Bracket Racing vs Stock/Super Stock Racing

[Michael Beard]

I'm sorry, but the elite country club "This is OUR event!" outrage sounds disingenuous. Where was everyone when you had an event dedicated solely to Stock and Super Stock, with everything you ever asked for?

[voltdr]

Back in the day there was bracket racing and "class" racing, whether it was Stk, SS, or Comp. I used to go to the National events to watch all of the cars run. I would buy a general admission ticket for Fri and Sat, so I could wander the pits and take in all the behind-the-scenes stuff. On Sunday I would have a reserved seat so I didn't miss any of the on-track action. All I wanted was to be able to race at the BIG events. After much spectating, I learned that there is way too much potential work involved in running "Class". Possible teardowns, parts availability, being "out-dollared" by someone else that could buy the latest trick-of-the week.........
Finally in the 80s SG started. How fun, now I could go to Nationals and Divisionals. Well, not so much fun. Waiting in the staging lanes for 5+ hours while the pro cars oiled the track so often that their two sessions became one big session. I was gone from racing for about 13 years. Wow, what a difference, scheduled run sessions so you don't have to wait for hours in the lanes. No more sending in a master list for any National event you might want to race before the season starts. You can enter based on your level of participation from the previous year. Sounds fair to me. We all know how the system works, use it to your advantage. Go to the Divisional races and so you can get the preferred entry dates for the nationals. This isn't a sport where everyone gets a trophy for showing up. Which is why most of us like drag racing.
If you look at "Bracket" racing (Including the Super Classes) from NHRA's point of view, what a great value. We can get more cars, and not have to provide as much supervision. No teardowns, fuel checks, more relaxed rules due to no listing for any possible combination out there. From a labor perspective, this is a great thing.
Racers, no matter the class, are a fickled group. A lot of people talk about wanting change but you can't get 10 racers to agree on most anything. Whether it's quotas, rules limits, speed limits for the Super classes, fuel choices, starting times. It's a never ending game. Change must be good for the masses, not just a certain group in the mass. Come up with something that helps the majority and change will come (never as fast as we would like). Just complain and everyone tires of listening. Become part of the solution and not the problem. The squeaky wheel doesn't always get the grease, some times it gets replaced.
Dan Foley
SC 4698

[Mike Pearson]

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.

I am in full agreement with you.