I think some of you guys don't really understand "electronics" racing. The electronics do nothing to help you win a race. Anyone who thinks so need to hop in and give it a try. After all it usually pays well, with more and more million dollar races why miss out..

As for the question at hand I have done both. Heads up on a working mans budget just don't happen, unless you don't mind being at the back of the pack and just sayin hey look at me I'm a heads up racer. I am sure most know I enjoy the type of racing you all hate, throttle stop stuff. Way more challenging to do well and make the car repeat. For now I have moved to the fastest form of bracket racing I can afford, top Sportsman. But hey I have electronics in the car so winning should be easy right???

How do electronics win a race?.... provided it is not doing something to control the car. It is YOU that has to turn the button loose and it is YOU that has to drive the stripe and make the car repeat.

Don't shoot the messenger, but I have some questions & thoughts... AND I plead COMPLETE ignorance on the subject of electronics in brackets & Super-class racing right up front.

1. Some of you mentioned big-money bracket races. Are they for electronics only, or do they have footbrake classes, too? If both, how do the turnouts compare between the two?

2. Any big-money footbrake-only races? I recall there were in the past, but don't ask me to define what "past" means since I can't remember what I had for breakfast.

3. What if there were serious MPH limits applied to the Super classes? How would the 10.90 and 9.90 classes change if the two classes were limited to 130 & 140 MPH (or even 5 MPH slower?) respectively?

4. What would happen if ALL electronics were banned? Would car counts tank simply because everyone had to go back to footbraking it? If so, why? If there's still a good paying purse, what difference does it make?

5. If electronics don't actually make the car easier to bracket race, then why should people complain if they all simply went away? Wouldn't that still maintain a level playing field, or are you concerned about the cheaters that will still find ways to build hidden electronics into their combinations?

6. Top Sportsman has a cut-off based on quickest qualifiers, right? What if -- and again w/ the no-electronics idea still in play -- ALL classes were broken out by qualifying time? The first 32 go to Class A, the second fastest 32 go to Class B, etc.? This would (or "should") keep the cars in any given class somewhere reasonably close in ETs, and reduce the concerns about a 9-sec. car racing a 14-sec. car (unless you only had those 2 cars show up).

7. Gawd, I hate watching a throttle-stop car... Oh, did I just say that? Yeah. Sorry guys, but those are total thrill-killers from a spectator standpoint.

Flame away. But I'm really curious about this stuff. I did a little bit of local heads-up DOT radial racing 15+ years ago when the cars were still running double-digit ETs, and some street car footbrake-only bracket racing, too. I like heads-up stuff better, simply because it's "pure" drag racing. But I did have fun running brackets, too, and would like to participate more regularly in the future.

At this point, it's been so long since I've done anything but test & tunes ('cuz I'm one of those people who always looks for tweaks to make the car faster) that I'm sure some people on here think my opinion doesn't matter either way. However, sometimes it takes someone who isn't buried into it up to their eyeballs to have a different -- possibly even better -- perspective on things.

I think Al and Monte are just baiting people at this point. To say electronics do nothing to help you win race is ridiculous.

Electronics do not make a great driver great, they do however, make a good driver great, and an average driver good. They shrink the margin for error and make the racing closer, and tougher.

Many times I've seen great drivers return to no-e racing where their natural talents and honed skills give them a more pronounced edge against like competition.

The notion that index racing is not "Heads-up" is also ridiculous. Heads-up only refers to the tree, period. Whether you put "no-breakout" after it or not is what determines how the race is won at the stripe.

Comp Eliminator is "no-breakout" racing on a staggered tree, and no one refers to it as heads up.


I LOVE it when the OP says "From a racer's standpoint", and everyone immediately starts griping about watching the Super classes. If you want to talk about spectating, start a thread called "Racing you most like to watch!"

I am not trying to bait anyone..I just don't see having a delay box as making anyone a great racer. It allows you to not go red on a given tree without having to make changes to the car itself. I ran bottom bulb stuff when I started like most everyone else did. I did fairly well and then moved what I considered up to electronics class. Did ok for the races I went to and decided to give .90 a try. As for the throttle stop stuff, well Billy you have been there. I would rather dial my car to a given ET from round to round than try and dial in a stop. You know as well as I do that most of the Super class racers, particularly the good ones are just flat good at driving the stripe. The biggest difference between Pro and Super Pro is the MOV. You can get away with mediocre lights and MOV's in Pro way more than you can is Super Pro. The cream will always rise to the top no mater the class. I don't know of anyone who cannot find the tree with both hands bottom bulbing who suddenly become Luke Bogacki by throwing in a delay box...


As for what spectators watch, well I think many here must not go to National events much. Once the fuel circus is over the stands are EMPTY. The don't even stay around from pro stock, let alone SS Stock Comp or those dreaded Super Classes. Its all about the 300mph circus and IMO the possibility of cars hitting things, or as I like to refer to it the NASCAR affect.