For the PRA classes.

Off the top of my head I will try and give some response

Pro Stock,,,8.5 lbs. per cubic inch, usually tube frame minimum weight I don't remember more like 1300 lbs. with driver. Aspirated.

Wheelbase I think is no more then +/-2" of stock. And the usual body configuration near stock.

Super Street,, 10.5lbs per cubic inch. Minimum 1500 lbs. with driver using real 48ida bodied carbs. 1550 lbs. using other carbs. Must be

based on pan car. Use stock head bolt pattern. Limit on raised trans, body configuration, wheelbase, typical stuff.

PRO Mod -(use to be pro turbo) don't know much about the new changes to the rules in this class, I believe there is some sort of minimum

weight requirement, in the past there was a specific carb requirement, now you can basically take a pro stock car and SQUEEEZE it and run

the class right next to the turbo cars. Id have to look in the rulebook when I get it to see. (Renewal went in the mail today)

The above mention are the heads-up classes which means, follow the rules and see who get to the finish line first. All using a Pro Light

meaning 3 amber's come on at once and 4 tenths of a sec later the green comes on. 4 tenths pro light. You and your car must be able to react

fairly quick. A slower bracket car has a hard time cutting a good light on this tree.

The next two classes are a little more Driver skill based classes and not CUBIC DOLLARS. Don't get me wrong, it still takes a lot of skill

to hop in a 10 second car and make it go strait.

Super Gas, or 11.90 class. This is for the most part a bracket class with a fixed index or dial in of 11.90

You can go as fast as you want as long as you don't go faster then 11.90. This class uses a pro light, the use of any vw or vw powered

vehicle, no real restriction on the class except no electronics (time delays, throttle stops) no nitro. Usually the next stepping stone to the Pro

classes.

Pro Eliminator,, my class, this is a real bracket class. Runs on a 5 tenths Full tree. Each light comes down the tree at ½ second intervals

untill it turns the green on. This means from the time the last yellow comes on to the green, there is .500 of a second. If you cut a light of .501

(some times .001 depending on the track) You have cut a near perfect light braking the timing beam .001 after the green light turns on.

(usually droping the clutch sometime when the last yellow is on or as it comes on) Typically run 12.99 and faster. (Depending on track

promoter) Any vw or vw powered car is allowed. No electronics, no nitro. This is open to all who wants to participate. You don't have to

be in the PRA to compete in this class. But if you are a PRA member then they will keep track of the points with you and the others that are

in PRA in this class. Between this and the Sportsman eliminator class, this is the entry level to getting your feet wet in competition. And

most likely the funnest class. You usually don't have such an outrageous car that you have to thrash on it between rounds, you pull your car

in, kick back and have a snack and a coke, joke with your friends, and brag to see who got the best light of the last round. Plus there is

usually not enough time between rounds to do any real work on your car. It better stay together. Typically lasting 5 rounds of eliminations,

unlike the 1,2,3, maybe even 4 on occasion in the other classes. I don't remember what the cut off is for the pro classes are, as in 8 car or

16-car field max. In this class, I have seen it up to 45 cars. This is 6 rounds of elimination. As the end of the day approaches and you are

still in, then you will have to almost make laps to keep up.

How bracket racing works is you put a dial in on your window that YOU base on what your practice runs were like. Ex. I run 12.42, 12.41,

21.41, in the morning practice and I will put up a 12.41 on my window. What I am telling the officials is I will not go faster then 12.41

(12.409999999or faster) The tower will enter this 12.41 in there computer and enter my competitors number in as well, lets say the other

car dialed in 12.91. This tells the computer to start the tree .5 sec apart. In other words my opponent's tree falls a half-second sooner then

mine and he/she gets a head start on you. The time clock does not start when the tree goes green. It stars when a car brakes the start beam.

(Stage lights) this makes reacting to the lights important. Ex. my opponent's tree goes green but he or she is sleeping and actually brakes the

beam a second after the light is green. I cut a near perfect light and I'm way out ahead of my opponent. Well my opponent runs on his dial in

with a 12.91 but I only ran a 12.99 but because he or she did not react and I got to the finish line first and was able to slow down to make

sure I don't go faster then my dial in, I win. The theory is if you both leave at the same reaction time you should both get to the finish line at

the same time. Handicap racing. You can also change your dial in time between rounds. Lets say in round one, I dial a 12.41, take off and my

opponent red lights,(too fast a reaction time) the win light will come on in my lane telling me I can now do any thing, so I keep my foot in it

and due to air changes my car now runs a 12.38. I will then change my dial in on the next pass to a 12.38 or maybe a 12.37 deepening on

what I feel and if its cooling down or heating up still. Or you may find you go slower and you can turn it up too. The rule on red lights and

brake outs, its always called first or worst. Meaning, the first one to red light is the looser. Now you are thinking this is not fair if I have to

leave first. Well it works both ways. Yes the person who leaves first could commit the offence first but its no walk in the park to see your

opponent leave and try to keep your composure not to take off too early. And usually the faster car has a harder time keeping his or her ET

consistent. If you leave first and your ok and then your opponent leaves on a red light, you are the winner. It is pretty fair. I have had to sit on

the line for more then 5 seconds on more then one occasion and it is nerve racking to see your opponent is already a third down the track

before you are allowed to leave.

Then we get to the worst,, this means who ever brakes out OR brakes out the worst is the looser. Brake is when you go faster then your dial

in time. Lets say I ran 12.31 on my 12.41 chasing down my opponent and I ran this fast because the air changed dramatically but my

opponent runs a 12.80 on his or her 12.91 in an attempt to stay ahead of me. Well I brake out by .10 of a sec but my opponent went .11

faster, he/she crossed the line first but was the worst to brake out and I win. Or say he/she was the worst but I got to the line first, this is

where I must have cut a better reaction time then he/she.

Sportsman Eliminator class usually 13.00 and slower. Not covered by the PRA YET. If there were enough people to sign up I'm sure they

would go for it. It was offered in 96 but no one signed up. It's the same as the Pro Eliminator class but just a little slower.

muffler mike

-----------------------------------------

the importance of cutting a quick light in the heads-up classes... since the all-motor cars are often running very close together, reaction time can win

or lose the race. it's a much tougher game at the light.

in the bracket classes, they are often running even closer together, but it's not usually at all-out, full speed... so it really doesn't matter how quick of a

light you cut, only that the reaction time is always the same because consistency is what makes you the winner. why wouldn't you want to leave on

the green every time, so you didn't risk breaking out??

i'm basing this on the idea that most bracket cars are quicker than their posted e.t.'s anyway... that's why we get the catch-up/feather- the-throttle

game at the end... the on-board camera with both you and randy bowen is a classic example of this.

thanks,

dan

-------------------------------------------------

I couldn't agree with you more.

Super Street class is where this seems to be the most important. When Geers, Vanderhorst, Perkins, etc., all qualify with in a tenth of each other,

you better believe it that the lights count. I have watched Perkins win a few races now just from cutting a better light and being the slower car. Now

that driver made his keep.

But other examples such as Bubutz (I don't know how to spell his name) Goes out and qualify with an 8.90 and #2 qualifier can only muster a 9.40,

at that point Chris could just out hp the next one and sleep.

But it all goes in cycles. I just want my chance to drive a SS car. Any one have money and needs a driver?

Lifting in bracket racing is a good sign you are going to win, When it comes to Randy Bowen running 11.90, I'm sure his car is capable of

11.50-60's and he just have to figure out how to make his car run 11.90's These guys use the human factor throttle stop. Its almost funny to watch

some of there techniques to do this, all creative and all do very well at it. Ex 11.90 car goes down the track as he shifts into 4th gear, the gas is lifted

for a second and then applied and then clicks off an 11.91. If I were to run this class, I would want my car to be capable of 11.50's on a good track

so I can back off a little and be able to compensate for bad weather and track conditions. So in essence most are sand bagging. And then it's a battle

in 4th looking at each other who can stay ahead of the other and not brake out. As for me, I have sand bagged many times but I don't do it that often

and if I do its usually only by a tenth or so. This might happen if I race a slower car where I can catch up to and put a nose on them and lift a little.

Then there's the situation where I'm racing a 10 second car and he is approaching me at 15-20 mph faster then I'm moving, its not quite as easy

moving 100+mph and looking over your shoulder to find a guy/girl that is still 200 ft back, blink your eye and then is at your door. It makes it much

harder to judge weather to lift or not so in this case, my dial in is usually right on because if the opponent is on their game, I'm not likely to lift at all.

If I sand bag I just broke out and if I dial too low, I loose.

For those who don't know the defenition of sand bagging. Your car is capable of running say 12.00 and you dial in at 12.50 this way you can play

with your opponent usually, unless your opponent cuts a good or better light then you. Then no matter how much you sand bag, your more then

likely to brake out.

Bracket racing 102 has concluded for today. I have to get back to work.

Muffler Mike

---------------------------------

How not to brake out

Theoretically you should not put a dial in time that you can go faster then. This way you can't brake out. But you don't want it

so much faster that it makes you loose the race. In a perfect world, you will run on your dial in time. Or with in .01. But it

doesn't always work that way, some times you can miss a shift or shift at a different point. Spin a little more off the line then

last time, Hook up real good, get a tail wind, the humidity drops like a rock etc. Some people will go out and purchase a

weather station and after a few entries of data can make minor adjustments to there dial in time. Robert Hemphill has one of

these little hand held computer weather stations that once you put in some data, it can tell you if you will slow down or speed

up and by how much. This thing really works. He showed me this toy of his and predicted his time would drop off by some

number and when he went out and ran again, sure enough he fell off by that much. Really neat item, but the price tag on these

is $400sih and up. But this can take one part of the equation out. For me, I now just have a lot of experience at what my car

will do and how to feel the temperature changes. A simple way to tell temp changes is your tire pressure. I will set tire

pressure right before every round, and if it continues to climb I know its getting hotter even though I can't feel the difference

because I'm already dripping wet from the 99-degree day. When temp stops changing, I will have minimal pressure change or

even if I have to add, I know its cooling down. Always look at your time slip from the previous pass. Most good tracks will

now post all the time from 330ft, 660ft,1000ft to help tune a car. Personally I always look at the 1000 ft marks when in

eliminations, due to most passes I try to lift a little after the 1000ft mark and wont get a real ¼ mile time. Always look at

your 60ft time as well. More often then not, you will notice that if you spun a little and your 60ft time is off, you will see

almost the same drop off on your 1000ft or ¼ mile time.

New item to add is Courtesy staging:

If you were in a national event and didn't abide by this rule you can get disqualified.

For the rest of us, it has never come down to this. I think it's just a good rule from a personal standpoint to help compose your

self.

What is Courtesy staging?

There are 2 little yellow lights at the top of the Xmas tree. One is a pre stage and the second is a stage. The first light comes

on when you hit the first starting line light, the second comes on when you role 8 inches farther forward and at that time both

lights should be on because your front wheel is blocking both beams on the ground. You are ready to start. (The ET clock

does not start until the stage beam is passed, Not the pre stage.)

Courtesy staging is this, when you do your burn out or are ready to just roll up to the line, you turn your pre stage light on and

wait until you opponent turns his/hers on, then you can stage at your pace. This way both opponents have the same amount of

time to prepare them selves to dual.

I really haven't found too much of a problem with this in the VW world, most VW drivers have a clue to what life is. Go to

an import race and you can just though this out the door.

Here is an example. Now I'm not trying to bag on this guy. Milt's friend (cant remember his name) that owns the green car that

I raced in the final at Carlsbad DD3 did not do this. As I came out of the water box he was going up and staging and then

started getting up on his motor and even hit his limiter I believe. Unfortunately if any one does that to me, I'm just going to

stage that much slower, because half of what makes you cut a good reaction time is mental. I will feed off that. I don't really

sit there and stall, but I will tug on my belts a little extra to make sure I'm in tight. Now had he pre staged and waited for me,

he would have had time to take a breath and re-think his situation and potentially not turn on the red light.

In November at the import race, I went up against a mid 11 second Honda in first round, he went in a staged before I came to

a stop out of the water box and put it on the limiter and held it. OK I did just stall on that one.

On another note, Deep staging. This is not usually allowed in the pro classes, but may help you react differently to a light. To

tell if its not allowed, look between the pre stage lights and there is a little blue light that will come on if it is not allowed.

Deep staging is when you roll into the pre stage and then roll pass it and put it in the stage and then turn off the pre stage light.

IF you do this, you must hit the pre stage and you are allowed to stop at that point like normal. But when you go to deep stage,

you must make it one full motion until you are deep, you can not stop and start moving until you get to that deep point, This

can be a little nerve racking because if you go to far, you will get the red light and you loose. You must also have the word

DEEP written on your car so the starter has an idea of what you are doing.

In my experience when I use to deep stage, I have found that my car will react a full tenth of a second quicker. Not me but the

car. Lets say I could not get over cutting .650 lights, I would try and deep stage and it would most likely drop down to .550

which is a pretty good light. In other words if you can cut a light like this on a regular basis, you will win a race soon

enough.

Ok lunchtime is over and that's the end of class for today.

Muffler Mike

+++++++++++

+++++++++++

+++++++++++

my novel Tuesday, 06-Feb-01 13:19:12 206.21.105.4 writes: Pull around the water box so I do not track water with my front radial tires. Back into the water box using my side view mirror to about half way into the water. Pull back out to the edge, set the line lock, pull into 2nd gear and wait for the single to go. Pre-load and wing the motor to about 5000rpm and lift the clutch but not drop it. (I want to keep my 2nd gear in the box) run burn out about 6000 rpm until I see smoke in my mirror, release line lock and role into throttle. As I feel the car start to hook up, push clutch in, stand on brake so not to pass the staring line. Give all my belts a good tug to make sure I am tightly strapped in. turn on my 2 step. Role into the pre-stage light. Check where my opponent is. If not pre-staged, wait until they are. One more verification of the belts and 2 step. Pull shifter into 2nd and back to 1st to make sure I’m in the right gear. (it only takes once to figure out you can forget to put it back into first) Set the line lock again but this time around 250-300 lbs. of brake pressure. Bring the motor up to 4000 ish rpm, and start sliding the clutch to bump into the stage light, maybe even do a quick check to make sure every thing is still pre loaded by bumping the clutch pedal up just a touch. If both stage lights are on, right foot goes to the floor and on the limiter and there is no intention to lift it until I hit 4th gear. Wait until ..200-.210 sec. after the last yellow appears and violently retract my left foot and hope for the best. At that point I hope I don’t do one of one million possible things to loose. I also pray for a little luck too. Muffler Mike

<<Back | <Reload> | Forward>>

Message thread:

Is it me or is it the WEBSITE? (K-Ghia) (05-Feb-01 20:38:56)

my novel (Muffler Mike) (06-Feb-01 13:19:12)

Re: Staging! ([email protected]) (06-Feb-01 21:09:10)

Re: I'm next... (Ken) (09-Feb-01 17:19:25)

-----------

My car is a little different than Muffler Mike's. I get in the water box and do the burn out pretty much the same, after that I have a few more things to watch. Once I stop the car from the burn out. I open the valve to the NOS, roll up to the first stage light(even if the other guy isn't in yet). Arm the NOS and purge her until I get a nice dense stream of juice. Wait for the other guy to get into the lights. Arm the co2 clutch release, hit the line lock and inch into the second stage light. With my left thumb hit the button that arms the whole shooting match(line lock, NOS, clutch release, and 2step) floor it and on the last yellow let 'er rip. Now the only thing left is sit back and enjoy my 6 second ride down the 1/8th mile!

[email protected]

--------------

My routine is to pull p and around the water-box and back into it. The tracks I've raced at always have someone who directs you to pull forward and where to stop. I step on the brake and activate the line-loc, bring the R's up and let out the clutch easy as I press on the gas in first. I spin the tires for about 10 sec's or so until the car starts pushing forward. I push in the clutch, and roll forward up to the staging lights. I ease the clutch out and ease into the lights and hit the brakes as soon as the first bulb is lift, I ease forward until the 2nd bulb is lit...step hard on the brakes and press in the line-loc button...push in on the clutch...bring the revs to 4000 on the tach and focus only on the bottom bulb. As soon as I see the yellow full on, I release the button and jerk my clutch foot back, keeping my accelerator to the floor until 4th. Then I'll look in my Wink mirror to see where my opponent is to see what I have to do...assuming I'm ahead, of course. If I've caught my opponent, I put half a fender ahead of them and lead them across the line. Hopefully, I've won that round. Ken Swain

Ken