Racing Days Are Here

Is it already that time again? Yep. Time to get the family car ready for the races. What? Family car? Races? You heard me. The 2011 bracket racing season is right around the corner at the newly renamed Royal Purple Raceway (formerly Houston Raceway Park). But you said “family car,” there’s no way our family car can compete with real drag racing cars. Tell that to the Day family from Pasadena.  

OK, so a 2001 Chevrolet Camaro Z28 with an HKE 408 cubic inch fuel injected small block that stops the quarter-mile clocks at just under 10 seconds isn’t exactly what you’d call a family car, but it is to the Day family. Well, that’s the mom’s car anyway. James, Sheila and their two children, Brian and Kayla are well known in the local bracket racing scene for their caravan of fourth generation Camaros that are daily drivers, or at least 3 out of 4 are (I think you can guess which one isn’t). Sheila really took on the perennial powers like Jay Robinson and Jason Patterson last year, finishing 2nd in points and both she and her son Brian took home the crown jewel of the sport, The Wally.

James Day insists that a large part of their success can be attributed to Circle D stall converters in Houston. “They play a big role in how consistent our cars are,” James says. And consistency is the name of the game when it comes to bracket racing.

So, how does this work, this bracket racing thing? There are countless explanations on the web, from the very simple to the very detailed. There are even schools that are taught by people who have turned this hobby into a lucrative profession. Simply put, you don’t need a fast car or a ton of money to be competitive. Bracket racing is a driver’s game, where reaction time and consistency are king. For example, if you show up in your 2010 Ford Pickup and based on your two allotted time-trials, you predict you can run 17.00 seconds, and the guy driving a '65 Chevelle in the other lane is dialed in at 12.50, you will get a 4.5 second head start. Easy enough? Come give it a try! The season kicks off Saturday, March 11th.

Please visit http://royalpurpleraceway.com/ for more details. Also, check out http://www.ssracingphotos.com for some pictures of what you’ll be up against.