Bracket Racing 101 

Ask any non-drag racing fan what they know of the sport and they will probably talk about two racecars with huge engines and massive slick tires racing each other at high speed down a drag strip. While this often-televised form of dragging is valid, drag racing has many different levels of competition. It also has two main forms: Heads-Up and Bracket racing.

Heads-Up Drag Racing

In heads-up drag racing (sometimes called "quick 8" or "quick 16”), the fastest 8 or 16 cars in that day’s time trials then race each other, and the fastest car win.

What this often means is that the winner is the person or team that has the most money to spend on their car.

Bracket Racing

Bracket racing is so called because you race to a time “bracket”. So, while you are actually competing against the other car, you also compete against a clock. You have to beat them without going faster than your ‘dial in’ time, or slower than the class of your car. This is why the slower car is allowed to leave sooner. This "handicap" is calculated to give both cars an equal chance of winning. It also means needing the absolute fastest (and pricy) car is not necessary. This makes bracket racing a form of drag racing on a budget that even us mortals on a normal person’s wage can afford.

What this means is that to take part in bracket races, you don’t need a car with a huge engine or expensive modifications. There are a number of different levels of competition; from stock or street, a normal road car with the same parts it came with from the factory, right up to super- pro, cars heavily modified to reach high speeds very quickly. You see, in bracket racing, consistency and accuracy, rather than speed is what counts.

Bracket Racing 101

The operation of a bracket race is really quite simple. On race day, you must decide how you car will perform - the exact time it will take to race 1320 feet, drag racing’s famous quarter mile. To calculate this, you figure your time based on your car’s general performance and the weather and track conditions. The time you set becomes the fastest part of your ‘bracket,’ and you mark this time on the windshield of your car (known as ‘dialing in’). The slowest time of your bracket is set by the class or level of your car.

This means that your race placing is set by time. You are racing between two limits: the fastest ( or lowest time) limit you set as your dial-in (eg, 12 seconds), and the upper (or slowest time) limit is set by the car class, (eg, 13 seconds).

Breaking Out

Let’s say you think your car will take a minimum of 12.00 seconds to race the quarter-mile, so you have set this time as your dial-in. To be placed, you had better not run 11.99 or you will do what is known as “break out.” So, if you run below your dial-in time, that is, faster than you dialed in, you lose the race. If both competitors break out, the one that broke out the least is the winner.

Red Lighting

If one car leaves the starting line before the Xmas-tree (name for the drag race start lights) goes green, it is called red-lighting. So, if you move too soon, a bright red light will flash on the starting tree, and you will be disqualified.