My first try at bracket racing

B

Brucelinc

New member
Well, I lacked one win of bringing home a trophy but I had a great time at Rock Falls raceway yesterday.  It was a surprising humid day with a headwind and I ran 12.77 in time trials.  I dialed in at a 13.00 and won my first race with a 13.1 against a gal with a tuned Mustang.  After getting beaten in later rounds, we matched up again in the Consolation race and I beat her 12.84 to 12.88 and she red-lighted.  I had changed my dial-in to a 12.90.  Good times and I will have to do this again next year!!  A few timeslips and a video:

Rock%20Falls%2010.16_zpsp9nveu4v.jpg


https://youtu.be/tg1NZ2Lwtw8  ! No longer available
 
Nice runs!

Bracket racing can be fun, but hitting the brakes at the end to avoid a break out takes some getting used to. LOL
 
Yes, it is very hard to pull your foot out of it to avoid breaking out.  This track has 2 trophy classes - King of the Hill is for 9.00 to 12.99 cars and Street Eliminator is for 13.00 and slower.  Since most of the guys in the fast class were more experienced at cutting a good light, I decided to try to be the fast guy in the slow group!!  I ultimately red-lighted and got eliminated but it was fun. 

 
Congrats Bruce and those are some Great times indeed and BTW fixed the above cool video for ya.  Z  :thumb:
 
great times bruce. i go to track to watch a fair amount, as amateur night is wed night & to old to that & go to work next day. but anyway regular bracket is fun to watch, not so much on those racers that start out slow & then go like crazy trying to cut a 7.9 or something like that. would much rather watch what you did. my pony brothers in my club just don't believe when i tell them what some sho much less a mks are running. i'll bet that pony was hoping no other ones where around to poke fun at her losing to a land yacht that avoids the burnout box.
 
Practice your reaction times will help. I used to love bracket racing but with even a consistent car you need to be cutting something in the .02 range or lower. The local 1/8th mile track near me if has a lot of die hards and if you cut anything higher than a .015 your  guaranteed to be going home or trailer. Most of the regulars are consistently cutting .010 or better on a consistent basis. Something I was taught at an early age was to sit in the stands and watch pro cars and try to time when they leave and practice this in the stands, you'd be amazed how this can help with timing. Usually with a street car you should be releasing the brake just as the third bulb is coming on and then keep adjusting till you get it timed depending on how your car leaves. If you see green, (your Late)!
 
You did good Bruce, for some one who doesn't do it regularly, R/T was great.  We run a pro tree which makes it harder.  I had to learn to deep stage to get better R/Ts, but sportsman you don't have too.  Good Job!
 
bamsho said:
You did good Bruce, for some one who doesn't do it regularly, R/T was great.  We run a pro tree which makes it harder.  I had to learn to deep stage to get better R/Ts, but sportsman you don't have too.  Good Job!
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Truthfully, my R/Ts were all over the place.  I didn't really care about it in qualifying because I just wanted to see what the car would do on this particular day and how I could manipulate my times to avoid breaking out.  In other test sessions, I have been as quick as .003 (dumb luck), as slow as in the high .200s and I have also red-lighted a few of times.

The guys who run "king of the hill" or "Pro" classes at this track often have R/Ts approaching perfection.  I was running street eliminator and most of the competitors were in the .100-.200 range.  On my first run, I dialed in a 13.00 and ran 13.01 so I was pretty happy with that.  I basically left the line from an idle.  My .155 R/T in that race was in the ballpark for the class I was running.

All I know is that I will have to do this again next year.  My trusty Lincoln MKS may be retired by then but I won't be!
 
That 13.001 pass was bomb! Talk about running your number! I'm a newbie bracket race nut and won several this season. The race I won last night I was cutting reaction times between .019 (best) and .037 (worst). Everybody has different tree strategies, one that's been working well for me is watching for the second bulb to turn off. My car's roll out time is just a hair over .5. It's a heavy beast with the 18" steelies on all corners. Good luck and have fun!
 
Awesome R/Ts, speedtrap!  I was having more issues with red lighting than I ever have before.  It seemed like if I left as the 2nd yellow went off, I would red light.  If I waited until the 3rd, I would be over .100.  I was launching more gently than when I am trying to run my quickest ET so I am not sure if that was impacting my timing or not.  I am going to work on R/Ts next season.
 
Brucelinc said:
Ryan02Stang said:
Nice runs!!  Probably the only MKS in the country bracket racing lol!
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Next season, I plan to be one of the few bracket racing a Continental. 
ruby%20red%20Continental_zpsk6wqccvq.jpg
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I hope so!  Really awesome looking cars, and I'm very curious to see what people can get out if them.
 
Someone got the racing bug, Very Cool.  After 2.5 years of doing bracket racing, I'm taking a break.  Cant waitbto see how you do Bruce.
 
Yeah i love bracket racing...much more fun than heads up unless I the cars are nearly identical.

Bruce what engine is in that conti?
 
I have run around 60 or so times at test & tunes so I know that without additional mods,  my MKS is a 12.6-12.8 car.  That's all there is.  I wanted to try bracket racing for a new challenge.

The Conti has a 3.0 rated at 400 HP and 400 lbs/ft of torque.  I am hoping someone has a tune for it by next season.
 
Brucelinc said:
The Conti has a 3.0 rated at 400 HP and 400 lbs/ft of torque.  I am hoping someone has a tune for it by next season.
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As long as sct has the strategy then it shouldnt be a problem....id love to see what that 3.0 can do....and im waiting to get my 2.7 f150 broke in to see how it does....im itching to turn up the boost
 
It is my understanding that the 3.0 is basically the 2.7 with a larger bore.  Hopefully, any lessons learned with the 2.7 should apply to the 3.0.
 
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