What's The Point of Playing the Ladder?
 

Ok so you've made your first qualifying run in Stock (or Super Stock, Comp, Top Dragster, Top Sportsman, or hell even Snowmobile!) and you would like to know who your potential first/second/fourth/sixth round matchup is. The old fashioned way of figuring such a thing out would involve either waiting for a qualifying order to be sold at the DRAW tent or get to the nearest online device and check dragracecentral.com for session 1 order. After doing this, your next step is to pull out your blank ladder sheets or book and start handwriting in the qualifying order. Here is where your A.D.D. kicks in, you've missed a few names, lost your place, can't remember which member of the Ficacci family you meant, and still haven't figured out how to correctly spell "Bongiovanni." You need the program!

What the program does is allow the user to go straight to DragRaceCentral, copy the qualifying order, and paste it into a Microsoft Excel workbook. It then automatically generates a ladder pre-filled with competitor names and what kind of car they race! Now you can see how the entire race will pan out. It doesn't stop there, after observing the ladder you decide you want to avoid your friend until a final, stay away from or take advantage of a heads-up run, put yourself in the path of a bye run (or in some cases two), or keep your comp car from racing Bruno Massel until Armageddon. In order to do any of these you will have to "position" yourself on the ladder by running a certain ET range in the next qualifying session. Simply enter your index and what slot you would like to qualify and the ET range you need to run will be automatically calculated for you. It's that simple!

The program also features the blank ladder sheets for those who don't have internet. Just type in how many cars and BOOM - a blank ladder is generated for you to print out.

The program can be tried FREE for 7 days with no payment info required. Anyone running Vegas this weekend or running the Pomona race in November are welcome to try it free for those races as well. Please visit www.dragracetrans.com/laddersoftware.html to download . You will then need an activation code from me. Microsoft Excel required. Not compatible with Mac.

Call me at 610-996-8784 or email me at bobby.fazio@gmail.com with any questions.

Re: What's The Point of Playing the Ladder?
 

I understand the reasoning. I realize people try to do it. I just don't know how successful someone can be in getting to a certain position. Fairly easy to move a couple positions to avoid someone. You have a 50% chance of being on the opposite side of the ladder. But if you are trying for a certain position, as you said, you try for an ET range that gets you into that position, but if someone runs quicker and moves ahead of you, you are now shooting for a different ET than you thought, but you don't know that because you are rolling thru the staging lanes. This can even mess up trying to just get to the other side of the ladder.
Seems like people try to do it. I'm just curious how successful they are when they can't control what others do.

Re: What's The Point of Playing the Ladder?
 

Stewart thanks for your feedback. Your question is the most common one I get whenever I mention the word ladder and it is a very valid one as well. Let me start off by saying anyone who knows my car and my good friend Jamie Schoenly's '72 Maverick knows that both of us do not have much ET to play around with. We are incapable of qualifying in the top half of any field wherever we go. Our number one goal is to avoid each other until a final. Having said that, we have raced at 5 divisionals and 2 nationals together this year and have only once ended up on the same side of the ladder, and in that scenario we would have been a semi final matchup. And this is with 2 cars who go under the index by very small margins. The quicker your car is, the more ladder possibilities open up.

Where my program really becomes beneficial is in a matter of about 5 seconds you can find 12 different ET ranges for 12 different qualifying positions and choose the one with the widest window. For instance, If qualifying in the number 25 spot requires me to run 10.305 to 10.308 and qualifying in the number 45 spot requires 10.905 to 11.08 well then I am shooting for number 45 because it has almost a 2 tenths window rather than trying to hit a .003 window for the number 25 spot.

http://www.dragracetrans.com/screenshot.jpg

As with racing in general, there are no guarantees. You still need to cut good lights and run your number to be a successful racer. However, this program can increase your chances by putting you in a more desirable path to the final round.


Bobby Fazio SS/L 1373
bobby.fazio@gmail.com

Re: What's The Point of Playing the Ladder?
 

A good case for your system is if you have ever taken the time to watch Dan Fletcher plot his way thru elim. He seems to always end up with a good shot at winning based on his qualifing.

Re: What's The Point of Playing the Ladder?
 

What does it cost to register it?

Re: What's The Point of Playing the Ladder?
 

You are absolutely right, I was going to mention his name but didn't want to be the first to do so. He is always in the path of a bye and avoiding his son(s) during eliminations.

Ed, the program costs $100.

Re: What's The Point of Playing the Ladder?
 

Smart phone app?

Great idea as long as DC has the info in right! (But it seems they are right 99.8% of the time)

Re: What's The Point of Playing the Ladder?
 

Glad you asked. Smart phone app is the next step. Whoever purchases the program as it is in its current state will get any and all future updates at no charge, this includes any smartphone apps.

Re: What's The Point of Playing the Ladder?
 

awesome program, but i'd be willing to bet the hundred bucks that most of the big hitters in stock super are red lit against 50 % of the time. Its just as easy to keep your eyes focused forward, regardless of who you are running, nail the tree to a .015 or better light and run dead on dial. if you get beat it doesnt matter if it was Fletcher or the rookie of the years first pass of the year. if you dont get beat, and make it to the finals, someone will probabley say you did it because of your ladder position! LOL

Ian

Re: What's The Point of Playing the Ladder?
 

I agree with you about the heavy hitters getting lots of red light victories and as I said earlier, this program is no substitute for poor driving skills in today's competitive classes. But if you are a slower car in a crowded C/SA class, you will have virtually no shot of winning with your .015 light if you are stuck in any heads up situations. Using this program, you attempt to stay away from situations like that. If you are the baddest C/SA car then you try to pursue heads-up situations like that! And as I also stated earlier, the most common use of the program is to avoid teammates/friends/bosses. Bye runs are always nice too because you don't need the .015 light to win those.

Hey I hope they say it was because of your ladder position! And I hope they tell their friends the same :D