Chase or be chased to the line???

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T67POWER

T67POWER

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I will be installing a new american eagle radiator soon and this will let me re-install my clutch fan again.
It ran to hot for the steel water pump in my barracuda. *1967 318*

The car ran 14.24 at the track last week.
I figure, with the clutch fan installed, i should see 14.10 or so in ET.
The engine seemed a little rich so i leaned the carb one jet size in the front and back. 71/81
PROFORM 750 race carb

The car will see 14.00

I was thinking of bumping the cam up and going into the high thirteens

----but then i thought about the race----

If i am the fastest in the 14.00 bracket,i would stand a chance of winning more races due to the car always chasing the slower car.

If i can't get to the car in time ,i ether was slow on the light, or the guy i am racing is going under his dial in.

Is it better to see the race out the front windshield OR see it in your rear view mirror chasing you down.

What do you think.
WOULD YOU RATHER CHASE OR BE CHASED TO THE LINE.:burnout::burnout:
 
hemi's always chase down there prey.

here is how i was taught to race, WTF are you doing looking at the other car? your dial in, not heads up! learn to cut a good light, hit consistent shifts, and dont let off (if you do you need to change your dial)

again your racing your self
 
This could quickly get into a "he broke out quicker than me!!" deal
 
A couple of guys I know that are VERY good racers say it is always good to take the finish line. And they always want to be the one doing the chasing
 
Slower car redlights before you take off so you dont have to risk it.Faster car has the tree advantage.
 
805moparkid said:
hemi's always chase down there prey.

here is how i was taught to race, WTF are you doing looking at the other car? your dial in, not heads up! learn to cut a good light, hit consistent shifts, and dont let off (if you do you need to change your dial)

again your racing your self
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Please come to my race track...I love racing against people that never look over and blindly take too much stripe.

Always watch the other car after you get into high gear. You don't want to take more stripe than you need. Knowing your car is key...and knowing your competition will help you go rounds as well. Yes, cutting a light is very important, but driving the stripe is also VERY important.

Yes, being the faster car is an advantage in that it gives your opponent the first chance to red light...also, the race is in front of you the whole time...but besides the red light thing, to chase or be chased is really a personal preference. You need to be able to do both well to be a good bracket racer.
 
1968dartman said:
A couple of guys I know that are VERY good racers say it is always good to take the finish line. And they always want to be the one doing the chasing
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This is a great example of how knowing your competition will help. If you know that someone ALWAYS like to take the stripe, I would dial a little soft and dump him off at the finish...let him have that stripe and breakout....but knowing how to do this takes time, practice and knowing your car VERY well.
 
flyfish said:
Please come to my race track...I love racing against people that never look over and blindly take too much stripe.

Always watch the other car after you get into high gear. You don't want to take more stripe than you need. Knowing your car is key...and knowing your competition will help you go rounds as well. Yes, cutting a light is very important, but driving the stripe is also VERY important.

Yes, being the faster car is an advantage in that it gives your opponent the first chance to red light...also, the race is in front of you the whole time...but besides the red light thing, to chase or be chased is really a personal preference. You need to be able to do both well to be a good bracket racer.
Click to expand...
your right,i like to chase them down but your not always the fastest car....
 
flyfish said:
Please come to my race track...I love racing against people that never look over and blindly take too much stripe.

Always watch the other car after you get into high gear. You don't want to take more stripe than you need. Knowing your car is key...and knowing your competition will help you go rounds as well. Yes, cutting a light is very important, but driving the stripe is also VERY important.

Yes, being the faster car is an advantage in that it gives your opponent the first chance to red light...also, the race is in front of you the whole time...but besides the red light thing, to chase or be chased is really a personal preference. You need to be able to do both well to be a good bracket racer.
Click to expand...

That all works if you like to play that game, i dont. Im sure you would beat me as i have no seat time in just running the tree, im always TNT because i cant get out often so i do what i can, hell i dont even know where my car likes to launch yet lol...

but my point still stands that if you can run your dial and know your R/T then what the other guys does is irrelevant. if "you" can get your runs down to a couple hundredths then the other guy dosn't matter, if he gets closer to his mark and he beat you, he should...
 
805moparkid said:
...........
but my point still stands that if you can run your dial and know your R/T then what the other guys does is irrelevant. if "you" can get your runs down to a couple hundredths then the other guy dosn't matter, if he gets closer to his mark and he beat you, he should...
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This is not the best way to look at it in my opinion. Sure, it you cut a GREAT light (0.00x) and run dead on your dial you will be hard to beat....but how often does that happen? From your example above, getting with in a few hundredths...do you know what a few hundredths equates to on at the finish line for your car? My car (for example) 2 hundredths is about 4 feet at the end of the track...that means that I'm giving my opponent a 4 foot window of opportunity to pull in front of me and take MY stripe.

Hypothetical race with me and driver B. Driver B dials 11.0. Lets say that my car will run 10.96 all out, and I decide to dial 11.0 also (dialing 0.04 soft). Driver B gets a better light of 0.020....I get an ok light of 0.030. If driver B runs dead on his dial he is leaving me a 4 foot window to sneak in for the win (minus my reaction time deficit makes it about a 2 foot window). If I put a wheel on him on the big end, I win. If I had raced it the same way as driver B (cut a light, run my dial, and don't look back) then I would loose. My way gives me an opportunity to win when things don't go my way on the tree.

This is not to say that I drive like this all the time...but this is in my "tool box" of racing strategy if needed. If you pay no attention to the other driver you lower your chances of winning drastically.
 
flyfish pretty much has it covered as far as what I think. I can say I've done both many times, and I didn't mind mirror driving. Once you get a certain amount of passes under your belt, it becomes second nature to do what needs to be done. Every race is different, and the more natural it becomes, it really wont matter. For me it's about the senses. Site, feel, sound all play a roll on each pass. Once your used to processing all that's going on without thinking about it while it's happening, you have it whipped. :thumleft:
 
If you want to win at bracket racing, it's best to know what the other guy is doing at some point on the track.

This happened to me...

Cut an .003 light and just ran the car out and it felt like a normal run... Dialed an 11.21... other guy missed a shift at half track. I run an 11.209... LOSE!!!

I prefer to chase for a lot of the reasons already posted
 
I am with Fly Fish, and old Man Rick. I too have played it both ways.There is a bit of excitment running people down, but man, even with cross over I hate to wait.Yes, having the race in front of you is good, but the faster the car, the harder to judge the finish line.
Last year was the 1st year of being 1st to leave against most the cars in my class S/Pro.
1st I personally like the clean tree (my light 1st).How often do you red light anyway? I also like playing the finish line, it is way more fun getting run down, I truely feel like I am in control. because I am getting there 1st.
As for fast dragesters, bring them on. I say the bigger the car the harder the fall!
Yes, with dragesters, you can't play the finish line, you have to put a real number on the car, what I call my dragester package (tight number, look straight ahead, and don't lift). But it does work.You do need to watch them in the mirror, because I made that mistake once and broke out by 1 thou. while the guy was still at 1/2 track, because he spun, and ran a 14 second pass on a 7 something dial. But once they are in range, I look staright ahead, and say to myself "don't lift" over and over as I cross.
If I had my choice, and I do. I would rather be run down.
 
Not to get too off topic, but never underestimate the competition. My last pass, was in 97'ish. My only time since the mid 80's. It was a rental car and my last two time runs were both 16.80 with a .523 and .521 reaction time.

My first round was against a 60ish year old man in a early 70's straight 6 Nova. He had a huge white beard like Santa and had "deep" on the window. He was dialed at 20.70...lol. I went with 16.81 for the dial. I'm thinking, i got this whipped.

Big mistake! Bottom line, I wasn't going to catch him, so I tried to dump the stripe. He went right on the .70 with a .50X light to my .540 and 16.80. Yep, he cleaned my clock on the tree.

Cool thing was, yes I lost, but racing is like riding a bike......once you get it, you get it.
 
bajavan said:
I am with Fly Fish, and old Man Rick. I too have played it both ways.There is a bit of excitment running people down, but man, even with cross over I hate to wait.Yes, having the race in front of you is good, but the faster the car, the harder to judge the finish line.
Last year was the 1st year of being 1st to leave against most the cars in my class S/Pro.
1st I personally like the clean tree (my light 1st).How often do you red light anyway? I also like playing the finish line, it is way more fun getting run down, I truely feel like I am in control. because I am getting there 1st.
As for fast dragesters, bring them on. I say the bigger the car the harder the fall!
Yes, with dragesters, you can't play the finish line, you have to put a real number on the car, what I call my dragester package (tight number, look straight ahead, and don't lift). But it does work.You do need to watch them in the mirror, because I made that mistake once and broke out by 1 thou. while the guy was still at 1/2 track, because he spun, and ran a 14 second pass on a 7 something dial. But once they are in range, I look staright ahead, and say to myself "don't lift" over and over as I cross.
If I had my choice, and I do. I would rather be run down.
Click to expand...

Thanks for posts like this. It's is good stuff.......Sometimes reading these makes me feel like i'm back in a car again. I really do miss it.....maybe one day again, maybe?
 
the dragster package.............lol

I dial my car 1 hundredth under when running a really fast car compared to mine.
Leave it to the floor and throw the boat anchor out the window and under they go.

My first round win last week was won because the guy kept his foot to the floor and never hit the brake.
My foot was pushing threw the floor.
I ran under and he ran under by more.I win.........:cheers:
Bracket racing is you racing yourself and someone else.
Knowing how to dial your car is a class in it self.
I always watch the runs right before me to see if the track is spinning and what the weather is doing.When people are running under ---old mother nature is at it again.
I have raced more races being chased then chasing.
With these new brackets at some shows being in groups like 13.00/12.00/11.00 and so on.......it's cool being the fastest in that class.

My coronet is a high twelve car to low thirteen so it has the 13.00 class and maybe i will keep the cuda at the 14.00 class.

UNLESS I INSTALL A NEW CAM AND PORT THE HEADS AND GET IT TO GO 13.00?????? LOL....ANYWAY'S........GREAT RESPONSES.
 
I hate bracket racing. Heads up is the only way. Too bad it cost a lot of cash to play big. I gave up racing. I just love doing test & tune or track rental days. I just love blasting in my car without worrying about trouble on the street. I just enjoy watching now. Too many games in bracket racing. I like the F.A.S.T. racing. If you don't make the top 8 then you square off with the next qualified person for a best 2 out of 3. Good close heads up racing.
 
I prefered my 64 dart auto/6 30yrs ago, won alot,they couldn't catch me.lol
the only way to race is allout. IMO
 
I know someone ,that has a slow car,and wins everytime out,sometime in two classes at one race,but hes a master and can cut 000 or 500 lights every time,his name is mister dirt,aka,bret kepner,dont ever and I mean ever have to race hime,hes very deadly
 
440outlawdart said:
I know someone ,that has a slow car,and wins everytime out,sometime in two classes at one race,but hes a master and can cut 000 or 500 lights every time,his name is mister dirt,aka,bret kepner,dont ever and I mean ever have to race hime,hes very deadly
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yes..Dr Dirt raced a couple time here in Vegas a few years back...did not win...so he does not win everytime out...nor did he cut .000 lights....
 
for a 55 year old man,that has 108 wins,148 carrer finals,191 semi finals,can set his car up for a predicted reaction time and et,and run it that's not to bad,bret kepner rates in my book as the all time great bracket racer,and don't need the fastest and the badest car out there,his 11 sec 1/8 mile vic with over 200,000 on it gets the win everytime,ill put him up against any footbraker out there
 
440outlawdart said:
for a 55 year old man,that has 108 wins,148 carrer finals,191 semi finals,can set his car up for a predicted reaction time and et,and run it that's not to bad,bret kepner rates in my book as the all time great bracket racer,and don't need the fastest and the badest car out there,his 11 sec 1/8 mile vic with over 200,000 on it gets the win everytime,ill put him up against any footbraker out there
Click to expand...

Ok..Bret, you have your one vote for the greatest of ever...LOL
 
Cut a light...run your dial in....does not matter who is in the other lane.....went you start looking over at who is in the other lane....you already lost.
 
but I might add about bret and along with what ervery racer should know,he knows his car,he knows the roll out of the track,he sets his reaction times to the front tire pressure,he stages his car at the same temp,and if its a few degrees off he could tell you what it would of ran,hes real big on the weather,and can tell you what the car will do right down to the thousands per what the weather is doing,why on the track with the car,he opens the door and gets track temp,i follow his report he gives weekly of what he does and he keeps record of every little detail,about weather,tracjk conditions,what the car did,plus he drives 135 miles one way in a car hes races,winsw,drives home,i went to his bracket racing school one year,which he used to have at a race track
 
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