I was just curious.

IMO, a lot less can go wrong in a 18 second car.

This is the points standing at my local track and their times:

#1 Bryon S. - Low 17's Ambassador
#2 Dean G. - High 19's Tempo
#3 Rob Y.- 18's or 19's depending on which vehicle he's racing Cadillac or van
#4 David L. - 18's van
#5 Rebecca P. - 16's Grand Am

The rest of the points guys have considerably faster cars and have considerably more money...and these guys are good racers.

The crappy track has horrible traction most of the time.

 

Slow cars can be beat.

This is always a topic at tracks all over.

fast guys don't consider slow guys real racers...
Safety concerns about the disparity in performance.
Some people just don't like to race cars that have extremely different abilities.
Some people don't think its fun to race a slow car.

For me the bottom line is that if you are a real bracket racer you will race anything. Not to take anything away from a quick dragster with all the goodies, but if you truly love the bracket part of drag racing you will accept it all as ultimately that is what bracket racing is.

I have sat on the line for 6-10 seconds many times waiting for something incredibly slow to get down the track. I have been the guy to go first and had someone else wait for me. It is all part of the sport.

I do think it is generally more competitive and fun to race cars within a couple of seconds, but I can race absolutely anyone, any time, any place, in a reasonably fair format because of the way bracket racing works.

I know a lot of people who complain about slow cars because they think they have to be on the converter too long at the launch. Interestingly enough, these same guys often don't like to race dragsters because they can't see them. These are also the same guys that complain about the track prep even when its good, the street night cars that bring enough people that buy enough stuff so the track can afford to stay open, and these are the guys who complain about their pit spacez when IHRA puts on their national event every year....

Don't complain. Racing is fun. Take the good with the bad. It's ok to have opinions and preferences but at the end of the day the person with the best lights and the closest dials is coming home with the check.

Of course this is just my opinion.

 

 

From my standpoint I don't like the idea of cars that are more than a few seconds apart racing eachother. I had a pretty scarey moment my first year I ever went to the track. There was this yellow drag car that pulled 1.3 60's (with the back tires since the fronts were ohh... about 5' in the air) launch right next to me. I hammered on it and tree'd him but when he finally let loose of that monster he carried the tires a good 100' down the track and bounced a few times IIRC. He was swerving a bit after he hit ground and I actually let off the gas because if he overcorrected and came flying my direction sideways at over 100mph, I wouldn't be here to talk about it right now. If you have a car that runs 9's or 8's against a car thats in the 14's (at the time) its just dangerous, the car in the 14's doesn't have enough power to get out of the way or get past the danger zone in time.


JMO & .02

 

I think they should be donr in at least a rage of like 2 seconds, not 18 sec cars against 10 sec cars. But i guess it is just alot easier to let everyone join in.

 

Worst I have ever seen was a 8.0 dragster lined up against a 21.0 second Geo Meto.

The dragster passed the Geo Metro by over 100 mph...what if the Geo Metro lost control or the dragster?

 

I agree with in reason...

a 16 second car can break the tires loose for the most part. But these 21 second cars are no fun.


being a v6er I have been the slow guy and its scary, I have pulled 15 second runs and have a 9 second car come up on you.

Sure I bet it drives them nuts to sit on the line waiting, but then again for the slow guy you lose that edge if you can tap the brakes or not at the top of the track, and lots of worry of breaking out, because its hard to judge how fast they are coming, when you are trapping like 90ish, and they are trapping 120+

 

The nice thing about being the faster car...if the slower car breaks out...you could run whatever you want and still win.

 

I can't stand the fact that the 20 second cars at our track don't have to worry about the shoddy (read: NIL) track prep and therefore don't have to make suspension adjustments, worry about traction etc.. Just hit the gas and go. They have a competitive advantage over a car that has to worry about traction.

It's fun but I can't stand sitting at the light for 8 seconds waiting on some high school chick in her moms Ford Escort to get to the 1000' mark before I can go.

I think points needs to be broken down a little more level - 12.0's - 13.99 etc..

Problem at our local track is that you can move your Dodge D150 that runs 25's consitent into the lane that runs the 8 second rails and win.

Ironman champion last week was a Dodge D150 or something like that - with a cap and complete fishing gear in the back of it. For some reason it just doesn't seem logical to me - these fast drag cars have traction to worry about, heat, etc... while these work trucks and beater cars only need to have their seatbelt on and cut a good light. Nothing more to worry about than that.

 

The vast majority of tracks have at least three general categories for 4 wheeled vehicles that are roughly as follows:

Street/trophy 12.00 and up.
Modified/Heavy 10.00-13.99 no electronics (footbrake only)
Top/Super 0-12.99 electronics allowed

The breaks and details will vary but generally this is about to expect at most places except for a gamblers race where anything runs or the limitations are simply electronica or no electronics.

One of the tracks I raced at has Street. Modified, Top all run in their own classes, and snomobiles and motorcycles....

When a class ran out of comptitors the class winner went into the pool of racers who were still competing. The top four would take home money. You can say it was a bit of a disadvantage for the slower/street type cars but I went to the finals three times and took home the big check twice that season and every time I was racing a top dragster with a delay box.

Each race is a new set of variables. Cut a good light and run your dial and there is nothing to worry about. As long as the mechanics hold up the bottom line is the driver. Sure it is an advantage to leave second.... Your visibility is better, the ability to judge the top end is better, if the slower guy bulbs you get the freebie..... But hey, a good driver can make all the difference on any given day or race.

 

If you don't like bracket racing then spend the mega bucks to compete in heads up racing where all the cars run roughly the same times. In a bracket race, speed means nothing. It gives everyone an equal chance to win. As mentioned above, classes are grouped in different ET ranges. Occasionally you'll see a very slow car up against a quick dragster but that will be in some sort of "king of the track" type race where all the classes are grouped into one and it gives the opportunity to see who's the better racer.

It's fun to go fast but not everyone can afford to build or maintain a fast car so they'll race whatever they have. The engine is out of my car right now and I have to race my daily driver truck for a few races. Instead of making low 10 second passes in Electronics class, I'll be making low 15 second passes in Street.

Since there are so many variations of vehicles and speeds, there's no way to limit how fast or slow they run. Some of the slower cars can be hard to beat because they have no wheel spin off the line but they may not always run the exact same ET every time. If a slow car is in the top of the points standings then the driver must be able to get very good reaction times and be able to keep the car dialed in. If you can make a consistant fast car and get very good reaction times, a quick car can also be at the top of the points standings.

I've seen sub 12 second cars run so consistant that it's scary but if the driver can't cut a good light, he'll usually not win. That's not the fault of losing to a slow car.

 

Thing is, heads up racing is great BUT ultimately it often comes down to who has the most money to spend on the and the most time to test. ET racing is fun, provided that (as AFAIK they do everywhere) there are classes so that you don't have cars trapping 180 running against cars going 100mph slower. Taht big a speed differential imposes an additional element of risk. At my local track, I am about in the middle of the class I run in ("Super Pro") and that seems ideal to me. It's a little different racing against faster cars tha slower cars, I like the variety.

Rich

 

if you were confident in your car's and your's abilities, you shouldnt worry

 

I feel the same way. However, I do have some concerns. I can run my 15 second ragtop in heavy against a 9 second car and I don't even need a helmet. I shutter to think of what would happen if someone lost it on top end and crossed over into me at 140mph.

 

Just one of the reasons in which I don't think cars like that should run in a class like that.

Maybe not a case with a 15 second car but, when your running a 12, 11, 10 second car against a 20 second car - the 20 second car has a major advantage because more than likely they don't have to worry about traction - simply cut a good light and your ok.

The rest of us have to worry about traction and other things when racing a faster car. 20 second cars IMO wouldn't have traction issues even when running on ice.