Moroso 5-Day Bracket Championships “Stat Attack”
his month I want to dive into what it really takes to win at a major bracket race. We all know it takes a driver with not only excellent reactions but consistent reaction times, a car that will react the same run after run so it is predictable, a car that can run a consistent E.T. all day, and good depth perception at the finish line to instantly feel confident that you should do one of three things: take the stripe, dump and let the other racer take the stripe, or keep it wide open and see who takes a finish that is too close for you to judge who is ahead.
Pretty simple sport, but the skill lies in getting all of those “right” on any given race day. The Moroso 5-Day tests all those skills because not many of the racers participate on a regular basis at Moroso Motorsports Park and the track surface is tricky due to some bumps and the hot sun. There were two time trials on Monday and only one per day after that. If you didn’t win some rounds you were probably doing a lot of second-guessing on dial-ins and delay box settings. That is just the way it is and everyone knows that when they enter the event.
I have put together some interesting stats that I found pretty surprising. The image a lot of us have of the “touring bracket racers” is that they can go .000 on the start line at will and drive the stripe right down to the last six inches. Well, I can tell you that while that might happen from time to time, it is NOT the normal occurrence. As a bracket racer I found some of these stats rather enlightening. I feel I do better than what these average out to,
and if there was something I feel I have to work harder at it is my finish line driving skills. I know I rely on the dragster to do the work and I have lost a lot of races I could have won if I had done better at the stripe. Can I get to the point I need to be? At 55 years old I would say “maybe.” My eyesight isn’t as good as it once was but every once in a while it seems to be as good as it ever was. Hey, I think there is a song that goes like that! Seems to be true in many different situations I guess.If you are into the details of bracket racing you will probably really like this month’s column. If you bracket race just for fun and take the wins when they come it will probably be boring. Either way, here is what I discovered at the Moroso 5-Day Bracket Championships.
Total number of competition runs: 2,395
There was ONE PERFECT RUN: Bob Harris, of Piedmont Dragway fame, made a perfect run in the third round of the 1/8th mile race: 4.870 (4.87 dial) .000 R.T Congratulations Bob, those are not very common. At the 5-Day there was one out of 2,395 races!
There were a couple of “interesting runs”:
- In the second round of the 1/8th mile race one racer was .001 on the tree, ran a 5.011 (5.01 dial), missed a perfect run by .002. BUT, here is the “interesting” part. His opponent is .156 -- you read it right, .156 -- on the tree and ran a 4.989 (4.98 dial). Remember that statement I made about trying to get better at the stripe? Never mind, I am OK, but this guy never lifted and took .147 of stripe. If I had to guess I would think that he was about 65 to 75 feet ahead! He won, but there must have been a Lucky Horseshoe hanging in his trailer for that round. Names omitted to protect them from harassment from their racing buddies!