| Bracket road racing is a form of road racing that allows
for a handicap to equalize competition. For our target racers, guys that run Lemon's, AER, Chump, X cars or
something similar, the bracket handicap has been proven to allow all entries to compete for
the win . It simply
does not matter what a team spends on their car.
At Thompson Speedway the fastest bracket is 1:16.595 flat. That is the top end of
the fastest bracket. This is the only bracket that if
your entry goes faster, for safety reasons, you will be parked. Cars that can
go that fast, in the fastest bracket, if they ran perfect laps, would
turn 47 laps per hour. We have labeled the fastest bracket as "Z".
Bracket Z is not a class.
Bracket B is the range of times that equate to 44 laps per
hour. Bracket C is 43, and each bracket increases to a range
that includes laps per hour. The "laps per hour
"is your handicap.
If the race was 1 hour, bracket Z cars would have no
handicap. A bracket X car, would start the race with 1 lap
credit. Assuming both competitors ran perfect laps for exactly
1 hour, and picked their bracket accurately, in a hypothetical 1 hour event, the two cars should cross
the finish line side by side after one hour.
What happens if we add a car from the
slowest bracket, "J" to the same race. A "J" bracket car would
start 10 full laps ahead. If included in the hour with the Z
and X entries, the J entry should also be side by side with the
Z and X
bracket cars after 1 hour coming to the line. For each event, just multiply the
laps per hour by the time of the event and we have the handicap for
entry for the race.
The teams have a
challenge here. From the team's own practice
times or past performances they must pick their bracket. At
Thompson, there will
be a practice the morning of the event.
The key to winning is to be accurate picking a bracket.
If a team driver turns a
lap faster than their chosen bracket they will be black flagged and
held on pit row for the difference in the handicaps plus 1 lap. They will not
stay in that bracket. They will be moved to the next faster one.
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