I just wanted to address some of the things that have been said in this thread about bracket racing. The reason I'm even spending my time on it is because I think some of the misconceptions will falsely lead people into thinking it's not for them. That would be sad, because quite honestly, it's a fackin hoot, especially when you start winning!
Now, I'm no expert in the realm of drag racing. Most of my experience is with road racing. I have, however, participated in 2 bracket events using NHRA rules. I placed 3rd in both events (yes, in my painfully slow SE-L...lol) I also have some neighbors/good friends that compete at the Super Pro level at Maple Grove, under NHRA sanctioning rules. They consistently go to the nationals every year. I've learned how to do it from them. Here's the gist of bracket racing, as I've experienced it.
The event starts with time trial runs. This is when you "dial in" your car and get a baseline time. During this phase no one wins. You merely trying to get a time to use for the next phase of the event. Consistency is the name of the game here. It's usually 2-3 rounds, depending on turnout and track cleanup efforts.
The next phase of the event is elimination rounds. At this point, as the name implies. it's on! For this phase you need a time written on the car so the timer in the tower can see it. They usually have a line in the staging lanes that once you cross, the time on your car is what's entering in the tracks computer. After that point, there's no changing your time.
Now here's how it works. You line up against your competitor. He's got his time, you have yours. You trip the first staging light and then the second. Once both of you "stage", the tree is going to start. There are 3 yellow lights, a green, and a red on each side of the tree, in addition to the staging lamps on top. Now unlike "heads up" racing, the track computer knows the dial-in times that were entered. The tree is going to start on each side independently, based on those times. So if car 1 has a 12.00 dial-in and car 2 has a 13.00, the tree starts for car 2, 1 second before the tree starts for car 1. In other words, it's a staggered start. When the lights start, it will be the yellows starting from the top, one at a time and then the green. The red will show, if you jump the green (a negative reaction time, -.001 etc.). If you red light and your competitor doesn't, game over for you regardless of time.
So, suppose your in car 2, in the above example. You've already launched and your foot's to the floor and the finish line is fast approaching. Since you started 1 second ahead of car 1, you're in the lead (provided you didn't flub the start..lol). As you get closer and closer to the finish line you start to see car 1 catching you. If the both of you accurately dialed in the times. you should be side by side at or around the finish line. Now here's where one of the misconceptions in this thread comes in.
The first one to break the beam at the finish line, without going under their respective dial in, wins. This is a very important distinction versus what some have said in this thread. If you both go under your dial in times, it's the person closest to their time wins. So what that means is reaction time comes into play with regards to winning, unlike what was said previously in this thread. In other words, the determining numbers that decides whether you win or lose is ET + reaction time relative to dial in time.
The "sport" of bracket racing happens in 2 places, the start (minimize reaction time, easy concept to understand) and the finish line (get there first without "breaking out"). The latter, in my opinion is the addictive part about this sport. When you're crossing the finish line, there's a few things you don't know for sure. The first is whether you're over or under your time. The second is whether your competitor is over or under his time. So what you do at the finsh line can be risky. In other words, it's a bit like gambling. Before the race even starts, should you keep a little time in your pocket and use a dial-in time greater than what your car can run and slow/brake at the finish line? Should you play it safe and post a dial in a few 10ths (100ths if you're a pro) lower, in the hopes your competition isn't that accurate?
So, as you can see, it's not as boring as saying what your time and running it. There really is a competition going on between you and the person you line up against. There's also more skill involved in winning than what you might think at first glance. For anyone who posted misinformation, don't take this post the wrong way. My intent is to clear up some misconceptions about the sport with the hopes some light bulbs go on and people give it a try. Hopefully, this post is informative and clears some things up for people.
I'd really like to see bracket racing at the 2014 Convention. I think with the variety of cars and people we have, everyone can compete, even people with rentals and non-competition cars. The more people you include the better the Convention, IMO. Now back to your regularly scheduled program...
Originally Posted by circa.13 
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