Dirt
OP-ED
The Future
of Bracket
Racing
Though change is inevitable,
bracket racing will be just fine
By Luke Bogacki
What does the future of E.T.
bracket racing look like? It’s a
question that I’ve heard presented
and debated constantly over my
three-plus decades in this sport. It’s a topic Jared
Pennington and I have spoken on repeatedly on
The Sportsman Drag Racing Podcast.
Admittedly, in many of those conversations,
I’ve painted a bleak picture of bracket racing’s future.
Typically, I consider myself a pretty optimistic
guy, but I think it’s hard to ignore that sportsman
drag racing, and specifically bracket racing,
faces some significant hurdles going forward.
The lack of “graduation” from the Jr. Dragster
ranks into bracket competition concerns me.
There is inevitable turnover from the Jr. ranks
to “big car” competition. Let’s face it: how many
of the things that you’re interested in today interested
you when you were 12? That’s predictable,
perhaps unavoidable. What’s alarming to
me is how few of these racers who do continue
in our sport choose to do so behind the wheel of
a bracket-style machine.
Then there’s the constant argument that bigdollar
competition is “killing” local bracket racing.
I look at that as a chicken vs. egg argument.
While one can argue that the growth of big-money
racing has incentivized otherwise “local” racers
to forego their regular Saturday night events for
a regional big-dollar race, I think one could just
as easily argue the other side. Perhaps racers
were looking for a better option than the average
weekly program, and big-dollar racing just
happened to fill the void. Regardless, I think it’s
hard to argue that the demise (or at least the
diminishing) of local level competition is a good
thing for bracket racing. Where does the next
generation of racers come from (I’ve not met
many racers whose first event was a $50,000-towin
bracket race)?
The overwhelming and obvious issue is that
we’ve allowed the cost of competition to skyrocket
to a level where it’s difficult for new, even “entrylevel”
competitors to get into our sport. Bracket
racing has become or is quickly becoming costprohibitive.
And that’s a horse that can’t easily
be led back into the barn.
I’ve heard it said that ultimately, cost is the
undoing of every class in racing. I guess it’s inevitable.
One competitor sees an opportunity to
increase his or her chances by outspending the
competition. If/when that competitor has success,
others see the need to level the playing field; and
they invest more in their program as well. The
cycle perpetuates until only the elite can truly
afford to compete.
We’ve seen this before; in fact, the costs associated
with class racing a half-century ago is
what ultimately led to the birth of bracket racing
in the first place!
These concerns are reasonable. We need not ignore
them. But we can ignore my own pessimism,
and the pessimism of others. It’s going to be OK.
Fifty years ago, class racing became too expensive
for the average racer, and bracket racing
gained mass popularity. But guess what? Class
racing is still alive…50 years later! And while
Stock and Super Stock classes today may not be
growing, stats show that they’re not diminishing
either. You could argue that the age demographic
in those categories is older…But that’s been the
case since I started racing 25 years ago. And those
classes are still going strong.
My point is that bracket racing isn’t going anywhere.
You can argue that it has peaked. And it
may have. It may not continue to grow. We may
look back on 2020 as the “Golden Age” of bracket
competition. But it’s not going away. There are too
many racers with too much invested (and I don’t
just mean financially) for bracket racing to fail.
I’m confident that bracket racing will look tremendously
different than it does today 10 years,
20 years, 30 years from now (what it looks like is
very much up for debate). I’m equally confident
that there will continue to be bracket racing 10
years, 20 years, 30 years from today!
Luke Bogacki is one of the most accomplished
sportsman racers in drag racing history, with two
NHRA world championships and over $2 million
in winnings across more than 300 event wins, including
the 2017 Spring Fling Million. He shares
his tips and tricks with fellow racers on his site,
ThisIsBracketRacing.com, and mentors aspiring
bracket racers through his subscription-based
This Is Bracket Racing Elite club. Bogacki also cohosts
the popular The Sportsman Racing Podcast
with Jared Pennington. On as many weekends as
possible, he goes racing with his wife Jessica and
their two young sons, Gary and Jack. DI
PHOTO: VAN ABERNETHY
22 | Drag Illustrated | DragIllustrated.com Issue 159