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Guest Commentary
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Has bracket racing gotten away from its roots?
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By Charlie Blissfield |
Chances are if you are reading this, you already know how bracket racing operates. I won't spend too much time on its history. However, a little background is necessary to fully illustrate how and why bracket racing has lost touch with its roots. The fact is that it has, and it continues to change. And I'm not sure for the better. Back in the mid-1970's, bracket racing was born as an alternative to the escalating costs necessary to compete in the then-existing classes. It was designed as a way to give the “little guy” a chance to compete in a fair, as close to even as possible race. Tired of re-mortgaging the house to stay competitive? Go bracket racing. Sick of getting squashed by your competitor's wallet? Go bracket racing.
It made sense, and the premise was simple. You were grouped into a “bracket” depending on your elapsed time whereby you would compete against similarly equipped (read: money) cars utilizing a handicapped start. It is important to remember there were no rear-engine dragsters yet.
Super Pro, now called Top E.T., was 10 and 11 second cars, with a few 9 second “rails” scattered in the mix. Pro, which is now called Mod, was 12.00-13.99, and Street was 14.00 and slower. It took a few years for these time breaks to be fully set and recognized, but nonetheless this is the way sanctioning bodies grouped the vehicles. It made sense, and most importantly, you raced against cars which were similar in terms of investment to your own. We will now fast-forward to the mid to late 1980's, when an electronic device was becoming more and more prevalent. I am referring to, of course, the delay box.
With big dollar payouts becoming more and more common, drivers looked for ways to gain an edge in these types of races. While delay boxes had been around for years prior to this time period, one could still find a racer “footin'” it with success. However, within a few years practically every Super Pro car had a box, and 99% of the big money winners utilized one. Everyone was back at square one. While I don't despise this evolutionary driver aid, it illustrated perfectly the fact that it was an absolute necessity if you wanted to compete in the fast class. Racers looking for that ever-so-slight edge went back to the drawing board. And what they countered with was an all out, purpose built, engineering marvel: the rear-engine dragster. What these racers realized is that the faster car in a bracket race has some significant advantages. I like to refer to these as the “house” advantage. Anyone familiar with the casino card game blackjack will recognize this term immediately. For visual purposes, imagine the faster car being the dealer, or “house.” The slower car is the player. The house advantage, though ever so slight, represents the very reason the casino is in business. Does the player (or slower car) have a chance? You better believe it. However, over the long haul the house will come out on top. Play a hundred hands and the house will win the majority. Race a hundred rounds, and the outcome is well, predictable.
Specifically, the most notable of these “house” advantages is that your slower opponent is always in full view the length of the track, or in the “crosshairs.” I don't have to tell you this makes racing the finish line tremendously easier. Another advantage is that the faster car can basically win by default, this happening when the car leaving the line first red lights. This advantage is not as profound, but is an edge nonetheless. As was the case with the delay box becoming a necessity to be a player in the fast class, the rear engine dragster now staked a claim to that as well. The major difference between the two? While most everyone could scrape together enough for the delay box to stay competitive, the dragster situation posed a problem not every racer can readily solve – that being the financial aspect. Yes, the aforementioned wallet vs. wallet dilemma that gave bracket racing its very birth was now rearing its unsightly head. Some racers simply took the box out and ran in Pro. Sure, it didn't have the prestige of running with the big boys in the fast class, but at least the playing field was practically even. Door car vs. door car, no delay box, and close E.T. breaks. However, the very same bracket racing logic that turned Super Pro into a battle of dollars would begin to do the same in Pro. With more and more Pro cars simply dialing 12.00 and sandbagging, track owners decided to lower the E.T. break to 11.00. This worked for a few years, but many racers, realizing the advantages of the quicker vehicle often slowed their cars down or just sandbagged to make the 11.00 E.T. cut. This cut was then lowered to 10.00, then 9.50, and finally to where we are today, 0-13.99. Pro, now called Mod, went from 12.00-13.99 to 0-13.99 in the span of about 8 years. Financially privileged racers looking for that competitive edge in Mod have now recently began showing up at the track with their version of what the rear engine dragster was to Super Pro – none other than all out, purpose built, 8 and 9 second tube chassis cars. When examining bracket racing history this should come as no surprise. As was the case with Super Pro, as soon as the payouts started becoming more and more colossal, racers naturally looked for competitive edges. Tube chassis cars, as with dragsters, are not cheap. They also are not nearly as prominent in Mod as dragsters in big bucks electronic racing. But if you listen closely to history, you can hear them coming. This article is not saying that a door car cannot go all the way and trounce all the dragsters in a big money race. Just ask Joel Reynolds, Aaron McCaulla, Chad McKee, or Ricky Jones. Their wins speak for themselves. It also is not meant to condemn or bash racers that have taken full advantage of the existing rules. The intention of this article is to present the argument that bracket racing is distancing itself from the very principles it was created from. Those being that each and every competitor would be provided with an equal chance to win, where the amount of dollars in your pocket did not correlate with your chances of winning.
This is just not the case anymore. I think it's time the sanctioning bodies and those who have made these rules and E.T. breaks take a look back at the reasons bracket racing was created. Similar investment vs. similar investment, as opposed to $7500 vs. $40,000. Give the little guy a shot. Level the field. Maybe place competitors in BRACKETS based upon their elapsed time. Yeah, now there's an idea. Remember where you came from. |
