The bell-shaped housing, or bellhousing, used to encase the clutch and flywheel. The thick, black smoke which emanates from the rear of many professional class race cars. It is a normal by-product of the friction and erosion of carbon clutch discs during full engagement. In that position, the driver is closer to the finish line but dangerously close to a foul start. Derived from the earliest handicapping computers into which predictions were entered by thumbwheel dials.
Modern handicappers utilize keyboard entry.
Dial-ins are used to handicap cars in eliminations. When two cars race, the two dial-ins are subtracted, and the slower car is given the difference in a head start. A blanket made from ballistic and absorbent, often Kevlar, that surrounds the oil pan and serves as a containment device during engine explosions. Bracket Drag Racing is based on a E.T.handicap. In Bracket Racing, the slower vehicle receives a head start.