Drag Race Bracket Bonanza is moving its season-long look back through NHRA history into Pro Stock Motorcycle, opening fan voting this week for the latest edition of its Major Moments series.
The free fantasy game has built a growing side attraction around the 75th anniversary of NHRA competition. Instead of focusing only on race weekends and current results, the Major Moments initiative pushes fans into the sport’s past and asks them to decide which memories matter most.
The Pro Stock Motorcycle bracket opened this week and remains available through May 29, falling between the Route 66 Nationals and Potomac Nationals. It marks the third category released in a project that eventually aims to determine what fans consider the greatest moment in NHRA history.
The format uses 64 seeded moments in each professional category, covering championships, rivalries, milestone victories, records and defining performances.
Top Fuel and Pro Stock have already completed voting cycles. Funny Car will follow later in the season before all categories feed into a final overall bracket.
The approach has created something beyond a typical fantasy game feature. It has become an ongoing conversation where longtime fans revisit old memories while newer followers discover moments they may have missed.
“This has become something fans genuinely look forward to every few weeks,” said Elon Werner, creator of Drag Race Bracket Bonanza. “The Major Moments program has added another layer of excitement to DRBB because it keeps fans engaged all season long. Everyone remembers these moments differently, and watching people debate, defend and relive them has been incredible. That’s exactly what we hoped this would become.”
Fan participation has extended beyond simple voting.
Once each bracket closes, completed fan results become public, creating another round of discussion across the drag racing community. What starts as bracket voting often turns into debates over eras, rivalries and performances that shaped the sport.
For Pro Stock Motorcycle racers, the bracket also serves as a reminder of how far the category has traveled.
Six-time world champion Matt Smith said the class has built its identity through moments that continue to resonate with racers and fans.
“I’m very proud to represent this class,” Smith said. “I set my life ambition to be a world championship in Pro Stock Motorcycle, and I’ve got six of them, and of course I want to get seven and be the all-time leader in our class, so hopefully we can accomplish that this year. And the big moments I have, some are good, some are bad, but we keep striving, and I’m just glad to help support the class and keep new people coming in.”
While Smith reflected on the category’s history, two-time world champion Gaige Herrera pointed toward its future.
Herrera believes the class continues producing racers capable of creating moments that someday may become part of future brackets.
“I just focus on what I’m doing as far as when the big moments are happening,” Herrera said. “This class is only continuing to get better, so I feel like we’re going to see a lot of people who are already in the class step up, or new people come in, to continue to set records and create major moments.”
The final winner will not be decided until late in the season. Until then, fans keep casting votes and revisiting history one category at a time.
The Major Moments project may be built around past events, but it continues adding fresh discussion to the current season.
