OK. Got a question. I don't think it's a dumb question, though some may. Many of you know that I race a Hemi 65 Dodge, pure old school. There are a fair number of these old big Mopars around, and racing, as there are Chevelles, Galaxies, etc. So, anyhow, I'm in the shop watching one of these 8th mile bracket races that pay a big purse. A footbrake event. These guys are good, no doubt about it. Very good. The question I have is that they tell me, constantly, that anyone can win one of those events. I hear it all the time. Got it. Yet, in competition, everyone runs the same type of car. By that I'm meaning lightweight, small......what big cars there are are chassied, super lightweight versions. There are no big engined muscle cars. There are no big cars....no Chevelles, no Galaxies, no big wedge or Hemi Mopars. None. Zippo. Yet there are a lot of those cars racing and in garages. You would think, if they were competitive, they would try their hand at the big money. Yet, there are none. Why? There has to be a reason. I'm told you don't need a 'car for the class', yet, it seems so? I don't get it.

See a lot of “ big” cars
Shane Daugherty races a Super Bee and went to the finals a night last weekend with a huge field at US131. Lot of hitters there. It weighs 3400 pounds
Cut a light, run the number.

Steve I think it may appear that way, but I would hope that it wouldn't discourage people with big cars from attending. Wagons are really popular now for some reason, as are S-10s, so I think it's a lot of monkey see monkey do with car selection. Plus, you can put a SBC into darn near anything, because swap parts are available, which means you can pickup a small lightweight car and run mid pack ET wise fairly easily. Not to mention slowing down a Dodge Omni is a lot easier than slowing down a B body if you need to kill some numbers.

Car has to repeat. Driver has to know how to drive both ends.

Sisko won the million and the 100G the next day at US131 in rented/borrowed cars.

As said before, you have to have a car that repeats, and be able to hit the tree. I was at a $5K race at 41 last year and the number of .00X packages was mind blowing. It's definitely not for the guy who makes 12 passes a year and thinks a .055 light is "killer".

Smaller, lighter cars are normally a lot less likely to break and need less between rounds maintenance.

There was a guy from Ohio who drove a 360 Duster to Bristol last year and won some major coin.

My son Matt was in a friends Chevy two weeks ago, Vic Elinger’s Duster last week, and he and his friend are doubling his friends dragster this weekend. They are both still in tonight heading to the 5th round at Mags.

Bracket racing equals cutting a .00x light, running your dial and racing every weekend I.E seat time. I’ve seen guys in bone stock vehicles win. Seen a win once driving a 3/4 ton RAM once. He was the season points champion at Bristol that year.

Well it wasn’t really a big money event but our friend and my son ended up in the final, with the same car. (1500.00 first, 750.00 second payout)

I think most don't have the time money, desire to compete. Some just don't like to lose. Like said if your car doesn't repeat and the driver can't .00X you will get your butt handed to you. There are clearly two groups of racers 1} the all out every weekend racer .. very serious approach and dedication. 2] The test an tuners who have fast cars, but don't have the time or extra cash to go every weekend. Or desire. It would be interesting to see a money race for those in a group 2 category. How you would police it don't know.

This may not be true in the big dollar races, But .00X in every round doesn't happen to often. If it did everyone would dial honest and take their chance. In my case in the 1/8 mile the car stays pretty much dead on. That part is easier. You need to be good at the stripe for sure. Combine these with a decent light and you'll go rounds. Will you always win? Nope. Can you win? Yes. I've run 116 events with my car. Most were 1/4 mile. It's made it to 40 semis. 20 of those went to the final. 18 were wins.
Doug

What DVW said. But I will say that since the switch to 1/8 mile racing most of the time you need to be inside of a .02 package to have a legitimate chance. 1/8 mile racing makes it much easier to run the number and most guys do.

What you need is a car that repeats within .005 on the 60 ft, a driver that can cut .020 or better light consistently, and can drive the stripe.

I can lay down some runs from time to time and I still have a hard time coughing up the entry fees for some of these big $$ races. A lot of the guys you see at these races all the time are professional full time bracket racers. Guys like us are at a disadvantage against them due to seat time.

Last week, second round I am .008 on the tree, holding .01, pedal the guy through .002 and run .003 under and lose....

Do the math and you will see he was .006 and dead on with a 1....

I was mathematically ineligible at the hit with a .008 light lol.

That happens at one of these big $$$ races first round and I am loading up and heading home....

Not that I disagree with the responses, I don't think they're inline with Steve's question. I believe it was geared towards why are small lightweight cars commonplace instead of more big full size 60s-70s cars, like you'd likely see on a local points day. I think he's looking for what benefits a small car gives a driver to be able to get those .020 lights and dead on passes.

I've never raced a small car so I can only speculate. Anyone made the switch to something more nimble that can chime in?

Any car heavy or light can repeat all day long. With that said most of these guys race every week not 4-6 nostalgia events. At most of these big money events you race 3-4 days and sometimes only get one time trial the first day for the whole weekend. Records and note keeping is essential for each and every track. 495.00-600.00 or more is common at these races. Buyback if you lose first round is 100.00-150.00 so that scares some guys away. Pizza parties and dinners are usually part of the entry. Drawling are often held for prizes contributed from sponsors. Besides the three big races gamblers races are often held too for another entry fee. It’s a marathon of three to four days of racing with usually around a six hour break from 2am to 8am. Many guys race 3, 4, 6 times a year. These guys race that in two weeks so a light car requires way less maintenance. S10’s, station wagons, and a few other cars are often used because you can see out of them better at the finish line at speed. Race the best, become the best.

I've drag raced a lot of full size Mopars in brackets, S/ST,S/G and NHRA stock. I foot brake several different Mopars in NHRA division 7 back when we raced on a .4 pro tree and won my share of races.
My current S/P car has all the good parts, chrome moly tube chassis that weighs 2850 Lbs. with me in it, Mega 400 box, air shifter off of RPM, throttle controller and so on. It best 60 ft. time has been 1.24, best ET is 8.86 at 150.+ MPH on E85. I have .965 delay in the box and haven't won a race with this car yet. I am 76 yrs old and thinking it may be time to put some one younger in this car and see if I can help make it win some races through tuning and adjusting the box and advice to the new driver
As far as a small light weight car compared to a bigger heavier car and seeing out of either car you need to be able to cut a light and drive the other end regardless of the track length in both cars The lighter car will run quicker and faster, react quicker and might be easier to win in if YOU make it it do that
I do know some big car racers that sold them and bought dragsters, I'm not sure if they are winning more races now than before
I've won races by .0004 and been beat by .0001 also Nobody wins them all
if you don't race you can't win or be beat
I have learn when helping other racers to make changes to the car, not the driver. If they are late put smaller front tires on it, if they red light a lot detune the motor and so on. IT ain't easy to win a lot
Keep at it, Don't quit

Size and weight. Easier to tow. Easier to work on. Easier on parts. Easier to stop. Faster with the same amount of power. No negatives about being lighter. Don't go crazy on small. Still need ~ 105" or more wheelbase. A low 6/high 5 second combo in a 2500# car will be cheaper, easier and last longer than it will in a 3500# car. Makes a difference when you are making dozens of runs in a long weekend or hundreds of runs a year. In money, time and effort. And I think it is more forgiving of track prep and easier to make repeat. Heavier car will usually require more low gear to make work. That's fine unless the track prep is not so good or the tires get old. A 2 speed combo will always be better for repeating.

Over the years, I've become anal about weight. Now there's only so much you can do with an all steel car. But effort made to get the weight out (and the weight you have in the right places) is free performance and it makes life easier.

Years ago, when we were talking about building a car and trying to go faster, McCandless told me - Lightweight parts, get the weight out. It don't break, it don't wear out, you go faster and you don't have to fix it. I took my combination out of a 3100# Duster, put it in a chassis 1000# lighter. It was an easy second quicker, and the parts and pieces, bearings & engine parts, transmission parts, everything, was in much better shape at the end of the year. And when I put the 2 speed in, it got even better.

Serious grudge racers are notorious for being all about weight, down to using the minimum gauge wire needed to run whatever it is attached to.

S-10s seem to be popular for some reason. Dadas and Burch made some money this week with what looks to be an old Super Stock car and an old Ford Ranger. So a dragster or tube chassis car is not required to win. Whatever it is, I'm glad to see no dragsters in the winners photos.

Yep the best of every world. Don't have to run everything on the edge to be quick. Pretty much why you see so many dragsters at the bracket races nowadays.

Just something about running the old stuff like Steve, DVW and many of us on here do though. My car is beat to hell but I still like driving it over my dragster....

Its been setting since 2005.

Don't get me wrong. I love the chrome bumpers, flat hood stuff. Getting it to hit the tree and 60' consistent, hold a couple and drive the finish line, and some guys make it work. But those guys can jump in a car they've never seen before and go win a million bucks. Happens.

I don't quite understand what Steve is asking or implying,Steve only needs to look at our local races and see many of our talanted racers partisipating and winning in various car combo as demonstrated by Pittsburh Racers comments.I watch our own AJ Casini race many different car combinations and sometime on the same day switching from the 65 Hemi Belvedere,one or both Hemi and small block dragsters and the Hemi Cuda and even customers cars and we all know how competitive he is.So if a car can repeat the numbers no matter how slow or fast and the driver can cut a light and drive the entire track not just the stripe that there is a winning combo anywhere.
I think that like Steve mentioned there is a lot of big old iron setting in garages can only be for amultitude of reasons.ie: Drivers ability,finances,cars not strip worthy,(not set up for racing),cars value or rairity, and lets not forget old age and health make it hard if not impossible to be competitave.That being said I still don't understand Steve's question or motive for his comments.Those who know Steve can ask him the same question,what keeps him from being out racing every week or being competive at the type of racing he is referring to.
Respectfully Bob

i kind of think its a bit monkee see monkee do . "those guys do well with a small car i better get one " . People say that about rails too .
Really its just desire/choice to run a particular model car .
Doug does all right . I race my street car 68 Satellite @ close to 3800 lbs . Been reasonably succesful , won a few races and even a Championship . This car has only raced on radials , another challenge when bracket racing .
Is it easier to run a small car quick ? yes . Do we all want to be the same ? no
Biggest problem for my program is the driver .

Tex

Another reason is cost. It's a lot cheaper to start w/ a small light car that's parked on every corner and has every part imaginable available...like a mustang.
'60s musclecar race cars are expensive. Even more expensive to start w/ a rusty stock car and turn it into a race car.
Then there's engines...440s aren't as easy to find as they once were. Late model engines are everywhere and dirt cheap comparably. Bolt a topend package onto a factory shortblock, make good power, and goes fast reliably.