Pomona on Monday-Stock Eliminator

bill dedman · 11-15-2010, 09:37 PM

Maybe it's because I am so old, and I started drag racing in1955, but first impressions are lasting ones, and from the time I started racing, it was probably almost ten years before I saw racing with handicaps and breakouts.

Drag racing was a heads-up, no handicap and no breakout business.

Along came dial-ins, breakouts, and later, indexes and all the other stuff that has evolved as Bracket racing has taken over on a local level. Now, we have active throttle stops, delay boxes, trans-brakes, crossover boxes, and a whole host of electronic aids to improve consistency and the ability to get there early enough, but not too early, round after round.

It's not much like what drag racing was in its early years.

But it's critically important to the fiscal health of what we CALL drag racing, and it probably is the salvation of this kind of racing. Without it, we'd probably all have to find new hobbies...

But to me, (and this is just my own opinion) it's Bracket racing; not drag racing.
It LOOKS like drag racing, and it even SOUNDS like drag racing (well, not so much the cars with active throttle stops), but it's not drag racing.

Drag racing, to me, is two drivers and their cars, trying their best to outrun the guy or girl, in the other lane, heads-up, no holds barred. That is, no handicap, no breakout... first car to the finish line wins. Anything else is NOT "Drag Racing."

As I said, that's just MY opinion.

BTW, I can't afford to run a class legal car, so I have alot of fun Bracket racing... a LOT of fun! But, I don't tell anyone I'm drag racing.... 'cause I'm not.

That doesn't make it less difficult to win than a drag race. On the contrary, Brackets are impossibly hard to win, because of all the hoops you have to jump through...

It's just different. That's all.

Thanks for listening.

11-15-2010, 09:37 PM	#16
bill dedman VIP Member Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Conway, AR Posts: 1,739 Likes: 0 Liked 6 Times in 4 Posts	Re: Pomona on Monday-Stock Eliminator Maybe it's because I am so old, and I started drag racing in1955, but first impressions are lasting ones, and from the time I started racing, it was probably almost ten years before I saw racing with handicaps and breakouts. Drag racing was a heads-up, no handicap and no breakout business. Along came dial-ins, breakouts, and later, indexes and all the other stuff that has evolved as Bracket racing has taken over on a local level. Now, we have active throttle stops, delay boxes, trans-brakes, crossover boxes, and a whole host of electronic aids to improve consistency and the ability to get there early enough, but not too early, round after round. It's not much like what drag racing was in its early years. But it's critically important to the fiscal health of what we CALL drag racing, and it probably is the salvation of this kind of racing. Without it, we'd probably all have to find new hobbies... But to me, (and this is just my own opinion) it's Bracket racing; not drag racing. It LOOKS like drag racing, and it even SOUNDS like drag racing (well, not so much the cars with active throttle stops), but it's not drag racing. Drag racing, to me, is two drivers and their cars, trying their best to outrun the guy or girl, in the other lane, heads-up, no holds barred. That is, no handicap, no breakout... first car to the finish line wins. Anything else is NOT "Drag Racing." As I said, that's just MY opinion. BTW, I can't afford to run a class legal car, so I have alot of fun Bracket racing... a LOT of fun! But, I don't tell anyone I'm drag racing.... 'cause I'm not. That doesn't make it less difficult to win than a drag race. On the contrary, Brackets are impossibly hard to win, because of all the hoops you have to jump through... It's just different. That's all. Thanks for listening. __________________ Bill