Think about this.........

[7423]

"Here is an observation: I woud guess that 99 percent of the talk on this site is about performance, rules and the competitiveness of different combinations, however, 95 percent of the racing we do is bracket racing."
Evan Smith quote

I would have never guessed I would read this on a "Class racer" message board.
Very well stated Evan although I believe your 95% should really be 99%. Stock and SS racers use more shoe polish than the average "bracket racer"........................

[Dinsdale]

Originally Posted by 7423

"Here is an observation: I woud guess that 99 percent of the talk on this site is about performance, rules and the competitiveness of different combinations, however, 95 percent of the racing we do is bracket racing."
Evan Smith quote

I would have never guessed I would read this on a "Class racer" message board.
Very well stated Evan although I believe your 95% should really be 99%. Stock and SS racers use more shoe polish than the average "bracket racer"........................

And now an opinion from a Bracket Racer who loves Stock and S/S but is becoming more and more disillusioned about the classes. My first Drag Race experience was at the age of 14 with a guy who ran a new 67 GTX in D/S. Yes, that means I'm now old! I bracket raced a bit over the years but always followed the classes. As it stands now, I can't find much "Stock" about stockers and suspect a new kid coming to the track wouldn't either. S/S get's me wound up and I even like the GT classes but draw the line at FWD conversion Comp cars being called Super Stockers. I also suspect a new person to the track wouldn't understand that either.

I've watched these classes go from balls out first to the finish cars the average person can relate to, become a game of who can manipulate their qualifying spot, hit the brakes, run to 1000', hide illegal modifications, get more and more non stock stuff approved, hide behind a soft index, complain about someone who get's you HP and on and on!! And some of you wonder why or where the new guys are going to come from. A victim of your own success comes to mind in that it's now just too expensive and too much trouble to the average guy. The sanctioning bodies are as much of the problem as anyone else but we'll all be dead and buried before they give a rat's A**

Before the shooting starts, I have everything I need to change my "bracket" car to a legal Stocker for less than $5000.00 worth of parts but can't see any reason why I'd want to. It wouldn't be a killer car but would qualify or I'd do whatever it took. I just have more fun racing with my stick shift friends.

The guy in the near lane is a Legal S/S Hemi stick car. I'm the lowley bracket racer in the far lane.............We both had fun!!

http://videos.streetfire.net/video/973-137_709593.htm

[X-TECH MAN]

Originally Posted by Dinsdale

And now an opinion from a Bracket Racer who loves Stock and S/S but is becoming more and more disillusioned about the classes. My first Drag Race experience was at the age of 14 with a guy who ran a new 67 GTX in D/S. Yes, that means I'm now old! I bracket raced a bit over the years but always followed the classes. As it stands now, I can't find much "Stock" about stockers and suspect a new kid coming to the track wouldn't either. S/S get's me wound up and I even like the GT classes but draw the line at FWD conversion Comp cars being called Super Stockers. I also suspect a new person to the track wouldn't understand that either.

I've watched these classes go from balls out first to the finish cars the average person can relate to, become a game of who can manipulate their qualifying spot, hit the brakes, run to 1000', hide illegal modifications, get more and more non stock stuff approved, hide behind a soft index, complain about someone who get's you HP and on and on!! And some of you wonder why or where the new guys are going to come from. A victim of your own success comes to mind in that it's now just too expensive and too much trouble to the average guy. The sanctioning bodies are as much of the problem as anyone else but we'll all be dead and buried before they give a rat's A**

Before the shooting starts, I have everything I need to change my "bracket" car to a legal Stocker for less than $5000.00 worth of parts but can't see any reason why I'd want to. It wouldn't be a killer car but would qualify or I'd do whatever it took. I just have more fun racing with my stick shift friends.

The guy in the near lane is a Legal S/S Hemi stick car. I'm the lowley bracket racer in the far lane.............We both had fun!!

http://videos.streetfire.net/video/973-137_709593.htm

This says it all................

[Billy Nees]

If you really want kids to get interested in Stock and SS then take your S/SS cars to the local track and run the local program! It won't kill you and might make you a better racer. Also, make yourself available to answer questions and maybe give a helping hand. Kids nowadays don't really want to get into rules but at least I've found that by BSing with them and trying to teach them a few things they are starting to understand and take a slight interest in what I'm doing.
Remember, we all started somewhere!

[7423]

Originally Posted by Billy Nees

If you really want kids to get interested in Stock and SS then take your S/SS cars to the local track and run the local program! It won't kill you and might make you a better racer. Also, make yourself available to answer questions and maybe give a helping hand. Kids nowadays don't really want to get into rules but at least I've found that by BSing with them and trying to teach them a few things they are starting to understand and take a slight interest in what I'm doing.
Remember, we all started somewhere!

Hey Billy,
Late 1970's, black 68 Mustang with my name on the door, regular at the Patch and E Town, hung with the Shadis boyz, left in 1980, been in SoCal since.
Just checking your memory..........................."We all started somewhere"
Charlie

[Billy Nees]

I remember you Charlie! Believe it or not your name has come up more than once lately as a friend of mine is doing a 94/95 Mustang and said that he "needs to get hold of that guy on the west coast".

[Michael Beard]

Originally Posted by Billy Nees

If you really want kids to get interested in Stock and SS then take your S/SS cars to the local track and run the local program! It won't kill you and might make you a better racer. Also, make yourself available to answer questions and maybe give a helping hand. Kids nowadays don't really want to get into rules but at least I've found that by BSing with them and trying to teach them a few things they are starting to understand and take a slight interest in what I'm doing.
Remember, we all started somewhere!

That's basically the short version of what I posted on another thread. That's it: dead-on!

spectators will never understand bracket racing.

No, no, no, no, NO! This is a myth, and an oft-repeated one at that. Bracket Racing is NOT complicated. It's not! Anyone who has ever watched The Price Is Right can understand Bracket Racing... and that sure isn't rocket science!

Explanation and promotion are all that is necessary. And to the "no fans"... did we all forget about 7,000 fans at the U.S. Class Nationals? Many national event tracks don't draw fans to the Divisional races or National Opens because either 1) they are not promoted well enough or 2) families set aside a certain amount of disposable income, and if that means they can only go to "1" big show a year, yeah, of course they are going to a National event before a Divisional. I remember Billy telling me that Maple Grove's Divisional race used to be a really big deal when it was the premier event on their schedule, until they got the Keystone Nationals, and then focus shifted to that.

Weather killed MIR this year. I believe the President's Cup has historically done pretty well.

Also, I've told the story several times before: Short version, I met a father & son wandering the pits at a Divisional race. I took it upon myself to talk to them, take them up into the stands and explain to them who and what they were seeing, and they "GOT" it in less than 5 minutes, and had a great time.

Dale - retired? I thought I saw a car with your name on it at the S/SS Combo at Fayetteville.

[randy wilson]

bracket racing is not hard to understand, it just has nothing to do with racing. i used to go to eddeyville in the seventies and the place was packed with spectators. now, you have to bring someone with you to watch you. name one, any one other sport where if you go too fast you lose.

[Superfan1]

Michael, I agree with you completely concerning the "father and son" story. As a hardcore fan since 1962, I attend 6 to 7 Nat. events including Indy, 3 to 4 D-1 events, and the Dutch Classic every year. On numerous occasions I have explained SS and Stk. to the spectators in the stands near me. I am also a huge fan of Comp. eliminator, and I also explain it; and, believe me, it is harder to explain Comp, especially CIC, to the average fan than it is to explain SS and Stk. However, after a fan understands what is going on, they inevitably like and appreciate what they are seeing. Let's face it, it is virtually impossible to like something that you don't understand.
Bill Seabrooks - superfan1
Bridgeport, CT

[X-TECH MAN]

[QUOTE=Michael Beard;

Weather killed MIR this year. I believe the President's Cup has historically done pretty well.

[/QUOTE]

NOPE.....the year before Royce lost several hundred thou also even though I heard IHRA paid him approx 2/3 to 3/4 of it to cover his loss. It was upwards of $300,000. The race only made money several years ago....and not much even then.