Okay, so there are other facets to put up on your “yes” side of the board. One is this --- does the track in question have those new LED lights, or the same-old, same-old fluorescent bulbs on the Christmas tree? Nearly every “decent” track nowadays has gone the LED route, and that means tighter reaction times for the racer and some getting use to. But an LED Christmas tree is easier to see, especially when going off the top bulb. As I understand it, the old fluorescent bulbs would take a few micro-seconds to shine on to their fullest, while these LED jobs are like a traffic light, in that they shine on instantly.

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They’re in use at most national and divisional events across the country, leading several Pro Stock Bikers to red light when they come on.

Fran adjusted her delay box accordingly, and had trees ranging from double-oh to .530. It was the luck of the draw that her opponents had better trees than she did in their dead-on-to-the-thousandths duels last weekend.

Finally, there’s Cross-Talk, the new talk of bracket racing. Atlanta Dragway introduced the Cross-Talk system of Christmas tree two weekends ago, and from what we can see, we dig it. Cross-Talk is a system of starting whereby both top “competition” bulbs light together, with the handicap stagger taken up on down the tree, at the second and third bulbs. That means that the faster car no longer has to cross over on his slower opponent’s first bulb, doing away with fooling around with your delay box and adjusting it to the cross-over. (Funny thing --- I am usually quicker on the tree when crossing over, so I have to add some in my box to keep from red lighting. Maybe I need to see an optometrist.)

The way the Cross-Talk worked at Atlanta was, the slower car got to leave off his side of the tree, while the faster car’s first bulb stayed lit until the handicap countdown began. Then the tree proceeded to count itself down according to both competitors’ dial-ins.

Management at the track gave the competitors the choice of using Cross-Talk or not with a simple swipe of the shoe polish. Meaning that those who don’t want to use Cross-Talk can write a big “N” on the side of their car, telling the tower people, “No, I don’t want to go off Cross-Talk.” Only one competitor at Atlanta that afternoon wanted an “N” on the side of his car.

So that’s it for our mental bracket racing lesson for today. Like Hawley told his classes, check out your track and get to know it inside and out. And like I’m telling you, if there’s something you don’t like at your track, very new or old-shoe familiar, tell the management. Track prep, LED lights, Cross-talk, whatever. Let ‘em know or else go some place else.

wilson@dragracingonline.com