Auto Racing: Head Start, finsh line, race circuits

Question
Dan:  I don't know a whole lot about racing, but I took my son to the Riverside Raceway before it closed down because he was interested in seeing a race before it was too late.  I got to see the jet cars which was very interesting.

I also saw another type of racing where a slower car or truck would get a head start on the more souped up car.  What is this type of racing called and how do they determine who gets a head start and how much of one.  Thanks.

Answer
Hi Larry !

What you saw is a part of the sport of Drag Racing, and it's called "Bracket Racing" .  

Probably the day or night before you were there, the competitors ran practice and qualifying runs, worked on their cars, and established an 'elapsed time' for each run.  They then paint this on the rear window of the car (if it's a street car  of some sort) and it's called their 'dial in time'.  The race controllers then pair that car up with another car usually at random, and one is handicapped against the other by comparing those times.  Ideally, both cars will cross the finish line at the exact same time.

However, if a driver happens to go faster than his dial in time, he is said to have 'broken out' and is disqualified from the event. This may happen even if he loses the race. And also, the driver finishing closest to his dial in time is the winner, whether he gets to the finsh line first or not.

The big advantage to this form of drag racing is that there is no cheating on class rules.  There aren't any rules.  The winning or losing of a race is usually left up to the skill of the driver, and his ability to get the car going without a lot of wheel spinning, and resultant loss of time.

I've watched it a few times when they have had drag races near our road race circuits, the whole thing doesn't make a lot of sense to me. But then I left drag racing in about 1965,  what do I know ?!

I hope this helps you understand what you witnessed, and I hope your son enjoyed the races. All forms of auto racing are great sport, persued mostly by nice people, and it's outrageously expensive for us amateurs !

Sincerely,

Dan Liddy
Sarasota, Florida