Can't win a round to save my life!

[not so famous bob]

Bracket racing is tough. Once you win a few races guys don't want to line up against you. You get the feel for the light & learn how to drive the big end. Don't beat the other guy by very much.

did the same losing streak for most of a year, turned out to be a bad convertor, we just couldn`t get a handle on it. always had a hard time hooking the hemi up anyway. big heavy car , 67 belvedere, tires back then weren`t too hot either.

 

[dvw]

I don't agree about not paying attention to the other car. If you could run .000 lights and dead on every time, then yes. But in reality that doesn't happen. Yes good lights are key. But so is driving the stripe. You never know when your car is going to go a touch quick or slow. Last pass I made was a .011 to his .021 light, tightened the stripe to .0128, and still lost. Why? Car picked up .02 in 60ft. Even though my MOV was 18" it was a little to much. But I made it close only losing by .0028. Twice the same day my car spun and fell off, fortunately my lights were .014, .019. Opponents took .05-.06 stripe against me and lost.
Doug

 

[66Satellite47]

dvw, you are very correct, an experienced bracket racer needs to cut the light AND be able to just beat the other guy at the line by a small amount. Never take the win by too much.

 

[LemonWedge]

One thing that I've realized through these tough times, is that the earlier the cars come together, the more room you have, in theory, to work with at the stripe. Sounds simple, but these are the things that the seasoned guys have a handle on in the split second and heat of the battle...... Learning!!

 

[dvw]

Close dials give you a good look at your opponent for a long time. When your chasing a 90 mph car running over 145mph you have to make your decision way before you get there. Its all in judging your closing rate.
Doug

 

[66Satellite47]

I liked being able to drive up on a guy. If I could go 145 & the other guy could go 120, I always had a good look at him. Then just decide if & when to tap the brake. Didn't like the dragsters that could come up on my 145 at 160.

 

[dvw]

To me closing rate is closing rate. I learned with a slower car. Now a days in No Box I almost always chase. The closer the dial the later the decision, chasing or being chased.
Doug

 

[66Satellite47]

Agreed, any close dial is interesting. Who did the better light? You really don't know until you get the time slip.

 

[66Satellite47]

Racing can be very cruel. I had a two weekend where I lost 3 races by a total of .007 seconds. Two .001 losses and a .005. That's racing.

 

[dvw]

My buddy's kid sent me a slip from the Jr dragster meet at Bristol. He was .005 R/T dead on +.003 and lost to a .000 R/T dead on +.005, .008 package to .005
Doug

 

[silver67]

I don't pad much of anything for the dial.
For me the tree is everything.
My car isnt fast enough to have traction problems. So it runs the number without a problem.

 

[dvw]

Just to show you how it can change. This weekend won 1st rd Friday with a .016, then rain. Lost 1st rd Sat with a -.010 red to his .090. Lost 1st rd Sunday my .014 to his .111 when I dumped at the 1000ft instead of the MPH line, dumb, dumb, dumb. Car was dead on all weekend.
Doug

 

[LemonWedge]

Just to show you how it can change. This weekend won 1st rd Friday with a .016, then rain. Lost 1st rd Sat with a -.010 red to his .090. Lost 1st rd Sunday my .014 to his .111 when I dumped at the 1000ft instead of the MPH line, dumb, dumb, dumb. Car was dead on all weekend.
Doug

So it's not just me...... ;)
Well, I did manage to turn on a couple of win lights this weekend, so the streak is over. But still struggling with turning it red. I won one round with a better light (.019 to his .075) and managed to back in for a comfy .02 MOV. Then was clean with a .033 light and the faster car went red in another win. Next round I was up against a guy dialed exactly the same as me. I think I had myself convinced that the best light would most likely win, and I pushed it too hard, .009 red. Both losses on the weekend were red, but my grouping all weekend was okay, ranging from .009 red to .033 green in 8 runs. Things are coming around.

The car continued to be solid. Friday, 4 runs all within .036, and Sat 4 within .042; and perhaps more importantly, I'm developing a confidence in where it's gonna be and where to dial, watching a combo of the temp, humidity, and DA.

Learning and having fun, I suppose it could be worse.

 

[hemiman426]

next year im coming out swinging and will be playing hard ball,this almost 60 year old isnt giving up

 

[66Satellite47]

Back in the day, I was a foot brake guy, no electronics. Still did pretty well. If you leave close to on time and then can see where the finish line is you probably will do pretty well.

 

[Frustration]

Bracket racing is a mind game. Like any other sport, if you work on the part that you're not that good at, it will improve your overall performance. To over-simplify, there are three things to being a successful bracket racer.

1. Cut a good light. It doesn't need to be a double oh light to win. Get a practice tree. You can easily make 100 runs per night. It will improve your R/T. Do not try to cut a perfect light every time. If you do, and you're a tad quick, you go red. I aim for a .015 light. If I'm quick, it's a double oh. If I'm a bit late, it's a .030 or so.
2. Know your car and hit your shift points. Short shifting or late shifting will change the E.T. of your car.
3. Take the stripe by as little margin as possible.

Keeping records of your runs is extremely helpful when bracket racing. If you have good notes, you can estimate your E.T. even if you peddal, brake, or just flat out beat the car you raced in the prior round. Even if you lifted before the stripe, going to your notes to find a run with a similar 60 foot, 330 ET, and 1000 foot time should get you close. A machine (your car) will repeat it's performance over and over if the variables don't change. As a human, you will struggle to repeat if you leave too much "in the bag". My game plan is to run my two time trials as similar as possible...hitting launch RPM and shift points throughout the run. If I do that, I'll dial one hundredth slower than my fastest pass. That way, I'm pretty sure I'll run very close to the ET dialed. If the next round is in better air (getting towards nightime), I'll dial one hundredth faster than my best pass. If i cut a good light, i should be able to back into my opponent in order to not breakout.

 

[66Satellite47]

Bracket racing is a mind game. Like any other sport, if you work on the part that you're not that good at, it will improve your overall performance. To over-simplify, there are three things to being a successful bracket racer.

1. Cut a good light. It doesn't need to be a double oh light to win. Get a practice tree. You can easily make 100 runs per night. It will improve your R/T. Do not try to cut a perfect light every time. If you do, and you're a tad quick, you go red. I aim for a .015 light. If I'm quick, it's a double oh. If I'm a bit late, it's a .030 or so.
2. Know your car and hit your shift points. Short shifting or late shifting will change the E.T. of your car.
3. Take the stripe by as little margin as possible.

Keeping records of your runs is extremely helpful when bracket racing. If you have good notes, you can estimate your E.T. even if you peddal, brake, or just flat out beat the car you raced in the prior round. Even if you lifted before the stripe, going to your notes to find a run with a similar 60 foot, 330 ET, and 1000 foot time should get you close. A machine (your car) will repeat it's performance over and over if the variables don't change. As a human, you will struggle to repeat if you leave too much "in the bag". My game plan is to run my two time trials as similar as possible...hitting launch RPM and shift points throughout the run. If I do that, I'll dial one hundredth slower than my fastest pass. That way, I'm pretty sure I'll run very close to the ET dialed. If the next round is in better air (getting towards nightime), I'll dial one hundredth faster than my best pass. If i cut a good light, i should be able to back into my opponent in order to not breakout.

Excellent advice. You need to learn what it feels like to win. Then that grows. Working the car to be very consistent is critical. Big block Mopars are easier to make more consistent than most small blocks. You learn to "feel" what the dial in is. Then go cut a good light. Learning how to drive the top end just takes experience & paying attention to where you & the other car are.

 

[Frustration]

...one other piece of advice that I see too many bracket racers attempt...NEVER make changes to your car after the first time trial! If you're striving to do everything the same, any changes that are made (launch RPM, jet changes, shift points, how deeply you stage...) will only alter your accuracy for eliminations. I use a rule to tune the car at a race with shoe polish only... Never with tools! If you're looking to improve performance, save it for a test-n-tune or for a track rental day. Eliminations are "game day". You're there to win. I always go into a race hoping and planning to win the first round. Speaking like a baseball guy (which I am not), then you'll be batting .500 at worst!

 

[66Satellite47]

...one other piece of advice that I see too many bracket racers attempt...NEVER make changes to your car after the first time trial! If you're striving to do everything the same, any changes that are made (launch RPM, jet changes, shift points, how deeply you stage...) will only alter your accuracy for eliminations. I use a rule to tune the car at a race with shoe polish only... Never with tools! If you're looking to improve performance, save it for a test-n-tune or for a track rental day. Eliminations are "game day". You're there to win. I always go into a race hoping and planning to win the first round. Speaking like a baseball guy (which I am not), then you'll be batting .500 at worst!

Certainly good advice. A close buddy of mine reminds me that years ago I did make changes between rounds. I still did OK, but not a good plan. Of course I also learned to change broken valve springs between rounds. Won a few races by being able to do that!

 

[LemonWedge]

The car has been stellar this year, and my ability to dial it has been pretty much within .01. I'm real proud of that aspect of my season. My issue continues to be the red light. I believe I can attribute the redlights directly to me anticipating the last amber, instead of waiting until its on. So this weekend I'm going to BLIND the tree!! I built myself a simple blind from hard-stock cardboard with notches to view only the last amber through, and taped it to my visor. I've walked off the tree distance and I'm confident it's in the right spot. My plan is to commit 1 full weekend at minimum to this and see how I feel about it when I'm done. I'm going to TnT on Friday night, so I'll have more than a few hits with it before racing on Saturday. Even if my lights are slow, I'm going to stick with it for the weekend..... I'm sick of being red and watching .075 lights beat me.