[Michael Beard]

Another example, if you have a 41-car field (one of the "magic ladders" as is being discussed here), there's a total of 4 bye runs throughout eliminations.

Utilizing Tom's ladder, it's actually more complicated than what I'd originally thought. In order to get 41 cars to 32 in round 2, you would have to pair 18 cars (sending 9 into rnd 2) and give 23 cars bye runs. (18+23=41 rnd 1 cars. 9+23=32 rnd 2 cars).

I don't see how awarding 23 bye runs is an improvement over 4. Additionally, this procedure would cost an additional $650 in round money (Based on NHRA Div. 1 payouts), as there would be 16 cars left in Rnd 3 as opposed to 11, and more cars in each successive round. Running all the singles would take more time as well, unless you ran them side-by-side. Multiply the time and money by the number of classes that would use this system.

I do enjoy the mental gymnastics of working through ideas, though.