Bracket Racing vrs Heads Up Racing

That's funny.
A friend of mine told me a buddy of his would wait to see what class Carroll was running before he would tech his car.

 

SHOCK...i can tell you there is nothing fair about bracket racing, but neither is you runing your 11.48 dart against a 9.89 anglia heads up. may point is dragracing has never been fair. but as much as you hate to hear this. index is the closest thing we have to being fair...POP.

 

Not trying to change the direction of this thread but, how many Nostalgia races are there out there? Not talking about the Good Guys, or nhra reunion deals.
At least 3 here in Texas and 3 in Oklahoma.
Just curious.

Tim

 

This is what Im sayin you could have a 14.0,13.0,12.0,11.0 ext ext. If you want fair and good door handle to door handle racing this is it. You go faster than the index you claim your out. Its plane and simple a bb small tire car can race a big tire straight six car. Just as long as you stay in your index and dont go to fast. This is a old school way of racing too.

 

my nostalgia gambler at thunder valley the last two yrs had 9.0 10.0 11.0 12.0 13.0 14.0 classes with a 4.0 pro tree startand ran the winners against each other with the index being the dial in for an eventual winner 1st yr found hooley with his j winning with a 11.0 index. and last yrs was a 14.0 winner overall. this yr oct 31st we will change it up to a regular big nostalgia race but not sure of how we will do it yet, i prefer index for that type of race with lots of cars. on our monthly nostalgia eleminator at noble okla we run bracket syle due to the car count ...

 

Raced at your first race two years ago,could'nt make last years, But I've got this years on the calender.

Tim

 

Heads up is for real gearheads,Bracket racing is for the weekend warrior office boy crowd.

 

Although the current car I have is.............well....................not too H.A.M.B. friendly I am getting back into drag racing because it has been in my blood since I was 16.
The reason I got out of drag racing some 20+ years ago was that it was going electronic and the person with the fatest wallet was the winner.......................99% of the time. I raced in SS classes all my life and loved it....................and it was HEADS UP.
One thing I have to say here is that I really prefered to run someone down than having them chase me. In bracket racing today there are so many people that are sandbagging I have a hard time understanding why.....................but I would still prefer to run them down
rather than have them chase me....................just my own opinion.
Today you can run Pro and Super Pro and the only basic difference is electronics......which I hate! But a lot of the Super Pro guys run both classes because all they have to do is "Unhook" the electronics to run Pro..................BS!
The car I have has a lot race history dating back to the 79 Winternationals at Pomona, and
was built by Cooks Motorsports of the Ole Stone/Woods/Cook fame. It does have a very healthy 408 SBF that will turn in the high 9's if I take the throttle stop off, but with the throttle stop it will still run respectable 10.5's, and although this car weighs 3125 without me it is certainly not a street car......although it does run through race mufflers!
My point is that I want to race against others in the same W/HP class or even ET as long as they are not out there sandbagging and I also want to run in Nostalgia races.
I am not interested in winning money................all I want to do is go out and have some fun.
Here is what the Redding, CA drag strip is doing, and sometimes these Grudge Matches bring in more people than the normal races. As for my throttle stop, for the Grudge Matches it comes off!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I can't wait for racing to start in March!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hope you don't mind the pictures...............but I am so excited to get back to drag racing
I can hardly wait!

MY VOTE is for HEADS UP RACING AND GRUDGE MATCHES!

http://www.welike2race.com/index.html

 

For a Nostalgia event I think heads up is perfect, it puts more work on the organizers to line up "grudge" matches or get the cars in line to race something fairly even and make it fun for all.
If theres cash on the line then brackets are the way to go for the organizers and racers

 

I dig your Maverick A CHOPPED COUPE.I dont know why i have always liked those cars so much.As for the drags it looks like the majority of the Nostalgia events that i and others in this neck of the woods anyway attend,are gunna remain Heads Up ,which is great.I just wish we could get more classes or something ,to make the matches closer is all (and i know i proly sound like a parrot by now) .I know there is a way to make these events more even and fun for everybody ,someone just needs to take the first step ,instead of having "thats the way we have always done it ,and thats the way we are gunna keep doing it" mentality.Everything else about these events couldnt be better though IMO.The people ,the cars ,etc ,is all great ...

 

I nominate you then.

Tim

 

I would ,but unfortunatly for all of the heads up racer guys like myself , i have no say in what car clubs do at their own events .I will race either way ,and yes even if its Bracket Racing (did i really just say that) ,but it looks like im not gunna have to worry about that girly Bracket racing afterall...

 

No Personal Insults!!!!! The Bozo import guys, girly bracket racing!!! Your quotes.

As a spectator I like both bracket and heads up but there are always the cry babies that don't like it when they lose.

 

Those arent even close to personal insults .That was just playing around .If i offended someone with those vulgar ,cruel, and heartless comments,i am deeply sorry ...

 

we should race heads up I have the same rear end
mines out of a maverick

 

Casey,

I would go for that although the rearend isn't a Maverick piece. I would certainly screw the throttle stop out a little more..........................just for you.
If you come to Redding in March we can even get some Grudge Match racing in!

 

Originally Posted by The Shocker
like a parrot by now) I know there is a way to make these events more even and fun for everybody ,someone just needs to take the first step ,instead of having "thats the way we have always done it ,and thats the way we are gunna keep doing it" mentality.

alright then this post at least shed some input and we now
don`t have to here because that`s just the way they did it in the day ?
from one less person ? maybe

and shocker if we dialed in I would own you
But I would trade you in on something use full before I left the track

 

I was just joking around a bit now about how far off the cars can be and the people that think, that would be a good heads up race
I might have to start leaving the state to find a race now
grew up in van nuys man thats along way aways now
started going to orange county international race way in 76 77?
that was some great nostalgia racing

 

Sorry to have chimed in so late, but here is my 2 cents.... Most of us here are not full time drag racers, we are all a bunch of hot rodders who like to build the coolest, fastest thing we can with what we have and what we can afford. I had a freind who built a chevelle, it was a really cool street car and ran low 12.00s. Then he got the crazy idea he was gonna go to a NHRA event and race, everyone told him you cant cause there wont be a class for you or if there is you will likely be the slowest one based on what you have and don't have. He said BS. and checked into it and everyone was right!!! Now if he was to go to a bracket race he could race all weekend and have a blast and possibly WIN!!!! I have a street car that I bracket race a few times in the summer and have a blast!!!! I built the car with what I have and parts I bought from my friends and built it the way I like. My car runs low 12.00s and have raced 17.00 cars, I think its fun to see if I can catch them!!! I have raced 10.00 back haved cars and beat them!!!! Thats a blast!!! I have raced 7.00 dragsters and love watching them catch up to me and race the line!!!! I only beat one dragster but MAN what a rush!!!! It's not about what you drive it's about HOW you drive!!!! And the great thing is that ANYONE can do it!!!!!!!!! Oh and my thoughts on the arm drop thing.... It might be cool to watch but I think it could leed to problems. I watched a few episodes of "Pinks" where they had to replay in slow motion if the car started to move before the arms started to move, or before the arms were all the way down, or this or that, over and over. Hey I got an idea, why dont the take some lights and have them flash or turn green or something, OOOOOO and then you could have like a light beam at the line for the wheels to break, OH and you could hook em all together so you would know if the car jumped or not, and then.... Oh wait, they already have something like that don't they??

 

I like drag racing.

 

Gus68 that will not work any more cause it`s to simple and makes sense in every way so they needed to change it kinda like the way the goverment works I think ?

Hi buzzard

 

So handicap racing isn't traditional? I remember a buddy of mine saying "I've got to spot him 1/2 mile and we don't race but a 1/4!" back in the mid 60's. He was talking about his B/Stock racing an O/Stock car in Stock Eliminator in the mid 60's.
Larry T


From the 1966 NHRA Rulebook.

 

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First, let me clear this up, I'm not just sitting here shooting holes in ideas and doing nothing to help. In fact, I probably have devoted more time to solving this issue than anyone here. I worked on it for a few years on and off while we still had a track here on Long Island. I have been at it again because a couple friends are still trying to get a track here again on LI. I have given examples of things that were tried and failed..... you don't want facts, that's fine...it is what it is. I wish you luck, I will not step on anyones toes again.

 

I'll throw in my 2 pennies. I hate brackets. We have "street legal" races here on the occasional Friday night. Got a buddy thinks he can beat you? Line up and go for it. Looking for a race? Walk the pits. Don't leave the pairing up to the organizers.

When i go run, I want to have fun, and make as many passes as I can. Brackets, money, trophies, eliminations takes all the fun out of it. Each race is its' own, as agreed to by the participants.

I used to race at the brackets maybe once every couple of years. I'd get 2-3 time trials, then eliminations, always got kicked first round due to running a manual trans. Pack it up and go home. That $100 I spent to get there and run that day I won't be able to have for at least another year. Ok, so I lost that individual race. I want to find out what I can do. Let me make as many passes as I can before cutoff time. I don't care what class you want to put me in.

Devin

 

I agree w gus68 about the arn drop thing. Back when I was street racing as soon as that hand started moving I was gone. I would probably get kicked off Pinks All Out but I digress. Can't please evryone but I would settle for the track manager enforcing the rules consistently. Around here I can race at 6 different tracks but I go where the rules are followed.

 

Bracket racing is fairly confusing to a lot of spectators. Index classes like 9 second, 9.5, 10.0 etc. work pretty well if there's enough cars.

In a perfect world we'd all be racing head up but that would leave out the guys that can't afford to make their cars fast enough to compete.
It would also leave out the guys that just like to race their street car a few times a year.
Same with the guys that run oddball combinations where there's no modern speed equipment available.

The fact is that most of the cars running at the race tracks are running in bracket classes. Without bracket racing I think many of the tracks would have to close.

I race in nostalgia bracket classes with a variety of people. Some try to get every last inch of performance out of their car and some are happy just to show up and race. Most of these guys like to win once in a while but mostly come to have a good time. I myself actually like it when we go to a track that has a lot of time alloted to time trial or test and tune runs. I'll often try to get paired up with a similar car that runs about the same times as I do. It's great when you can have a close side by side drag race.

I like to watch the heads up classes but I also like seeing all the cool cars running in the nostalgia bracket and index classes.

 

I am with gus68 about the arm (hand?) drop. When I race I just want the track mgr to enforce the rules consistently, whatever their rules happen to be. They make us run 1/8 mile here but on test/tune nights I see kids running 1/4 mile with no safety check on their cars or equipment. But I have to prove that my helmet is up to date before I can race! Typically around these parts the heads up outlaw stuff is just that......outlaw! fun to watch but be ready to run......and duck bullets! peace

 

The HAMB is cool because we have people with all kinds of old vehicles having fun.
I'd like to see and hear all the different cars run down the track
I'd guess 85% of the cars at Mo-Kan are not NHRA legal
I saw 70% of the pits empty out before eliminations because they knew their cars were not competitive, even on a red light.
Award a "Fastest and Quickest Car of the Meet" award.
Let every one run a dial in eliminator. That tests the driver.
That way we'll see a Seagrave powered hot rod run against a straight 8 against a blown Chrysler Hemi.
Now that would be a fun HAMB event.

 

Casey- Funny shit never stops spewing from your keyboard...