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What is drag racing? Drag racing is a contest between two cars to see who can run a certain distance in the quickest time. Most of the time the distance they run is a quarter of a mile, but sometimes (in slower, foreign cars) they will run an eighth of a mile.
Drag racing has many classes. They have Top Alcohol Fuel Dragsters, Wheelstanders, Pro Stock, Funny Cars, all the way down to Sportsmen, or bracket racing. The pros you see on TV race cars that, as you can see, are not stock. The engines also are mostly big blocks with nitrous oxide and superchargers. These cars cost thousands of dollars, and require hours of tedious work.
However, for those who can't find a sponser to pay them the cash to go pro, they have the Sportsmen class. Now don't think that Sportsmen is pure stock. It isn't. These cars are mostly modified, yet still streetable. They must run over a certain time to qualify as a Sportsmen, however. At a track around here, I think you have to run 13s or higher to be a Sportsmen.
So, what's the difference between Sportsmen and other classes. Sportsmen, also known as bracket racing, is meant to run equal. Contestants first give themselves a dial-in time. A dial-in time is the driver's best estimate of what that car will run in a quarter mile. Then the driver races against someone else, who also chooses a dial-in time. The cars don't launch at the same time, however. It is handicapped. If someone is driving a Grand National running 13.5, against someone in a 1984 Buick LeSabre running 19.5, the Grand National must wait 6 seconds after the launch of the LeSabre before it can go. If a driver runs under his or her dial-in time, they lose, unless their opponent redlights, or runs under their dial-in time worse.
What all this means, summed up in a few words, is that the more consistent your car is, the better your chance of winning is. You don't have to own a speed machine if you can run consistent 17.3s in the family grocery getter. However, everyone wants a powerful car, because although you may be able to win in a 21 second monster, when you drive it home, you want something different. Winning in Sportsmen seems to lack its luster when you get beat at a stoplight coming home by a Plymouth Laser. So, hit back and return to the main drag racing page, and than see how you can build power and get traction.