Bracket Racing vs Stock/Super Stock Racing

[Pistol Pete]

I figured to start a new thread on what was being said on the "Live from Etown Tread",
so it wouldn't interfere with Ken's Thread.

I understand both points of view on where Stock & Super Stock guys have a beef on
spending $340. for a National Race & $170. for a Div. Race & these ET guys waltz right in
here and get preferred treatment over us.

I did notice at Epping they ran Snowmobile's & X275 Class.
It seems like at other National events these other classes are running too.
So, ET Racers shouldn't get picked on, NHRA is inviting them in.

I complained for years that if a certain category DOES NOT fill up quota year after year at Englishtown in particular, why can't NHRA raise Stock & Super Stock quota's by 10-15 more cars.
I'm sure if NHRA had the Stock Elim. quota at 100 for Etown they would get them.

Just my point of view.

[Hacksaw]

I have to agree with Pete here. Don't blame the et guys, blame NHRA for letting them in. And really, if the et guy wants to go to a Nat. event .... they should park their rigs, enter as a spectator or someones crew and after the weekend start working on a class car, just like many of the racers here on this forum have done. IMO

[Tim H]

I am a bracket racer who loves stock eliminator. When I go to a Nat'l event I want to see class cars not sleds or X275. I like the idea of having different size S/SS fields based on the regions ability to fill them. So if Stock @ Reading can fill a 128 cars fantastic !

[Mike Meier]

Originally Posted by Pistol Pete

I figured to start a new thread on what was being said on the "Live from Etown Tread",
so it wouldn't interfere with Ken's Thread.

I understand both points of view on where Stock & Super Stock guys have a beef on
spending $340. for a National Race & $170. for a Div. Race & these ET guys waltz right in
here and get preferred treatment over us.

I did notice at Epping they ran Snowmobile's & X275 Class.
It seems like at other National events these other classes are running too.
So, ET Racers shouldn't get picked on, NHRA is inviting them in.

I complained for years that if a certain category DOES NOT fill up quota year after year at Englishtown in particular, why can't NHRA raise Stock & Super Stock quota's by 10-15 more cars.
I'm sure if NHRA had the Stock Elim. quota at 100 for Etown they would get them.

Just my point of view.

If I'm not mistaken they invited top 8 in the respective eliminators. A good number of tracks have a Wally Day for the ET racers so what's the big whoop if they do it during a National? I'm willing to bet they aren't racing for a ton of money and by having 8 cars it's pretty much 3 rounds of filler.

[Lew Silverman]

As it was explained to me, by the facility manager and others, is that this is something that has been going on for a while, especially at Gainesville and Atlanta. The owner/promoter at the track brings in the top 8 points earners of one of their weekly ET Bracket classes to both showcase them and make the fans aware of what's available when the "Big Show" moves on. This shouldn't negatively affect any of the other classes in competition there this weekend because; their footprint on the property is very small, there is no "purse" involved (they are racing for a "Wally") and anything that is done to help bring more fans to the sport should be beneficial for everyone. These are local racers performing in front of a "hometown" crowd, and I doubt that Fox Sports will be giving them any airtime on the national broadcast, either, kind of like us!

If the problem is the necessity of having to travel to divisional events to earn grade points, or unrealistic eliminator quotas at National Events, or only having class eliminations at certain stops on the tour, then you need to direct your concerns to the management at the NHRA, as they are the ones who put that system together. And it probably would be a good idea to have an alternative to what we have to work with now, especially if you think you have a better way to do it. I have never understood why we need to constantly keep bashing another group of racers who are just trying to have as much fun enjoying their hobby as we all seem to be.

Just one man's opinion - your mileage may vary!

[HR9121]

This is getting worse than fake news, I haven't heard one person bash bracket racing!!! I'm not going to bash bracket racing either, check on any given weekend around here you might find me bracket racing my stocker, talk about sacrilegious. Problem is NHRA setting quotas so low a person needs 5 GP's to get in and their reasoning for this is parking space, schedule issues. Then run us till 10 or 11 o'clock Saturday nights to get us down to Semis then go fill up Sunday's show sleds,275, street outlaws or whatever other clown show they can think of. I have to agree with what Ken said and its a slap in the face all sportsman racers running lodrs races in search of valuable grade points.

[nhramnl]

Like all of you, I have no beef whatsoever with bracket racers. Truth is, they might be smarter than we are, because they focus on the fun part...racing. I've gotten to the point where I don't even compete at national events anymore, because it's just no fun. We're treated like cattle, waiting for hours while nothing happens, only to then be hustled through everything with an attitude on NHRA's part of "C'mon, get up here and get that POS down the track; we've got Super Street and snowmobiles to run!". It's been said a thousand times, but NHRA has become something it was never, ever intended to be; entertainment for the masses. And when they made that decision, they stopped being about the fun part.

[Bob Don]

I echo Ken's sentiments. We go through a lot to be able to run national events, running divisionals and accumulating grade points. For local racers to be able to waltz into a national event and get preferred pit spaces and, in some cases, pay no fee is just wrong. If you want to run a national event and earn a wally, run one of the contested classes and start going to divisionals. Weekly bracket racers should aspire to move up, not be "showcased". This cheapens the wally.

[Strawboss]

The problem with NHRA and the s/ss quotas is that they don't need all our money when they charge big bucks for the many trailers that the professionals bring in and take up so much space. Just like an old friend told me once, we are just like carnies except carnies go from town to town putting on a show and getting paid for it and we go town to town putting on a show and we pay them to let us do it and we still love doing it. So we have to take the cards they deal us and play their game.

[Jon Sarrett]

Originally Posted by HR9121

This is getting worse than fake news, I haven't heard one person bash bracket racing!!! I'm not going to bash bracket racing either, check on any given weekend around here you might find me bracket racing my stocker, talk about sacrilegious. Problem is NHRA setting quotas so low a person needs 5 GP's to get in and their reasoning for this is parking space, schedule issues. Then run us till 10 or 11 o'clock Saturday nights to get us down to Semis then go fill up Sunday's show sleds,275, street outlaws or whatever other clown show they can think of. I have to agree with what Ken said and its a slap in the face all sportsman racers running lodrs races in search of valuable grade points.

Winner!

I was out of stock for 7-8 years and when I made a return I was incredibly surprised how much things changed. There never used to be a quota when we ran a national event. I remember standing in line at Firebird many times waiting to buy my credentials for the CSK Nationals/Arizona Nationals/Etc, same at Pomona, Vegas, etc. When I decided to build another car and get back in it I knew it would take a couple of seasons to accumulate enough GP's to race a national event. We all know travel expenses and entry fees rack up really fast and it was a grind but I'll be racing at my first national event this year since 2002. To give guys a free pass at one of the most coveted trophies in motorsports leaves a bad taste in my mouth after years of putting a plan in motion. Some friends are on the outside looking in with 3 or 4 GP's and a national event at their home track(s). My voice is so small that it will never be heard as is the case with most others. We all know the only way to voice is our opinion is not to buy in to it but for every one that doesn't pull the trigger there are 5 behind waiting buy. This is the world we live in and we have to make the best of it. It sucks, I'm not happy with it but we have 2 options; roll with it or move out.