GRM Readers like E.T. Bracket Racing?

So there is this debate going on: E.T. Bracket Drag Racing vs. Straight Up Fastest Car wins Drag Racing.

Which side of the fence do you guys sit on this? Me, with a slow, yet good handling car, obviously I'm an E.T. Bracket guy.

Speed Sport Life did an article on drag racing recently:

http://www.speedsportlife.com/2009/08/31/racer-boy-e-t-bracket-drag-racing-or-how-to-actually-win-a-race-with-an-87-ford-taurus/

It got me wondering. What do y'all think?

Bracket racing is way cheaper and a lot easier to make a rulebook that is effective and not 8,000 pages long.

E.T. Liked Reese's Pieces.

walterj wrote: E.T. Liked Reese's Pieces.

Hmm, I like Reese's Pieces so I must like E.T. bracket racing. I'm not sure though. I've never done either. I like autocross!

Drag Racing? (yawn)

It's similar to TSD rally in my mind. A fine excuse to go out and drive your car, but the actual competition seems trivial and silly. I know people get really into both of those endeavors, but to me it just seems like an expensive coin-flipping contest.

Anybody who says drag racing is boring hasn't won a bracket race by .001 second, launched a 9-second car straight up in the air, or power-shifted to an 11-second ET side-by-side with another. Don't knock it until you really try it.

P71 wrote: Anybody who says drag racing is boring hasn't won a bracket race by .001 second, launched a 9-second car straight up in the air, or power-shifted to an 11-second ET side-by-side with another. Don't knock it until you *really* try it.

I won't say its "boring" but as a thing you do with your car its pretty low on the grins per minute scale. I have friends that spend a lot of scratch to drive for less than a combined 3 minutes in a whole weekend. They love it and I have tried it but... it ain't my bag. Neither is auto-x. It used to be - but if you ever want to ruin drag racing and auto-x for yourself, do a time trial, HPDE or wheel-to-wheel race (even in a kart).

I spend the same, and drive for more than 2hrs per day at full bore, over hills, around turns, next to other people. After you have chased someone in equal hardware for 25 minutes to eek out a pass attempt on the brakes at 100mph... 9 seconds of "Wheee!" after a 45 min wait in line is a huge let down.

walterj wrote:

P71 wrote: Anybody who says drag racing is boring hasn't won a bracket race by .001 second, launched a 9-second car straight up in the air, or power-shifted to an 11-second ET side-by-side with another. Don't knock it until you *really* try it.

I won't say its "boring" but as a thing you do with your car its pretty low on the grins per minute scale. I have friends that spend a lot of scratch to drive for less than a combined 3 minutes in a whole weekend. They love it and I have tried it but... it ain't my bag. Neither is auto-x. It used to be - but if you ever want to ruin drag racing and auto-x for yourself, do a time trial, HPDE or wheel-to-wheel race (even in a kart). I spend the same, and drive for more than 2hrs per day at full bore, over hills, around turns, next to other people. After you have chased someone in equal hardware for 25 minutes to eek out a pass attempt on the brakes at 100mph... 9 seconds of "Wheee!" after a 45 min wait in line is a huge let down.

+1

I'd like to try out some bracket racing... I can see where the challenge would be... fun... more of a personal challenge (like golf haha)

I plan on heading out to the 1/8mile track one of these days just for fun :)

Despite my signature, I don't hate drag racing. I worked part-time at a drag strip for a couple of years while I was in the Marine Corps, so I "get" it. Still, I find it hard to get really excited about, especially as you get into the more serious drag efforts.

I like the idea of street cars or cars with other competitive intentions going head-to-head on the dragstrip (like in the $200X Challenge) but building a fast car exclusively for drag racing isn't my cup of tea. The better a car is at drag racing, the worse it is at everything else. OTOH, a decent drag racer can actually make money, which is hard to say for any autocrosser.

Here's my breakdown- >14 seconds- slow, but having fun is always cool.
12-13 sec.- Nice car, what else does it do?
8-11 sec.- Nice car, too bad it's not good at anything else.
<7.99- OMFG that's awesome.

I have done HPDE's and track days. Didn't ruin autocross or drag racing for me. None of the above give you the pure G-forces of a proper drag launch. None of the above will give the tuning ability of a local test and tune night either.

I know a LOT of really good autocrossers that would pick up quite a few seconds by learning how to properly launch and shift their cars at a drag race. It's painful to see how much speed they lose when they shift or the horrible low-RPM starts.

All forms of racing will teach you different skill sets. Just because you do one doesn't mean you have to neglect all of the others. I've done TSD Rally, Drag Racing (1/8 and 1/4 including ET Brackets and heads-up), Autocross, Gymkhana, Drift, HPDE, and open track. I hope to add Rallycross to that list this year. They all make a more-rounded driver with a wider skillset than somebody who participates in one or two forms only.

And if you think drag racing is easy, come out to PIR and I'll lay a smackdown on you every run until you cry uncle.

Tom Heath wrote: 8-11 sec.- Nice car, too bad it's not good at anything else.

LSX FC says you are wrong.

Once upon a time I had to decide whether to become a professional drag racer or quit. I quit.

Bracket racing just took the soul out of drag racing.

P71 wrote: And if you think drag racing is easy, come out to PIR and I'll lay a smackdown on you every run until you cry uncle.

You guys have a lot of time to come up with smack talk while you are standing in line waiting for your next run and that was the best you could do?

As far as learning to shift... every lap around a road course has lots of shifting... shifting up, shifting down, shift down while braking... often using three pedals and a gated lever. We tend to leave the automatics to the handicapped.

EDIT: This was meant to be a humorous jab, not a personal attack or inflammatory barb to mobilize the handicapped stalker army. I apologize in advance for the offense. :)

MrJoshua wrote:

Tom Heath wrote: 8-11 sec.- Nice car, too bad it's not good at anything else.

LSX FC says you are wrong.

As I was writing that it occurred to me that I might need to revise my breakdowns. There are lots of capable 11-second cars nowadays.

I just like wheelies... coolest things ever.

Overall i like all out speed, fastest car wins. If i were to compete id probably perfer bracket. Plus i like street legal race cars, and those mostly compete in the bracket events.

But ultimatly, i like other forms of motorsport over drags

Bracket racing is boring. I like the "how fast is your car" speed test side of drag racing when used in part of an overall vehicle test, as Tom said. In bracket racing, I can't even get my adrenaline pumping until I'm already finished with the pass, on my way to collecting a time slip. There isn't any thrill for me in hitting a perfect light or getting the perfect shift. Wheel to wheel racing on a road course is where it's at if you're an adrenaline junky like me. Rallycross is my current favorite for cheap and easy adrenaline fix, as wheel to wheel isn't really cheap or easy in comparison.

Bryce

I've done a lot of drag racing, and bracket racing I just find boring. If I were bracket racing, I'd build a slow, consistent, automatic car that has no traction issues and can run within .05 of a second on every run, time and time again. I'd rather be piloting a hard launching, manual trans, car that pulls like a frieght train on the big end. Is it the best drag racer for bracket racing or heads up? Maybe not, but it's definitely the most fun banging gears with the slicks screaming.

Personally, I pretty much enjoy any kind of auto-related shenaniganery...assuming I'm driving.

Sure, there's a lot of waiting involved in drag racing and auto-x, but that time is either spent making the car faster (whether in a straight line, or around pylons,) or B.S.'ing with friends and laughing my ass off.

Never tried the bracket racing thing, though I'm guessing it'd be fun in the same way that TIGHT auto-x competition is fun.

I'd still like to see GRM include some budget-friendly drag racing content from time to time. Seems kind of weird that it's such a big part of the challenge, but not at all a part of the mag.

I understand bracket racing, and can see its practicality and attraction for local racers, so it's good. But I'm an Old Fart from the old days before brackets were invented, so for me real drag racing is heads up. Unfortunately, this generates a bazillion classes (NHRA used to have WAY more classes than even SCCA Solo), which is what led to brackets. So, a bow to practicality, brackets are OK for the participants.

I race at mostly 'heads up' type events but run brackets from time to time. It's a good way to make some $$ if you're good. There is definitely a different skill involved then other forms of motorsports. Very few times does the other car go a few seconds before you do and you have to run him down, pass him, but not too much, lest you break out.

Bracket racing is a pain, if your gonna drag do it straight up. The problem with drag racing is, the better you get, the faster the fun is over! Learning how to go fast: Drag race-autocross/rallycross-road race-rally. And by rally I meen stage-rally, not TSD rally.

P71 wrote: And if you think drag racing is easy, come out to PIR and I'll lay a smackdown on you every run until you cry uncle.

Drag racing a car? Easy.

A stock height sport bike? That's fun. Nothing like carrying big wheelies through 2nd after the 1-2 shift and still running low 11s (on a 600).

Back in the late 60s I used to attend Saturday night bracket racing at the local rural track. There was a girl who used to "borrow" her dad's Grand Prix and enter, and she won just about every time. She had no real idea what she was doing; she'd just punch it and hold the pedal to the floor. Her times rarely varied by more than .01, and she dialed that in, and never broke out. IIRC, she was running in the 18's, and winning over 13 second Mustangs, Camaros, etc.

The main thing I like about drag racing is the first 60 feet, and a good wheelie makes my heart pump.. A few years back I went to a few Fram National events, and noticed that at that level, the drivers lauch as hard as they can, get the 60' time then back off and let the computer take it down the track at a controlled rate.

Letting off in a drag race just seems wrong to me. But that first 60 feet.... WOW!