that I'm sure could teach us bracket guys about performance building, but I think hanging around and racing with us might yield better driving skills for some. JMO

I hope nobody takes offense at a bracket racer (who loves class racing) weighing in on here.

Curtis

Re: Bracket Racing vs Class Racing
 

If you are in one of the more populated classes like A,B and C or even G,H and I you might find yourself in it both ways or else you might be in the way!

Re: Bracket Racing vs Class Racing
 

Curtis I wouldn't say anyone is lowly, just a racer of the format you choose. Alot of Stock and SS guys were bracket racers like myself who just wanted something different or grew up around class racing. I try to attend 4 or 5 of the local races with my stocker when time allows, I have 2 small children and if it wasn't for wanting to spend more time with them I would be at alot more local races. Many times when I go to the local events I get alot of questions about my car and that is a good thing but there alot of combos that are so far on the edge I can't blame some guys for not wanting to do it. There are certainly alot tough local guys to race against but it certainly ain't no easier against the guys running class. There are alot of hitters everywhere. One thing I think improved my driving more than anything was running the super classes, I think it made my top end driving a whole lot better.

Re: Bracket Racing vs Class Racing
 

Heads-up runs are part of class racing. (and as noted in another thread, I had advocated for years for things like combining sticks and automatics, consolidating weight breaks, etc., but ironically it was the "class racers" who ran away from any proposals that would potentially result in more heads-up runs.) That being said, you're right, in that there are FAR more dial-in match-ups than there are heads-up runs. We took our lumps (heads-up G/SA first round at Maple Grove), and dished them out (SportsNationals win). That's racing. The thing is, it didn't matter if we were -.35 under or -.75 under, we were going to lose that heads-up run.

You've made the car faster over the years, not because you're ever going to be the fastest in the class, but because you *wanted* to. I've done the same with the Volare. I've worked as my time and budget allows to make the car quicker and more consistent -- not because I'm under any illusion that I'd ever win Class, but because I enjoy it, and it makes me more competitive.

See above. Even in populated classes, there are far more dial-in runs than heads-ups. We ran F/SA and G/SA in NHRA.

While their performance goals are different than class racing, today's bracket cars have very little in common with the run-what-you-brung, yeah-that's-good-enough-just-put-a-dial-on-it cars of yesteryear. There is a massive amount of science, technology, and strategy involved -- and some apply concepts from class racing as well. Bracket racers don't just magically go .00 and dead-on. It takes work.