Re: car count at i.h.r.a. opener
 

I am sorry it would of been better stated >run as a 1/8 mile race

Re: car count at i.h.r.a. opener
 

I'm not sure who scheduled which race on top of which race... whichever one was scheduled last, probably not a good idea. I wouldn't have thought it wise to schedule the race the same weekend as the NCAA and NASCAR both in Texas, in terms of trying to draw fans. However, the stands were full Saturday night.

That being said, I think suggesting that IHRA doesn't care about the sportsman racer is ludicrous when they gave us the opportunity to run *two* national event points claims plus Class eliminations in a single weekend.

I made the tow to Texas from North Carolina. If the car counts were low, look in the mirror.

Even if the race could've been on a different weekend, IHRA did a great job with the race, and it was a great opportunity.

Re: car count at i.h.r.a. opener
 

Mike IHRA had 207 sportsman cars for seven classes good job is not the word I would use in this case. Pat had the Belle Rose race scheduled almost half a year before the IHRA sportsman DH was. It was very poor planning on IHRA part period. The car count could have easily been over 400 sportsman cars if someone at IHRA would have been thinking just a little.

Re: car count at i.h.r.a. opener
 

I'm sorry, those of you that are putting down the ihra event, I did not have the opportunity to chat with you this weekend. Where were you parked?
jim

Re: car count at i.h.r.a. opener
 

Belle Rose half track and two the right.

Over 80 stocker and 50 SSers

Re: car count at i.h.r.a. opener
 

thats what i thought, you werent even there yet you have something negative to say. thats usually the case. i hope you had a great weekend , and i wish you a great season in 08 . in fact i wish everyone a great season no matter what sanctioning body you choose to race. we all should be happy we can still race someplace .we should be sticking together , not whining about how noone cares about the sportsman racer.

Re: car count at i.h.r.a. opener
 

I have a serious question that I want a real answer to. Why is it that the NHRA guys are so bent on trashing IHRA?

Re: car count at i.h.r.a. opener
 

thats a good question, however most racers actually race in both organizations, thats what is so neat about america, we have the freedom to choose and say whatever we want to. Some racers just like to stir the pot and see how far they can go . i think Pat has always been racer oriented.racers who race just ihra do it by choice, not because they are afraid of the nhra drivers , anthint bertozzi, michael beard, myron piatek, just to name a few can bust some a---s at any given time. heaven help everyone if they decide to go nhra racing lol. sorry, just venting, got tired of hearing ihra getting put down , when i personally know they are racer friendly and glad to have the sportsman racer

Re: car count at i.h.r.a. opener
 

Guys,

Just to inform all of ya'll, I tried to get the SportsNationals moved back two weeks, without success. I spoke to both the IHRA & NHRA division directors to resolve the schedule conflict.

The reason for NHRA placing the S/N the week behind Houston was to help out the racers with their towing expenses. We had 40+ racers that came over from Houston on Sunday and Monday to "camp out" with us.

I don't like getting into a pis*ing contest with any other track, and I will continue to try and avoid schedule conflicts in the future. I have raced NHRA and IHRA events. I learned a lot from both sanctioning bodies. Personally, I prefer to race 1/4-mile. But the idea to save racers tow money seemed to make good sense, and I have submitted my thoughts to NHRA to try and get their pro series to "connect the dots" by scheduling their events starting at Pomona, then Phoenix, Houston, Gainsville, Atlanta, Memphis, Topeka, etc... That would allow the professional (and touring sportsmen) an opportunity to save thousands in fuel costs.

Hopefully, we can avoid the mixup in the future. It is in the best interest of the racers and fans for the tracks to work together.

Pat

Re: car count at i.h.r.a. opener
 

Gee, Pat, you trying to bring some class to this place, or what?