Any team will tell you that nothing sets the tone for a professional drag racing season, like a strong start at the Gatornationals. Drag Race Bracket Bonanza (DRBB), the first dynamic bracket competition for drag racing fans, is no different. In its inaugural event for its first ever full season of game play, DRBB set new records for sign-ups and brackets completed and launched many new features. The most talked about being league play.
“I am so fired up to see all the different Drag Race Bracket Bonanza leagues forming around the world,” said DRBB creator, Elon Werner. “The number one request we received from our players last year was they wanted leagues. We listened to them, and I am thrilled with the response. Drag Race Bracket Bonanza is about fan engagement and community. Seeing all the leagues form just shows how massive our drag racing community is.”
By the time that brackets closed at the start of Top Fuel eliminations during the Amalie Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals in Gainesville, Florida, 115 leagues had been created by DRBB players across the world. Leagues ranged in source and size, from groups of friends who bonded over being drag racing fans in Australia, to coworkers – like the Texas Motorplex staff league, to larger leagues such as the CompetititonPlus.com league and WFO Radio Podcast league, created by Joe Castello.
“Drag Race Bracket Bonanza was the perfect way for me to engage my WFO Radio podcast audience,” said Castello, a long-time podcaster and NHRA announcer. “We filled out our brackets and discussed the Gatornationals winners afterwards. It makes the NHRA action much more personal. Now, listeners can win along with the race teams!”
Leading up to the Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals this weekend, March 21-24, a total of 127 leagues have now been created. This includes a brand-new league created by Funny Car driver Bob Tasca III, with the promise that whoever wins his league at the end of the season will walk away with a Tasca Racing prize pack.
“It’s so awesome to see drivers continue to get involved with DRBB in various ways,” said Werner. “Every weekend we have teams like Erica Enders Racing shouting us out on social media, guys like Justin Ashley with our decal on their car and now Bob Tasca with this new league. Nothing makes me happier than seeing people talk about DRBB online and drivers engaging right back with them. It really emphasizes one of the best parts of our sport – how close fans can get to the drivers.”
DRBB’s lead developer, Aidan Lamkin, of Lamkin Software Solutions, describes how more players can set up leagues of their own, to join in on the fun.
“Players can create their own league by signing up, navigating to the ‘My Leagues’ tab and clicking the join league button. They can then enter a name for their league and optionally a picture for it then invite their friends to their league by sending out the invite code,” said Lamkin. “I think leagues make Drag Race Bracket Bonanza a more personal competition. It is one thing to compete in a global competition and another to beat your best friend and have immediate bragging rights. It’s been so cool to see something we worked on over the off-season come to life, exactly how we envisioned it.”
Many DRBB players enjoyed sharing their brackets on social media, so they could compare with their friends, commiserate together about bracket busters and brag about earning more points than their family members. After the points were tallied up, five new event winners (Overall, Top Fuel, Funny Car, Pro Stock, Pro Stock Motorcycle) were crowned, and they will each receive plaques signed by the race winners. All five DRBB winners came from a different state, and it was their first time winning. Top Fuel winner, Nikki C. from Indianapolis, Indiana, and Pro Stock Motorcycle winner, Christopher S. from Columbus, Ohio, each had perfect brackets in their respective categories.
“I WON TOP FUEL!!!” Nikki C. shared on X. “Thank you [Drag Race Bracket Bonanza]! Can’t wait to play every race! … And I bet I won’t win another one this season.”
The Winternationals is the second race in The Majors series, which will wrap up at the beginning of September with the U.S. Nationals. Throughout the season there will be other series, like the Four-Wide Nationals Cup and the Countdown, to keep gameplay competitive for players all season long. Each series will come with its own unique prizes.
Brackets for the Winternationals will open at the end of qualifying on Saturday, March 23. DRBB players will then have until the first round of Top Fuel kicks off on Sunday, March 24 at 2 p.m. EST to fill out their brackets. Fans can watch the NHRA broadcast on FS1 or NHRA.TV.
For additional information and to sign up anytime, fans can visit www.dragracebracketbonanza.com.
This story was originally published on March 21, 2024. 
