So that's what the gold pass is. I keep hearing references about it when watching the races, but didn't know what it was. Does that give you access to race in the events for free, or just give you automatic entrance into the races without qualifying, etc?

I know I'm asking alot of questions, but I wouldn't be if I wasn't genuinely interested in learning about it.

 

from what i understand, this gold pass got him into the tracks for free...like if he showed up for their regular racing or testntune days. i would imagine that large events still required some payment, and for things like BIG events that require qualifying, im sure that he still has to qualify. however, most of your bracket classes have either NO qualification runs, or they have something simple, like one event you had to make 2 passes before the racing started, and they put you into a more specific class...

they had:
superstreet 8.00-10.00
pro street 10.01-12.00
muscle street 12.01-14.00
street 14.00-16.00

basically, you had to meet their "Street rules" (mufflers and DOT tires) and you had to have a car faster than 16.00...which isnt saying much.

 

So that means you can take half of most cars out there and run them on this track with nothing else then tires and a helmet? I could only imagine the kind of cars they get. When we had our little Scion day, someone was racing a Dodge Caravan.... I think I still have pics somewhere of it. The secret was he had some kind of supercharger or turbocharger on it and we all had our jaws open when he ran. Now, WHY someone would do that to a mini-van is still way beyond me

 

you dont even need a helmet, unless you are running 13.99 or faster.

 

That must be rice burner heaven

So in theory, if you ran 13.99 or better in that class, you would be automatically disqualified and the goal is to run as close to 14.00 as you possibly can?

 

those classes had qualifications (the time groups) but that is only to keep it interesting. if you go to rt66 (i think that is your local track?) they will likely have weekend bracket racing. at PRP, any street tire/muffler car can enter "Street class", and ive seen cars dial 21.00 ina geo tracker. i dial low 12s, so i would have to give that person almost 9 seconds head start. some other classes require you to run "heads up". so in theory, so long as i dont redlight, there is no way that i could lose to a 21 second vehicle..or even a 13 second vehicle for that matter. that is why they have bracket racing; so that people with slower cars can still enjoy a trip to the track.

 

Check this out:

http://www.chicagolandspeedway.com/c...=Test+%26+Tune

I think this is what you are talking about. I'm going to do more reading on the site, but this looks like kinda what you meant. I should take the H3 there next weekend I think I will.

I have some ideas to make it faster, so maybe I'll run them by you via PM

 

yes...test n tune is like a "practice night". you all run heads up, and there is no winner. some TnT nights will offer a "gamblers race", which case you would pay something like 20 bucks more, and you dial-in your vehicle, and you want to dial what your truck runs, and if you go under that number, you are DQ'ed.

I wrote a DIY for drag racing at another site...let me dig it up.

 

bracket racing:
the way that bracket racing works...

you show up at the track, and they give you a number (just like test and tune). you are then grouped into the given class, typically based on your times, tires style, and exhaust. some classes require street legal tires and mufflers, some dont. at my home class, they have:
street
trophy
pro
super pro

street is open to cars with mufflers and street legal tires, and I believe that you cannot run faster than 11.00...you can dial two decimals, such as 12.45 (i was get into the dial-ins in a moment) this is a class in which you win money if you win.

trophy is similar to street, except they allow open headers and slicks (non street legal tires). The dial-ins must be one decimal only (such as 12.4). in this class, you dont win money, but just a trophy if you win.

pro and super pro are both for cars running (usually) slicks and open headers, but if youre a street or car and can run 13.99 or faster, you may enter pro. many people run pro and street, and pay double admission. pro sometimesalso called "mod" or "heavy",typically run 10.00 to 13.99...and you are not permitted to run a throttle stop or delay box.

super pro class typically has the same requirements, but they allow delay boxes and throttle stops. super pro cars also are permitted to run under the 10 second barrier. also 'rail cars' are not allowed to run any class other than super pro.

anyway..once in your class, you will get some time only runs to establish what your vehicle will run. when i raced regularly, i knew what i was going to dial as soon as i got to the track. usually, you will get at least two time trial runs before you go into eliminations, sometimes as many as 5 runs.

once eliminations begin, you are put with your class, and you write your dial-in on your windshield. i typically dial in the 12.40-12.50 range, depending on elevation, weather, etc. i run street legal tires and mufflers, so although i could run pro, i usually run street. if there is an odd number of cars, someone gets a bi-run in the first round and that generally means a free pass to the next run, so long as you dont red light. some tracks award the bi-run to whoever had the best reaction time in time trials, some just pick a car at random for the first run. usually after the first round, every track ive been to gives the bi-run to whoever had the best reaction time in the prior round. now onto the race..

say that i dial 12.45. say that Lost dials 14.45. He would get a 2 second head start. If he red lights, the race is over at most tracks, as once the first car to go red lights, the other car's green light comes on automatically..its called "red light lock out". however, some tracks DO have it set up so that both cars could possibly lose on the same run. anyways, say that Lost launches with his two second head start, and i launch two seconds later. whoever gets there first wins, unless that person runs a better time than his dial-in, which is called a breakout. a breakout is a disqualification, unless BOTH cars breakout, which is called a double breakout. in the event of a double breakout, the car who breaks out less, wins.

in theory, if both cars pull perfect reaction times, and run exactly on their dial-ins, the race should be a tie. i have been involved in a race with a guy in a dart, where BOTH win lights came on. we were both perfectly on our dial-ins, with the exact same reaction times...he won, as he ran something like 1 ten-thousandth quicker than me...

say that Lost gets there first with his 14.45 dial-in, but runs a 14.449...he broke out by 0.001 seconds, and he loses, so long as i dont break out. if i run a 12.448 on my 12.45 dial, i break out by 0.002, where he only breaks out by 0.001, and he w

 

Thanks! I'll read this stuff later. I'm already checking the race schedules at Route 66.