Bracket racing and index racing are the same. Only difference is that in bracket racing you change the dial-in. Index racing you change the car (add or subratract weight etc) to make the hard dial-in. I was watching pinks last night. One guy got 2 car lengths. To me that's the same as a .200 dial in difference.
__________________
'07 Ford Mustang GT Alloy Metallic
4.6 Auto, 3.73 gears, C&L CAI, Diablo 91 octane tune, drag radials, and a saftey loop. What else do I need for a 14 second bracket car?
Well I'm gonna have to side with Reggie on it being an Index. You run all out and they pick a class (that's the idea). You run faster then a set time (based on the cluster they choose) you break out.
It's like signing up for a index race when you don't know what the index is ahead of time.......they pick the index after everyone qualifies.
However, I can see why you could argue its more of a bracket race because its about consistency. How many times have you seen pinks all out cars with empty bottle brackets? Answer a lot! They run the car wide open motor alone to insure consistency and better the chance of making a cluster.
My car would suck at pinks all out. I have to much chance of blowing the tires off. To many things affect my times, I would be better of to run a larger pulley slower times with less chance of any variance in each run.
However, I'm all about heads up. All though I do run indexes on occasion, but even then I run like it was heads up (choosing a class time I can't meet very easily). I like heads up because usaully there is some limiting factor, like tires that keep the race close. It's like SSO (The 10.5 Freak Show) you can make as much power as you wan't (there are some limitations there) but you have to get it to the ground with a 10.5 tire.
__________________
2007 Mustang GT Vista Blue 740RWHP/motor 904RWHP/spray 9.01 @ 152 mph 1/4 mile, 1.40 60' 2008 Clash of the Titans World Finals Champion 2009 Strictly Street Points leader/ET & MPH Record Holder
2009 GT500 Grabber Orange Vert 594 RWHP 11.5 @ 120mph it's my slow car!
Heads up racing is the ideal. It's what we'd all probably do if we could afford it. To me its' the very definition of racing, you line 'em up and the first car to the line wins, period.
However the reality of it is that if you can't match the budget of the others in your class, then you won't be competitive. No matter what rules are in place, the deeper pockets will be able to exploit those rules to their fullest while the low budget guys can't.
So for those of us with low budgets there's bracket racing. Just about anybody can afford it, and having a high dollar car isn't really an advantage. A decent driver who knows his car can take his DD beater to the track and win. I've often seen cars that were obviously built on very tight budgets beat $70k 'Vettes and the like in bracket racing.
Would I like to be a heads up racer? Of course I would, but running the brackets isn't too shabby of a substitute.
__________________
OFR - old fart racing
We're not the fastest car at the track but we might be having the most fun.
If you're not having fun, then you're taking this stuff too seriously!
i do agree that heads up is the best but bracket is a much less costly way of being into the sport and still be competitive. its all about how well the driver can drive and consistancy.
__________________
life isnt measured by the breaths that we take
but rather by the length of the BURNOUTS we make
95 teal gt 5 speed-ffrp z spec t5,centerfore dual friction clutch, bbk adjustable clutch cable with firewall adjuster, BBK shorties, Hurst short throw, 3.73, ffrp c springs, high flow cats, flowmaster 40's, UDP's, cobra front 95 teal v6 vert- dual flowmasters 40's and cai. 93 lx 5-speed - sold
Heads Up or Bracket Racing 
