Bracket Racing
In a heads-up drag race, the first car to the finish line wins. Bracket Racing simply put is Handicapped Racing. What I mean is, that it doesn't matter how quick or how slow your car is. You choose the e.t. your car can run consistently, and that's the number you write in shoe polish on your widow. That number tells the tower your handicap, and is usually called a "dialed-in" number, which is the time you think you are going to run.
Let's say you dial in a 14.20 et while your competitor dials a 13.00. Since his car is quicker by 1.20 seconds, you get that much of a head start. Theoretically, if both cars run right on to dial-ins, it should be a dead-even race.
To make it fair, racers cannot run quicker that their dial-ins. Suppose you'd run 14.19 on that 14.20, running .01 seconds quicker than your dial-in. This is called "breaking out", which means you lose. However, there's also the distinct and common possibility that both cars will break out. In this case, the car that breaks out the least wins. Let's say you ran a 14.19 with a 14.20 dial while your competitor ran 12.96 against his 13.00. Since he broke out by .04 and you broke out by only .01 second, you would win regardless of who arrived at the finish line first.
Bracket Racing's Golden Rule: Consistency Wins Races.
Drag Racing forDUMMIES