Bracket Racing

Bracket Racing Icon

This type of racing puts an emphasis on accuracy and consistency instead of sheer speed. Any racer in any car has a chance to win. It comes down to the driver.

Dial-in times

It doesn't matter how fast or slow your car is. Bracket racing is designed to create a fair race regardless of the overall speed of the cars involved. Each racer will choose a dial-in time before the race. The dial-in time is the racer's estimate of what his or her elapsed time will be. The difference between the two racer's dial-in times will be the head start time the slower car will receive. According to this method, both racers should reach the finish line at exactly the same time if they both ran a perfect race.

Breaking out

If either racer runs an ET faster than their dial-in time it will result in a disqualification. This is called a break out. If both racers break out then the winner will be the racer who ran closer to their dial-in time.

Sand bagging

Some racers may consider posting a slower dial-in time than they are capable of in order to reduce the amount of head start given to their opponent. This is called sand bagging. There is technically no advantage in this technique since you can not run faster than your dial-in time anyway.

The importance of reaction time

Even though your ET is the only number compared to your dial-in to check for a break out, your reaction time (RT) is still a very important part of the equation. This is the amount of time it takes a racer to leave the start after a green light. Since the elapsed time doesn’t start ticking until you leave the line, your reaction time can be your biggest disadvantage. The longer it takes for your to react the less time you’ve left yourself to reach the finish before your opponent without breaking out.

Who won?

Bracket races can be confusing at times. Here is the easy way to figure out who the winner is.

  1. Step 1. Did anyone break out? If no, proceed to step 4. If yes, go to step 2.
  2. Step 2. If both racers broke out go to step 3. If only one racer broke out the racer that did not break out is the winner.
  3. Step 3. When both racers break out the winner is the racer with the ET closest to their Dial-in.
  4. Step 4. If neither racer broke out, the winner is the racer with the lowest time after adding their RT and ET.

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