The $1,000 to win Bracket Grand Prix
 Thompson Speedway September 22nd, 2023!

7 Hour Enduro   

          McGuire's corvette was super fast but the lack of co drivers and crew, and a few mechanical mishaps took the fastest car out of contention.

   The most successful team in Bracket history is the Ceci Partnership #85 Escort.  Many had this team as the favorite again.  They were in contention throughout the event. This year they ahd to settle for a fifth place finish.

    The Boston Whiner's #6 BMW was another entry solidly in the hunt. The team lacked a bit of consistency in their times. They would have to settle for forth.

    Pre-race, the 40 Baller Race Team had the paddock buzzing.  The team had a strong driver line-up and a beautifully prepared Porsche 944.  They were a bit too conservative in bracket selection.  The team placed themselves in Bracket E. The fastest lap turned all day was a 1:30:01. In hindsight placing the car in Group F.   The Ballers finished 4 laps behind the eventual winner. Had they opted for Group F, they would have won by 2 laps.  Bracket selection after the morning practice is critical in these events.

    The sentimental favorite was the Bright Ideas S-10 of Glen Farney.  Glen Farney has been competitive in every one of these events. His S-10 was the slowest car in the field. If you read the dash on his S-10 it says, "Race the Track, Not the Opel!"  He may change that for the effort landed his team in second, just 1 lap behind the Opel.

     The winner was classic.  Most young people will not know what an Opel is but in our Victory Lane it was Yuri Shnirman in the Yellow Great Globs of Oil Opel Cadet.  The team pocketed $1000 for the effort. Shnirman's Opel was second slowest of those that raced. The Bracket's work.  Expensive cars and racing modifications are not what win's here.  Certainly you can take the victory in a BMW or Corvette.  For this racing it is all about execution. Great pit stops, no failures, and bracket selection are what you need to get to Victory lane.

    What is new for this year?  Nothing. The formula works.  The racing is awesome.  The competitors are fun and the staff that organizes the show has this event as their favorite every year. 

  The payout of $1000 to win is participation based.  If 1-39 cars enter, the winner will leave with $1000.00.  At 40 cars we double it.  60 cars we triple it. Get 80 on the track and will quadruple it.  Hit 100 and the winner will leave with a cool $5000.00.

                Any safely caged car is eligible to enter as long as it is based on an OEM chassis. Picking a bracket is simple.  There is an hour practice on the morning of the event.  This is when competitors figure out how fast their car is.  Once they know, simply pick a bracket that your team thinks is best, and that you won't go faster than or break out.   The key is to cut it close.  Slower brackets have more laps credited at the start.  If a team breaks out, we do pull that car in and move it up to the next bracket.  The extra laps the team might have been credited for will be removed. We also apply a lap penalty. Still teams that break out have opportunity to win.

          If you own a car that is eligible for Lemons, Champ car, AER, or any local track where they race stock chassis, then this is a race that you should enjoy running. The expected field is between 20-30 race cars.  It is a great race to prepare for running other series that may have 100 cars on the same track.  New team?  This is a great place to debut. Use it as a track day.  Whatever your reasoning may be, we want you to know your team will be welcome to compete at the Bracket Grand Prix.

     

  Ah..... but how much to race?  The early entry fee for each car is $499.00. This does not include admission     Tickets for General Admission is $55.00.  Driver entry and admission is $100.00  Everyone must purchase a ticket to get in. 
Click Registration Link for Entry Details and Click the Admission Link to purchase admission tickets.  All tickets must be purchased in advance so drivers, buy your tickets now.
  

• Click "How the Brackets Work" to the left and scroll down to view this year's bracket.

• Pit stalls will be awarded on a first come first serve basis in the order you paid for your registration.
  There are 20 pits. Teams will share after the first 20 are selected.  
    

• The MAX number of entries for this event is 99. We reserve the right to refuse entry without reason.

WTC and Bracket Racing
 

 WTC specializes in conducting oval and road course events for race vehicles based on production chassis. Rules are formulated in such a way that the least expensive option has a slight advantage. The Bracket GP has been offered since June 30 2018 at the Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park.

    For amateur competition handicapping is not new.  It starts in neighborhoods at a young age.  The top players picked sides. At other times, someone got a head start.  The idea is always to use the competitors available, and make it a game.

     The Bracket GP does just that.  We utilize a simple tool, transponder scoring. Results are instant on Race Monitor. By using this tool we have constructed racing event that allows racers to "Run what you brung".  There are no classes.  Brackets simply determine a cars head start per hour or the "handicap"

     All race vehicles must be production based. There is a tire rule. You must have an acceptable cage, and safety equipment. If your car is legal for Chump Car or Lemons, it is legal here. There are 11 speed brackets.  The brackets are track specific. From race day testing, practice, or a teams racing history at Thompson, most teams are able to find out how fast their race vehicle is expected to be.  The Teams simply pick (dial in)  their bracket.  That choice determines their head start.  

    The fastest bracket allowed to compete is bracket Z.  From there each bracket increases the handicap by 1 lap per hour. Cars in bracket X will get 1 lap per hour head start. In a 7 hour race, that would be+7 laps.  Theoretically, a team from Z and a team from X ran perfect laps, with the handicap applied after 7 hours, they would cross the line side by side. Guess what? That is just how it works.

    The chess game is picking the bracket.  Teams that often are mere participants in other series, with no shot of winning now can have an equal chance.


    Bracket racing is not new. Drag racing has utilized the practice or years.  We are not sure of anyone ever using brackets with this method in road racing however we know from the last 4 events, that  it works far superior to any method major series are using now. Hope you join us at the Bracket Grand Prix, Thompson Motorsports Park, Thompson Ct. September 22nd 2023.

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The First BGP!
Straight Outta Suncook and into Victory Lane

     Glen Farney's entry was the #510 Bright Ideas S-10 pick-up. The teamed declared in class X, and cruised with the early lead.   Class X entries are awarded a head start of 54 laps. In second was the #2 Subaru, a class H entry some 12 circuits behind.  The fastest car in the field, the #20 Mustang, was in class A. He started straight up with zero laps credited.

      An pre race favorite in the competition was the #26 Alfa Romeo of Farrel Seferian. This car is famous in the North East running a multiple of endurance events for years. Mechanical gremlins set in. The 26 retired after 25 laps. They are expected entries when the 24 Hours of Lemons returns to Thompson in a few weeks.

     The guy that took the longest drive getting there unfortunately had a short time on track. The "Hard Luck" award had to go to the #82 Adams and Adams Ford Escort Wagon hauled from Ohio. Electrical issues kept the team on pit row. After 16 laps on-track, their day was done.

     On track two entries battled early.  The 426  and 444 BMW's put on a show swapping positions lap after lap.  As the pair motored down the front stretch, ahead in turn one, the 20 Mustang had come to a stop.  The yellow was flying at the flag stand.  The 444 slowed.  The driver of the 426 was unaware of the yellow.  He locked his wheels to avoid his competitor.  Despite the effort the two BMWs made contact.  The Boston Whiner's 444 had only damaged a rim and was able to continue on. The 426 was done for the day.

    Obviously being in the proper bracket is everything. The #60 Mello Yello Days of Thunder look alike entry is another pre-race favorite known to be a threat to win any endurance event they enter. As brackets were turned in, their representative was undecided between being in D or E.  D would leave some room for a fast lap.  E was cutting it very close to the capabilities of the car.  The decision was simple. Be conservative or go for it.   On paper the D was scratched off, and E was filled in.   On lap 44 their driver turned a lap of 1:27.831.  0.026 seconds faster and they would "break out".  In the tower officials reviewed. It was close but the 60 was still in E bracket. Certainly they would be a team to watch as the day went on.

    Most teams had completed one round of pit stops. Some had done multiple.  The race progressed just sort of half way to lap 140 laps for 510 S-10.   #2 Subaru closing down on the lead..  Pressure was building and there it was.  Farney's Bright Ideas Chevy had broken out and was black flagged. Officially the Bright Ideas Team will always be the first team ever penalized for being too fast for their bracker.   In the penalty are the team was all smiles.   Imagine, the S-10 being penalized for speeding.  What was Farney's next bright idea?   " Let's see if we can break out again!"

     There was a new leader pacing the field.  Neil Plats 256 Camaro had the point.  The #2 Subaru was in second.  The 86 2-broke 2 care BMW was in third.  The Camaro headed to pit row for fuel on lap 245 as did the 86 BMW.  The Subaru  had the lead, but in hot pursuit were three more teams capable of winning.  The Mello Yello 60 moved into the runner up position. Michael Coleman's Star engineering Number 59 rounded out the top 3.

   There was no doubt the 2-broke-2-care team is familiar with Thompson. They were pre-race favorites, and had quietly moved toward the front of the field.  Then , on lap 173 the 86 turned a lap of 1:32.214, too fast for their bracket.  They had to sit in the penalty area for the time difference in brackets, plus 1 lap. The penalty was too much to overcome and took the local favorites out of contention for the win.

   There was still plenty of drama playing out up font.  The 60 team had to stretch out their next to last leg to make their fuel window. The Baller Racing Honda was turning up the heat hoping to push the leader hard enough to run out.  Drivers cannot extend their shifts more then 2 hours.  Samantha  Nicholson had an eye on the time. With under 2 minutes left, on lap 177, the driver change was made. Every drop of fuel was stuffed in. They would have to make it from here.  With pressure from behind it would be tough. First the 256 Camaro headed to pit row for fuel. Then , 21 laps later there was a huge sigh of relief.  The 204 was summons to pit row for breaking out of his bracket.  It was a devastating blow to the  Baller Racing Team.   They truly had a shot of winning. It was much needed relief  for the 60 team. They could back the pace down and finish the race with ease.

    Fred Heinly's 218 was still in the hunt cruising in second, but he too had fuel mileage issues. A five minute fuel stop would drop him drastically in the standings. He backed his pace down, letting the 59 motor on by and coasted to a podium finish. He would comment post race, " The car ran out of gas when we got into the trailer."   Bracket selection was the fly in the ointment this time. Had Fred selected the next slower bracket, his team would haave won. Of course picking the bracket is everything at the Bracket Grand Prix.

    In  the mix all day was the 59 Sentra. When all the scenarios played out,  The Star Engineering entry finished as the runner up. Michael Coleman, Andrew Anastasio, Adentungi Kusimo, and Jay Sofainek came within fractions of the win. The anchor of the team, Michael actually started racing at 67 when his wife convinced him to take a Skip Barber course. "Anytime an old guy with a middle of the field car can come up with a second place is thrilling."

    In victory lane it was the 60 Mello Yello BMW standing with the trophy. The hood of the BMW said it all.  Straight Outta Suncook.  Suncook was their home  and also described the day. They had pushed every limit, and pulled it off. They were the winners of the first of what we hope will be many Bracket Grand Prixs. The team of Ryan Arsenault, Dave Weatherbee, Samantha Nicholson and Darrel Zehcly had done the job today.