Page 4 - Wayne Dispatch Pages

MILAN, Continued from page 3 their school’s automotive shop class, tween predicted elapsed time of the tage. But if you move before the light,
“but we don’t live in those same two cars over a standard distance. In you’re disqualified.”
Says Bullock, “It’s held twice a times now.” Today, Bullock says kids other words, it evens up the playing
year and is open to all the high race their own cars—regular ones, field and allows racers with varying Behind the Scenes
school kids and college students. We cars that they drive every day. levels of skill and ability to have an and Under the Hood
hosted it here recently and had a big And that’s where bracket racing equal shot at winning.
crowd out here for it.” comes in. “It’s like a bowling handicap,” Bul- While the term New York minute
Bullock says that, back in the day, Bracket racing is a form of drag lock Explains. “If you bring your car characterizes a brief span of time,
students would build vehicles in racing that allows for a handicap be- to the dragway—the car you drive even that is too long in the world of
everyday—and you line it up and it drag racing.
“Professional races are decided
goes down the track in, say, 15 sec-
onds…and my car will go down the by one thousandth of a second,” Bul-
lock stresses. “That’s how close
track in 14 seconds. Well, when we
start off, you’ll get a one-second head these professional races are. They
start at the starting line. That’s a could do everything perfect and be
one thousandth off…and lose.”
bracket race, and that’s what the
True racing enthusiasts will be
kids from the high schools do.” pleased to know that these are the
With bracket racing, knowing the
time in which your car can complete kinds of racers who will be featured
the race is key. And if you do, you at Milan Dragway’s Heads Up Race
series, which is held on the first Fri-
can race anything.
“You can race your mom’s mini- day of every month.
van,” Bullock says matter-of-factly. “There’s no handicap, no bracket
That said, one's reaction time is racing,” explains Bullock. “These are
still extremely crucial: That’s the the guys who spend all the money to
make these cars go as fast as they
time difference between when the
light turns green and the car gets can. And you’d be shocked at how
much these cars cost.”
moving.
“If you sit there after the green Bullock goes on to say that it’s
light comes on,” Bullock says, “But I not unusual for a new heads up rac-
leave the split second the green light
comes on, I have the greater advan- See Milan, page 5

Harold Bullock and business partner Perry Merlo. Photo by Angela Chunovich

4 · June 2023 · The Wayne Dispatch