A buddy of mine came up with this idea for some changes to bracket racing, and
he asked me to post them here as we need feedback. Check this out and post what
you guys think.
Bracket racing the way it was intended to be, all out! The basic goal to
this new approach to bracket racing is simple. Line up two racers
who will run their cars all out and the first one to the finish line wins.
Current bracket racing has a dial in which is decided by the individual
racer based on their current performance. Unfortunately many racers dialins
do not reflect their cars true performance potential. This is the
part of bracket racing that stigmatizes the whole concept of bracket racing.
On a given day if a car runs two time trials and runs a best of
8.77 @ 153.25 it is safe to say the car (if run all out) would E.T. with in
1/2% of the previous E.T. and 1% of the MPH*. * (based on my
own car). The faster a car MPHs the wider MPH range it will have. Conversely
the E.T. would have a tighter range. Slow cars would have
an E.T. advantage but be forced to MPH in the 1% range. Each range balances
out the other. If you hit the brakes at the finish line or pace
your opponent you will likely break out of your MPH index. If you approach
this concept logically, your best bet is to run your car all out
from start to finish. Your dial in is dictated by your best time trial. If
you improve through out the day, providing you have not broken out
1/2% E.T. or 1% MPH, your dial in gets bumped up to your best for the day.
Hitting the brakes or sandbagging in general would not
improve your chances of winning in any way.
Originally breaking out would have been a losing proposition but in the case
of one car having a great light but getting loose causing it not to
run the number, and the other car caught sleeping at the lights, the outcome
would be unfair. Ultimately the first to cross the finish line must
be the winner. So goes my problem. What to do?
It begins to get complicated from this point on. Racers are extremely smart
especially when it comes to mathematics. So to keep everyone
on the up and up a few key things need to be kept track of.
1) the weight of the car
2) throttle linkage. Full throttle only, no stops or gadgets allowed or
needed.
3) Cars E.T. history
4) N2O. no secret systems. *
A record of your cars E.T. will be kept track of to prevent abuse. Example:
if your car were running 9.00 last week, under similar weather
conditions it would likely repeat that performance the following week.
Unfortunately weather throws a wrench in to the works. In an effort
to compensate for this, a standard must be set. From my own experience,
0.100 sec. should be more than adequate to compensate from
week to week. Example: if your E.T. standard was 9.00 on your final run the
previous week, you would be expected to run at least 9.10
the following race. If during time trials you are unable to run quicker than
9.10 you will be forced to accept 9.10 as your dial. If this were
not done it would not be surprising to see cars improve during each
elimination round week after week. This being said let me outline the
basic rules.
1) Your best time trial is your dial for the day. After data is collected on
your car you will be required to meet a performance standard
based on your cars past performances.
2) First to the finish wins. In the event of a break out the following will
occur: if you go under by less than ½% your dial will change to the
E.T. on your wining time slip. If you go over by less then ½% nothing will
change *. Breaking out by more than ½% will impose a penalty.
½% will be subtracted from your wining E.T.
3) *Since letting off the gas before the finish is unnecessary there will be
no need to do it. If your MPH is more than 1% above or below
your MPH for the day your E.T. will have ¼% subtracted from it.
The formulas used will be as follows.
+ -½%=1.005, .995
¼%=. 9975
** N2O would be a double-edged sword. In the first case, it could be handy
for that last burst of power. On the other hand, the penalties
that you acquire could put you behind the eight ball. I've tried my best to
cover all the bases but I need feedback from experienced bracket
racers. Please tell me what you think. My plan is to discuss the possibility
of testing this class at Lebanon Valley Dragway on a test and tune day but
first I need
feedback, then support.
Thanks guys,
Jamie
Posted on Mar 24, 2000, 3:32 PM from IP address 152.163.206.182