A couple of things to talk about this week.

In last week’s Blog, I tackled what was wrong with bracket racing. If you read it, the shorty answer was: Nothing really. Oh, naturally there may be some small problems but that’s always to be expected in just about anything we do today. The crux of the writing was on how bracket racing has changed over the years. If you happened to have missed it, you can read it at: https://drcraceproducts.com/ and click on The Blog at the lower left-hand side of the Home page.

This week, I’d like to discuss how Super Stock and Stock Eliminators has transformed into what it is today. Generally speaking, it’s still the real playground for factory hot rods, cars which are still exact replicas of what comes out of the factories, but how the game is played has changed somewhat.

It used to be the place where winning the class trophy was the goal, pitting like cars against one another to see who was the fastest. But that has changed over time. Today, the eliminator portion of the show has turned into something resembling a… excuse me for saying this…a bracket race. Put a dial-in on your car as long as it’s under the class index and away you go, except... Here’s where the old Super Stock mentality comes in. Race against a car in your same class and it’s heads-up, first to the finish line with no break-out involved. Has that changed the mentality of the racers from what was “my car is faster than yours?” Maybe so. And with the demise of Modified Eliminator back in the early ‘80s, some of those cars were morphed into Super Stock Eliminator, so the category often looks a little different than your average stock flat hood Camaro-Mustang-Challenger whatever.

There are still quite a bit of what may be termed (in no way disrespectful) “old school racers.” Guys and gals who are still interested in who has the fastest type of car. But it is changing. Class eliminations at national events have taken a back seat to the eliminator portion itself. Sure, you still have some events where class eliminations take place for the Super Stock and Stock classes, but for the most part, the emphasis is on winning the eliminator, not so much the individual class.

So, I ask: What’s your thoughts?

Second thing up this week is my absence from the BTE World Footbrake Challenge held in Bristol for the 15th year. For the past seven years I’ve been invited to attend by promoters Jared Pennington and Steve Stites to shoot photos, write press releases and race reports. It’s really a great event I enjoyed going to seeing a vastly different side of the sport than the usual national event scene. The guys and girls who attend the event to race are truly the backbone of the sport, just as dedicated to what they do as any other racer. And if you think it’s any easier to race because they leave the starting line essentially by swapping feet; releasing the foot brake and stepping on the gas pedal, especially leaving off the bottom bulb; you’d be sorely mistaken. This is a tough crowd here.

Due to my medical procedure (oh how I still hate that term), I was unable to attend but was somewhat glued to the MotorManiaTV live feed. They had some weather issues, but in the end, 547 entries showed up to do battle for some really big bucks with Steve Collier, Adam Davis, and David Harvey Jr. walking away with the money. Those guys might be the ones leaving with the “big checks,” but they weren’t the only people earning money, as a great purse structure awards a number of racers with at least something. My hat is off to every one of those who attended because each one of them had the confidence in their game that they too could walk away as a WFC champion.

I'm no Stock/Super Stock historian and far from an expert on the classes. I love them because they are bracket racing. I do like seeing the heads up runs. Was it last year or 2019 where the one national event was a heads up final? One was a '64 Fairlane I think? That was awesome.

I missed the WFC (again), but WILL be there next year, hope you are too, John.

Well I remember Stock and Super Stock---they USED to tech the cars and they USED to tear you down if you won---lot less questionable race cars then unlike now. But is it cheating if there is no rule against it?

Stock, Epping this year(2021)
John Shaul vs John Gray heads up in the final.
REAL STOCKER RACING!!!!!!

Did they tech them?