 Believe it or not, an electric vehicle is beating some of the best gas and alki dragsters west of the Mississippi river. On January 28, 2006, Dennis Berube took on 45 other Super Pro bracket racers at Speedworld Motorplex in Phoenix, Arizona and won with his electric rail -- The Current Eliminator. He's now qualified to race the finals at Famoso Raceway near Bakersfield, California later this year. Because his division is packed with the best racers, Berube may have accumulated more NHRA Summit Series points than any other super pro racer on the west coast, making him the man to beat for that entire series.
Some people think electrics have an unfair advantage over gassers in bracket racing, so we asked him about that. Dennis disagrees, "No, that's a mistake. A lot of people watch me and worry about that, but as my motor heats up I need to put more amps into it to get the same horsepower out. It's not that easy to beat these guys. My predicted ETs change throughout the day," but he does admit, "I guess the one  advantage that electrics have happens at the far end of the track, where the guy in the other lane can't hear if I'm on it or off of it because the car is so quiet. He can't tell if he should speed up or slow down."
For the most part Dennis doesn't really worry about the guy next to him because mentally Dennis is competing against himself. "I try not to look in the lane next to me. I mean, I know who's there but I need to concentrate on what I'm doing," he said.
While he may still be winning the respect of bracket racers he's a bona-fide living legend among EV enthusiasts. In terms of sheer EV drag racing experience, nobody comes close. Dennis has time slips to prove over 4,700 electric quarter mile runs to his name, more than all other EV drag racers combined! He's been at this a long time. John Force and Shirly Muldony signed his 1st NHRA
license, and Dennis has been racing electrically since 1991. Lately he's been enjoying bracket racing. In fact, he's having so much fun that it's easy to forget about his world record, which has stood since 2000.  At 8.801 seconds he still remains the man to beat for the quickest electric quarter mile elapsed time. His car is one of only three others to exceed 125 mph in the electric quarter mile.
Dennis also has a reputation for being fiercely competitive and well prepared on race days. Both the car and Berube are tuned to perfection. Between races Berube he's either tweaking the car or honing his bracket racing skills with the full size timing light in his shop, which he uses for launch rehearsals while seated his car. He even carries a portable timing light in his truck for chance practice sessions because timing is everything for bracket racing, where winners and losers are decided by mere thousandths of a second. "Yes, Dennis Berube won the first Team Speedworld NHRA Summit ET Series race at our track in Super Pro Class... around here at Speedworld he's called the 'Thomas Edison' of Drag Racing or 'Dennis Kilowatt'... He's much loved and cared for around here... He's very fun to be around and he make's racing exciting only for the fact when he comes up to race the announcer gets to have fun with him and tell everyone to come to the fence to watch this "very quiet" dragster rip up the asphalt! We always wonder if he knows for sure that his dragster is running since he cannot hear it next to a loud race car next to him... Here is his final round run of the event... Winner: Dennis Berube Dial; 11.99 RT; .010 ET; 12.001 MPH; 114.47 Runner Up: Seth Polvadore Dial; 10.85 RT; .021 ET; 10.861 MPH; 118.95 As you can see it was a very, very tight race and Dennis won due to the quicker Reaction Time (RT) off the line." -Victoria Griffey, Speedworld Office
Bracket racing allows two vehicles of varying performance potentials can race on a potentially even basis. Before the race, each car selects their anticipated elapsed time (called "dial-in time"). Upon comparing the dial-in times for each vehicle, the slower car will receive a headstart equal to the difference. If both vehicles cross the finish line at the same time, the win will go to the driver with the shortest reaction time to the starting signal. A car is disqualified if it goes faster than its dial-in. If both cars go faster than their dial-in, the car that does so 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. As such, the key to bracket racing is consistency, not just speed.
So if Berube does a burnout too long and spins outside the waterbox, he might pull too much power from the pack and drop too far below his dial time. It's a volatile mix of science, skill, and nerves, but Berube believes other electrics should take up the sport, "The Summit series has a street class to bracket race but your car must run less than 25 seconds in the quarter mile. You slower cars can be effective in this game."
This car has changed a lot over the years. This is the fifth revision, and the only thing that's remained the same is the roll cage. Everything else has been replaced at least once. Lately it uses Hawker Genesis 16Ah batteries, an ultra-custom variable brush rotation motor for maximum power, a stock Zilla Z2K controller, and a welder generator charger.
After his win at Speedworld, Dennis has continued to tweak CE 5 with improvements. Reducing the rim size on the tires to help increase top speed, spraying the nose of the car with black truck bed spray to help the car blend in with the track, increasing the tire pressure, and modifying brush timing are just a few of his tricks.
Goodyear has been a loyal sponsor for many years, but other than that he's self-funded right now. Dennis is hopeful for a battery sponsorship that's in the works, but the deal isn't done yet. "If what they're telling me is really true, the car should run a flat 8 second run out of the box, and I can shave that down to 7.5 to 7.69 after 3 to 5 weeks." Dennis says that will push his top 1/4 mile speed to "between 175 and 180 mph" which would eclipse the current world record held by Bill Dube's Killacycle at 153mph.
Dennis's bracket race winnings are helping to fund other projects including building an electric S10, or "SE10", capable of Super Street 10.9 second runs. It has a full roll cage because, I'm building it right the first time so I don't have to fix it up later. It has 31" tall tires on the back and stands 51" tall." He also claims, "If the SE10 only runs 11.99 I will give it away!" We'll know soon enough... before the end of this year he expects his SE10 to run 10.5 with lead.
He's also working on a next-generation 6 second motor. It's 75% done. It's maybe got 50 more hours to work on it, he said.
Dennis lives in Laveen, Arizona and is a proud member of the Arizona Drag Racing Association (ADRA) and the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA). Dennis especially loves racing at Speedworld because everyone has been so supportive of his efforts over the years.
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Monday, February 08, 2010 
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