Bracket racing is a form of drag racing that allows for a handicap between predicted elapsed time of the two cars over a standard distance, typically within the three standard distances (1/8 mile, 1,000 foot, or 1/4 mile) of drag racing.
History Bracket racing began in the late 1960s, mainly in the western United States and Hawaii. It was initially called E.T. bracket racing, E.T. an abbreviation for Elapsed Time. By 1970, races were being held across the United States.
The National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) established a championship schedule for bracket racing in 1977.
In April 2016, TruSTART was introduced by Compulink Timing System Company at the Spring Fling Million race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, and by July it was being distributed nationwide. The concept of TruSTART was to even out any competitive imbalances at the start of a bracket race.
Goal The effect of the bracket racing rules is to place a premium on consistency of performance of the driver and car rather than on raw speed, which in turn makes victory much less dependent on large infusions of money and more dependent on mechanical and driving skill. This includes reaction times, shifting abilities, and ability to control the car. Therefore, bracket racing (using the aforementioned handicapping system) is popular with casual weekend racers, some who even drive their vehicles to the track, race them, and then simply drive them home. This format allows for wide varieties of cars to race against each other. While traditional drag racing separates cars into a wide variety of classes based on power and weight, bracket racing classes can be simpler and can accommodate any vehicle with basic technical/safety inspection.
Race events organized in this way are sometimes called "run-what-ya-brung" or "You can't outdollar me, you have got to outdrive me."
Format
Dial-in Each car chooses a dial-in time before the race, predicting the elapsed time the driver estimates it will take their car to cross the finish line. This prediction is based on drivers making practice runs. The slower car in the race is given the green light before the faster car by a margin of the difference between their two dial-in times. This is usually displayed on one or more windows so the starter can adjust the "Christmas tree" starting lights accordingly.
In principle, if both drivers have equal reaction times and their cars run exactly their posted dial-ins, both cars should cross the finish line at precisely the same time. In reality, this is an extremely rare occurrence. Measuring devices both at the start and at the end of the track post times down to 1/100000 of a second (0.00001s precision), which makes tied races almost impossible.
Some forms of bracket racing (NHRA Competition Eliminator, NHRA Stock groups) have cars classified by type, and the dial-in time is based on the type of car that is entered.
Reaction time
When a car leaves the starting line, a timer is started for that car. The difference between when the green light comes on and when the car actually leaves the starting line is called the reaction time. If a driver leaves before the light turns green, provided the Christmas Tree is already activated (first of three yellow lights is on in that lane), the Christmas Tree system will determine what happens. In a traditional system, if the driver leaving first leaves before the light turns green, that lane is displayed a red light. At events using the TruSTART system (including NHRA national events), the green light is displayed to the offending driver immediately, and then the second car is allowed to start. At that point, if both drivers leave before the light turns green in their lane, the Christmas Tree program for TruSTART determines which car left earlier in relation to the green light, and only that lane is shown a red light. The round is not complete, however, if there is a false start, as the offending driver may still win the round based on their opponent committing a more serious violation.
Sometimes, people incorrectly refer "reaction time" to the unrelated 60 foot takeoff time. The reaction time is merely an indication of how fast a driver reacted compared to when the green light came on. The 60 foot takeoff time is an indicator of how fast the vehicle started moving at the beginning of the race, regardless of the driver’s reaction time. If the driver launched the car with too much power for the available traction, he will have wheelspin and correspondingly will have a longer time to cross the 60 foot barrier if he were to drive with more finesse.
Breaking out Breaking out is when a racer manages to cross the finish line in less time than the one they dialed-in beforehand. If only one car "breaks out", it is disqualified and the other one wins by default. In the event that both cars break out, the one closer to their dial-in time wins.
Absolute Breakout
An absolute breakout that is imposed based on the licensing of the vehicle and/or the driver. Unlike a standard breakout, where a driver can win in a double breakout and red light fouls override breakouts, an absolute breakout is an immediate disqualification and loss of all points earned at that event. Violations involving absolute breakout include:
A car goes faster than the legal certification limit of the chassis. Examples include: A Top Dragster or Top Sportsman car goes faster than 5.999 seconds (quarter-mile) or 3.659 seconds (eighth-mile). While 6.100 (3.700 in the eighth-mile) seconds is the NHRA breakout rule, the absolute breakout is 6.000 (3.660 in the eighth-mile) seconds. A full bodied car that is certified for 7.50 seconds goes faster than 7.49 seconds. A stock sedan with just a standard three-point harness goes faster than 11.49 seconds (five point harness required at that speed). A vehicle goes 150 mph (240 km/h) or faster in the quarter-mile and does not have a parachute, required for cars that speed or faster. A driver goes faster than the legal limit of his competition licence. Examples include: A driver's competition licence only is for cars 7.50 to 9.99 seconds, and his car goes faster than 7.49 seconds. A driver's competition licence only is for cars slower than 10.00 seconds, and his car goes faster than 9.99 seconds. A driver's competition licence in Super Street, Super Stock or Stock is for cars slower than 10.00 seconds with a terminal velocity limit of 135.00 MPH, and the car is faster than 9.99 seconds or goes 135.01 MPH or faster. In Junior Dragster, a driver goes faster than the absolute limit imposed by his competition licence or exceeds the intermediate warning twice. Drivers age 5 cannot be faster than 20.00 seconds in the eighth mile during their solo passes. Drivers 6-7 are restricted to 13.90 in the eighth mile, with a warning at 13.70 (or 7.00 in the sixteenth mile), with an absolute limit of 13.50 (or 6.80). Drivers 8-9 are restricted to 11.90 in the eighth mile, with a warning at 11.70 (or 6.10), with an absolute limit of 11.50 (or 5.90). Drivers 10-12 are restricted to 8.90 in the eighth mile, with a warning at 8.70 (or 4.70), with an absolute limit of 8.50 (or 4.50). Drivers over 13 are restricted to 7.90 in the eighth mile, with a warning at 7.70 (or 4.20), with an absolute limit of 7.50 (or 4.10) and 85.00 MPH (chassis). Drivers in Jr Comp are restricted to 6.90 in the eighth mile, with an absolute limit of 6.70 and 110.00 MPH. Drivers who exceed the absolute limit are subject to further NHRA discipline in addition to disqualification and loss of all points from the event meeting. Examples:
Race Dial-in Race Time Reaction Time Outcome Reason 16.0 15.8 0.086 Racer A broke out. 15.6 15.9 0.219 Did not red light, nor broke out. 16.1 16.0 0.280 Racer C is closer to the dial-in time. (0.1 seconds) 15.5 15.2 0.005 Racer D broke out with a wider margin (0.3 seconds), so he loses. 14.9 14.9 -0.020 Red light overrides any break out violations. 15.8 15.7 0.205 Break outs are irrelevant once Driver E triggered the red light violation unless Driver F crosses any boundary line, fails to present his car for inspection after the run, or in some classes, breaks out with a time faster than the absolute limit for that class (such as Junior Dragster, which has age-set limits, or chassis and licence certifications in other classes). Red lights overturn break outs, but boundary line violations overturn red light fouls. Absolute break out violations overturn all. 15.8 15.4 -0.005 Opponent crossing boundary line overturns both a foul start and breakout. 14.5 DQ-CL 0.200 Crossing the boundary line is an automatic disqualification and is worse than a red light or breakout. 12.5 12.50 -0.005 Both cars committed a red light foul, only this lane is tagged under the 2016 TruSTART programming, as the reaction time was worse. 13.2 13.21 -0.002 Though the vehicle left first and would be tagged with a red light, under 2016 TruSTART programming, the green light is shown to the driver at first. As the opponent's -.005 for the later start is worse than a -.002 reaction time, the red light is subsequently shown to that lane only.
This eliminates any advantage from bending the rules by putting a slow dial-in time on the windshield to get a head start. However, some racers will purposely dial a slower time and then let off of the throttle or use their brakes near the end of the track in an attempt to use strategy to win the race rather than relying on the car to run the dial in.
Bracket Racing Strategy
Bracket racing boils down mainly into one thing; putting up the best "package". The best package is technically the winner in every drag race. A "package" is : package = drivers reaction time + deviation from the dial-in.
For example:
Driver A has a reaction time of 0.025 and his car runs 9.653 on a 9.64 dial in. His package = 0.025 + (9.653-9.64) = 0.038
Driver B has a reaction time of 0.005 and his car runs 10.684 on a 10.66 dial in. His package = 0.005 + (10.684-10.66) = 0.029
In this scenario driver B wins despite his car running further off the number. But we can deduce even more than just that he won; we can see that he won by a (0.038 - 0.029) = 0.009 finish margin which is about 22 inches at about 140 mph.
The formula used to calculate the margin of victory is :
17.6 * finish margin * behind vehicle mph = finish margin in inches
Professional (and some amateur) bracket racing has evolved over the years into a drivers' sport. It used to consist of trying to get a good reaction time then hoping the car ran near the number. Drivers would avoid breaking out like the plague, dialing their cars 0.01 faster than it had ever gone before.
A key element of the competition is the driver's ability to match this predicted time as closely as possible without going faster, a practice referred to as 'running the number'. Competitors use various staging and driving techniques to achieve consistency and counter their opponent's performance.
Red Light and other fouls