E.T. bracket race

An E.T. bracket race is a form of drag racing that allows for a handicap between predicted speed of the two cars. Each car chooses a dial-in time before the race, predicting the elapsed time the driver estimates it will take his or her car to cross the finish line. This is generally displayed on one or more windows so the starter can adjust the "Christmas tree" starting lights accordingly; the slower car in the race is given the green light before the faster car by a margin of the difference between their two dial-in times, so that if both were perfect, the cars would cross the line dead even. If either car goes faster than its dial-in (called running out or breaking out), it is disqualified regardless of who had the lower elapsed time; if both cars break out, the one who breaks out by the smallest amount wins. This eliminates any advantage from bending the rules by putting a slow dial-in time on the windshield to get a head start. The effect of the bracket racing rules is to place a premium on consistency of performance of the driver and car rather than on raw speed, which in turn makes victory much less dependent on large infusions of money, and more dependent on mechanical and driving skill, such as reaction times, shifting abilities, and ability to control the car. Therefore, bracket racing (using the aforementioned handicapping system) is popular with casual weekend racers. Many of these recreational racers will drive their vehicles to the track, race them, and then simply drive them home. This format allows for a wide variety of cars racing against each other. While traditional drag racing separates cars into a wide variety of classes based on power and weight, bracket racing classes can be simpler, and can accommodate any vehicle with basic technical inspection. Race events organized in this way are sometimes called "run what you brung."