CLASSES or BRACKETS???

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Race4Wheels
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CLASSES or BRACKETS???

Postby Race4Wheels » Thu Apr 01, 2010 2:20 am

Not really class racing as we all know it but not exactly bracket racing either. Imagine bracket racing without the breakout, or class racing without the cookie cutter restrictions making it impossible to be competitive without building your car right to the rules, ie; cubic inch, cams, carbs, manifolds, heads, weight, etc, etc, etc.

Am I about the only one in the country who would like to try an indexed and handicapped racing format without any breakout rule?

anybody can run with any vehicle and the indexes come out quite fair and affordable to run for any bracket racer already in competition. Even legal class cars can jump in and still the playing field remains pretty level.

Does anybody else want to give full throttle to the finish line racing a chance, or am I just from Mars?

You don't even have to go to a race to see how you might like it. I can tell you what your index would be set at right here and you can look at how your ride compares to it to see how competitive you could be.

Try it out! Simply provide this basic information.
1: Vehicle make and model, and weight with driver
2: Actual engine cubic inch displacement
3: Intake valve diameter
4: Gross intake valve lift
5: Gasoline or Methanol
6: Naturally aspirated or forced induction
See what your index would be and how close it is to what you run!

If there's much interest, I will elaborate on how it works.
Last edited by Race4Wheels on Tue Apr 13, 2010 1:41 am, edited 1 time in total.

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draglist
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Re: Class or Bracket?

Postby draglist » Thu Apr 01, 2010 10:20 am

Hi. Welcome to the board. I'm always interested in new ideas and I would love to see your proposal. bp
Bill Pratt
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Race4Wheels
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Re: Class or Bracket?

Postby Race4Wheels » Thu Apr 01, 2010 2:07 pm

Well, it really is pretty much just as simple as that. Vehicles are indexed based on that basic information and then race to the finish line all out in a handicapped start, no breakout drag race. I have been working on this for quite some time and have finally come up with a formula that would put racers on an index much more accurately and fairly than the antiquated pounds per horsepower and cubic inch methods currently being used.
The key to being competitive with this formula does not have anything to do with how much you can afford to do to your engine. It is all about matching your combination to the heads you have.

While this won't be the rule, the basic premise to be competitive with your combination will be to have a long duration cam with just a big enough valve with enough lift to best utilize the flow capabilities of the head you are using, essentially just in the same manner as the Stock class cars currently running NHRA/IHRA. But that doesn't mean that it will be all low lift cams winning either. If you have a head that flows big numbers, then chances are that you will do better by having the big lift cam. Remember, utilize the head for it's capabilities.

Ultimately, ther will be categories of similar vehicle types with classes for the varying performance potentials. For example; There would be a category for tube chassis cars, and a category for tubbed cars, while another category for stock chassis cars. The only real reason for categorizing vehicles is merely for fun and spectator appeal. Racers, I think, enjoy racing other racers with similar set-ups, and spectators like to see the same thing.

Spectators who are not familiar to the concept of E.T. bracket racing have a hard time wrapping their mind around how you can lose by going to fast when your "drag racing", and would much rather watch a drag race that they could understand. Could you imagine how popular NASCAR would be if when Dale Jr. finally crossed the finish line first he was declared the loser because his final lap time was quicker than his qualifying time and he brkoe-out?

The number one concern that will come up among those who do consider this venue will be how to make sure nobody is cheating. The evil truth is that people will cheat. So to keep people from flagrantly taking money that they really didn't win, teardown procedures will have to be performed periodically. However, I believe that, because legal or not nobody wants to do a teardown, teardowns could be kept to a minimum by way of limiting the teardowns to be performed to only those instances where a winner has run more than a specified margin below their index.

To see how teardowns will be minimized, take a look at http://usdragcar.com/protests.htm which explains when and how protests will be handled.
Last edited by Race4Wheels on Sun Jun 26, 2011 2:49 pm, edited 2 times in total.

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draglist
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Re: Class or Bracket?

Postby draglist » Thu Apr 01, 2010 8:10 pm

Need to digest this. Very interesting so far. bp
Bill Pratt
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Race4Wheels
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Re: Class or Bracket?

Postby Race4Wheels » Thu Apr 01, 2010 9:40 pm

Well, as I said in my first post,

Try it out! Simply provide this basic information.

1: Vehicle make and model, and weight with driver
2: Actual engine cubic inch displacement
3: Intake valve diameter
4: Gross intake valve lift
5: Gasoline or Methanol
6: Naturally aspirated or forced induction

See what your index would be and how close it is to what you run!

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Race4Wheels
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Re: CLASSES or BRACKETS???

Postby Race4Wheels » Tue Apr 13, 2010 1:47 am

UPDATE!!! American DRAGCAR's Full Power Challenge Provisional is scheduled for November 20th, 2011 at Speedworld Dragstrip in Wittman, Arizona to debut this new evolved class racing format.
Visit the American DRAGCAR page on Facebook or USDRAGCAR.com for more info.
Last edited by Race4Wheels on Mon May 09, 2011 7:43 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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draglist
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Re: CLASSES or BRACKETS???

Postby draglist » Tue Apr 13, 2010 2:10 am

Cool. The info you are asking each racer to provide about his car... is that common knowledge among racers who are not engine builders? I may not know it because I'm a non-racer... just wondering how easy it would be to run one of these races. I've run races before and it's hard just to get 'em all lined up at the right time... LOL.
Bill Pratt
Draglist.com - Crowdsourced drag racing history.
Headlines and Results: http://www.draglist.com/
Drag Lists: http://www.draglist.com/draglist/draglist.php

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Billy Mac
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Re: CLASSES or BRACKETS???

Postby Billy Mac » Tue Apr 13, 2010 9:08 am

Ok....I'll be a guinney pig...

69 Ford Mustang Coupe
2525 lbs with driver
514 c.i.
Intake valve 2.20
Gross cam lift on intake .708 (solid roller)
C-16 race gas
Naturally aspirated
Long Live Draglist!
Thank You Vets
In God we Trust...(all others pay cash)
Billy Mac Signs-West/Pegasus Race Cars

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Solid Rock
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Re: CLASSES or BRACKETS???

Postby Solid Rock » Tue Apr 13, 2010 9:17 am

My one question is, who would enforce all these rules and make sure the information provided is correct???

Without strict enforcement your classes would be full of people bending the rules.

greenracing
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Re: CLASSES or BRACKETS???

Postby greenracing » Tue Apr 13, 2010 11:18 am

My one question is, who would enforce all these rules and make sure the information provided is correct???
That's what I was thinking as well. Who's going to tear everyone down to make sure that they are running the intake valve that they are claiming, or put a dial indicator on everyones intake pushrod to verify the cam lift, or pump everyones engine to verify displacement. It would be virtually impossible to police this.

Plus, the numbers that you've given so far don't provide much comfort. 4 tenths off? and now you've improved it to 1 tenth off? A tenth is an eternity! I don't think I'd want to line up next to someone knowing that he might be able to run a tenth under his index when my formula might put be a tenth over!


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