I haven’t put much thought into brackets because it seems pretty obvious to me. It’s not racing!im not saying its the be all end all but i still think your sentiments are not well thought out. karting is obviously in decline so something is not working. the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.
There is a difference between change and progress. Creating a fundamental shift in the sport from racing to a bracket format is not a solution to save the sport. It is the downfall of legitimate Kart Racing.
If I was selling ice cream and a flavor wasn’t selling well, I wouldn’t get rid of the cream in an attempt to fix it. It wouldn’t be ice cream anymore. I would adjust the flavors to something that sells better.
Sprint racing can certainly magnify performance gaps. I’ve not even delved into the issues with the actual implementation of a bracket system like other people have, but these performance gaps will still be there, just masked by a screwy system and could morph into another problem. But, those don’t matter to me because running brackets is not racing so they won’t be my problems.no, this is not dividing karting. Im coming at this from a sprint perspective as that is what i race, and every class at my tracks has about 4-5 drivers and the gap between first and last is seconds per lap. brackets will increase participation by allowing CLOSE racing in an open format- it could bring new blood into the sport, and bring back people who have walked away from the sport.
You really think I am naïve enough to not know this? I was making the differentiation between the traditional Stock classes as opposed to an Open or UAS type class. Specifically I was talking about a WKA/IKF blueprinted Flathead or an AKRA pro clone class, maybe even KT100’s and Animals though I don’t have as much experience with them. Stock classes are “stock” in the same way that bracket racing is “racing”.stock classes? thats humorous. whats stock about "box stock"? you bring a stock engine to a box stock class you are dead in the water. it would have been better to stay at home. that is not as affordable as you are trying to make it out to be, and it definitely does not promote close racing.
So it makes it cheaper because if you are not fast enough, you can just spend money on parts to make more power? Where does that road lead? I don’t have to throw parts at my Flatheads because they are built to a rule set and are on par with my competitors. I’ve run the same ones with the same cams and headers for years. Of course they get the occasional rebuild, but not nearly as often as people are led to believe.what would promote close racing is a bracket where one is a second off the pace and all he has to do is add a cam or headers and be on pace. this would be more fun and competitive for the drivers involved, would lead to bigger , closer races, and would improve audience count.
You won’t find any bigger fields or closer racing than on dirt ovals in stock classes, but they still don’t draw a crowd in most cases. Going to brackets won’t magically make karting a spectator driven sport.