Sportsman Council phone conference Tonight!
 

I recieved an e-mail yesterday from John D., D1 .90 sportsman rep, that I unfortunately just opened this afternoon. .....The Sportsman Council will be meeting this evening via teleconference . .......Among the topics of discussion will be allowing S/ST racers to run two classes.......changing the .90 class index's......And the one that troubles me, trying to schedule national and divisional races back to back.............I would have thought it would have been a good idea to float these topics before us,possibly polling members who are actually competing ,before discussing them with NHRA ........A little more time to comment would be appreciated in the future.

Re: Sportsman Council phone conference Tonight!
 

Got your back on this one Tom.. a discussion a few weeks before the conference would have been great.. In my opinion, should I be asked, is that Super Street is an entry level class.. once a racer leaves Super Street to race another class, that racer can not return to Super Street.. the .90's classes indexes could be bumped up a second as most competitor's can run at least a second faster than the class they are in right now.. but a poll is in order.. there should not be any back to back races within your division.. if you choose to go out of division and it happens to fall back to back, then it's on you..

It would also be nice to have a couple of safety issues discussed.. such as racing after the dew comes in at certain tracks, if not all tracks.. and doing away with night racing.. this weekend's lighting situation at Cecil County could have been disasterous.. the return road was illuminated better than the track.. we were all pretty lucky.. I know I was..

Maybe in the future, the top 10 in each .90 class could be contacted for their opinions on issues to be discussed.. or each class pick a rep to talk to John.. just my 2 cents..

Re: Sportsman Council phone conference Tonight!
 

Tom ....will yourself and Rock be posting on here the details of the conference ?

Thanks

Re: Sportsman Council phone conference Tonight!
 

Rick, John DiBarthelemeo is the D1 rep. ....I only know of this since John sent out an e-mail yesterday,apparently with only a limited number of recipants.....Hopefully ,he Rock,and the others will inform us here on Class Racer,which I feel has a wide reach for contacting racers and for gathering their thoughts on different subjects. ........

Re: Sportsman Council phone conference Tonight!
 

I think Rock and the guys representing the .90 classes got some input from the fix super class post.
I do hope they post the results/ details of the meeting.

Re: Sportsman Council phone conference Tonight!
 

Goldman cant make it!

It's his Birthday today!

Hope U had a good one!

Re: Sportsman Council phone conference Tonight!
 

We had a phone conference tonite which will only put issues on the NHRA boards list of things to discuss.....I think I have a pretty good feel for what the Div 3 guys want....what wasn't odvious we asked for a poll on NHRA.com.

We asked for hand brakes to be allowed on dragsters...a seperate system...currently not allowed but widely used

We asked for diapers on all cars...

we asked for the scotty rule to be removed...so the super street guys can run 2 classes

we asked for a poll to see if the majority wanted the indexes lowered in super gas and super comp .5 sec ...many of us were worried it would drive costs up and we don't want that...hopefully we will get a poll on this one...

We discussed revamping the points system...ie the bonus points and the short fields getting 105

We discussed double points races....and or a points race at the sports nationals...in addition to the nationals....trying to cut costs and increase participation....this will be discussed at the track operators meetings....as it is partially their issue...

We needed to get some issues out there so when the NHRA board meets they consider our requests...we can't change the world but maybe we can improve it a little each year...

Getting all the Reps together sounds simple...but I guess it isn't...as the Div 6 rep couldn't make it...Johnny D from Div 1...Steve Cohen from Div 2...Rock Haas from Div 3...Terry Sullivan from Div 4.....Terry Edwards from Div 5...George Scott from Div 6....and Steve Williams from Div 7....Mike Rice of NHRA is the moderator of the super class SRAC and Jay Hullinger also sat in.

Thanks,

Rock

Re: Sportsman Council phone conference Tonight!
 

Rock, I don't know if anyone has brought this up before, so I'll bring it up. The insurance that we pay for at national events, now up to $60 from the $40 it was last and previous years. What is it? I know of several people that complain about it and think it's a waste.

One friend when at the registration trailer at US Nationals last year asked what he got for his $40 insurance money. Answer = there wasn't an answer.

Then asked if he could see a copy of the insurance policy Answer = "we don't have a copy"

He asked for someone higher up than the ticket girl to get an answer. He didn't have an answer to either of his questions either.

If they are making us pay for it, there should at least be a copy of this policy available.

If there a way to opt out of getting the insurance? If there is, I can't find it. I have more than enough life insurance for my family if something tragic were to happen to me while racing. I doubt the NHRA's insurance money will be anything more than a drop in the bucket compared to what I already have.

Re: Sportsman Council phone conference Tonight!
 

Rock, Thanks for the update..

Re: Sportsman Council phone conference Tonight!
 

Thanks Rock.

One more thing. Any word on who the new Div. 2 director will be?




Hey Dan Moore, you're #1. :D

RIP Mark Graham

Re: Sportsman Council phone conference Tonight!
 

Rock obviously made you all aware of the details of the meeting. There are obviously thousands of issues which could have been brought up, but the main topics were discussed. We could sit and hash over a million things but at least NHRA is taking the time to listen to us. If anyone wishes to be put on my e-mail list, please e-mail me at johnd@dragracingaction.com.

Re: Sportsman Council phone conference Tonight!
 

THANKS Rock for posting the news -
your time & efforts are appreciated !!!

Doug Wesler
3703 S/C

Re: Sportsman Council phone conference Tonight!
 

I will try to get an answer on the insurance thing.....

Rock

Re: Sportsman Council phone conference Tonight!
 

THANKS Rock for posting the news -
your time & efforts are appreciated !!! :)

Re: Sportsman Council phone conference Tonight!
 

I am glad to see the handbrake issue was brought up......
I sent NHRA Tech an E-mail about it when I heard about cars being forced to remove the hand brake at some national events.
I did get a reply that said they would need to review it before they could change it....
Thanks for bringing it up....

Re: Sportsman Council phone conference Tonight!
 

And what do the Pros pay? Are we supplementing Alcohol and Pro cars again? The Phoenix tragedy comes to mind...

...but yes Rock, thanks for your efforts and all the reps. The members listed represent a very credible body to present issues and make suggestions.

Re: Sportsman Council phone conference Tonight!
 

I can't shake the feeling that the decisions had all been made beforehand and this was simply window dressing.

Re: Sportsman Council phone conference Tonight!
 

Was there ever a poll for current drivers/owners on the diaper issue?
Anyway thanks to the sportsman committee reps for trying to make some headway on all the issues concerning sportsman racing.

Re: Sportsman Council phone conference Tonight!
 

Why would you ask for diapers on ALL cars? Who suggested that as a good idea?

Re: Sportsman Council phone conference Tonight!
 

Coming to an NHRA track near you real soon:

http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/j...5/PC060468.jpg

Re: Sportsman Council phone conference Tonight!
 

Two BAD ideas.......

Re: Sportsman Council phone conference Tonight!
 

Charlie..you are 100% on the Cecil situation....It was dark...I had trouble seeing if I was in the center of the groove for round 2...even with spotlights on the tree...it was tough out there...and yes the return road was lit very well...but the track was dim.

Re: Sportsman Council phone conference Tonight!
 

when racing two cars , why does one have to pay the insurance twice? there is only one of me.

Re: Sportsman Council phone conference Tonight!
 

Because no one ever challenges them on it,and many other issues.We're basicly like lemmings going over a cliff.
That would be a good question for the SRAC to ask.

Re: Sportsman Council phone conference Tonight!
 

I had to race a black car round 2.Went out by .002and cleared him by about .042.In the end if I did a better job I'd be going back Sat. morning.
Sometimes we have to do the best with what we're dealt.
Someone complained about having to come back on Sat.I'm pretty critical of NHRA but
sometimes even I realise that no matter what they do they just can't win.
As far as the lights at Cecil,I've been going there for a long time and I've raced there at night.I just try to do the best I can,after all the lighting is the same for everybody.

Re: Sportsman Council phone conference Tonight!
 

Ed, on your limited income, should you be wasting your Depends on frivolous sight gags?!!! Just Kidding.........Tom

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I think that diaper is on backwards....and I'm smellin something....better check it!

Re: Sportsman Council phone conference Tonight!
 

Those are house brand Tom.Cheaper by the dozen.

Re: Sportsman Council phone conference Tonight!
 

We need to address the night racing at some tracks with high dew points and low ( very little) lights! I didn't complained only because I went red in the second round 001. I tried to go down Cecil track for information to put into my computerr. That was a big mistake I was side ways in the right lane around the 600ft where the engine starts to make peak HP! Super Comp and Super Gas racing has a lot of high MPH and big Hp engines as of late and someone will get hurt trying to complete another round of racing because the chance of rain the next day!

Re: Sportsman Council phone conference Tonight!
 

Good point Nat. ...I did'nt have problems with the track, altho I know a lot of others did., and not only Super classes, a lot of SS cars had problems too. ........My problem is a track like Cecil ,where the return road had way more lighting than the track. ......I was told by an Alcohol racer that Manzo flat out told Bob Lang that the Alcohol FC's would not race under the lights at Cecil. ......But it was good enough for us!.........Tom

Re: Sportsman Council phone conference Tonight!
 

You could plow the one car into someone else, cause havoc, but walk away, climb into the other car and do the same.

Re: Sportsman Council phone conference Tonight!
 

Billy... the other is for your shadow. see ya soon lol

Re: Sportsman Council phone conference Tonight!
 

1. Anyone that does not want to get in your oil or wait for clean up after you window your oil pan!

2. Anyone that doesn't want to get hit by you when you get loose from getting in your own oil after you window your oil pan.

3. Any racer that doesn't want to crash their own car when they window their oil pan.

Because no matter how good of a motor you have, things happen and there is nothing you can do to control it.

Seat belts are difficult to fit in some cars too, but you put them in anyway because they are a safety item. Same deal here.

Re: Sportsman Council phone conference Tonight!
 

I face those situations everyday driving on the roads here in NJ,especially the NJ Turnpike.Maybe all cars should have them from the assembly line.

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I haven't heard of too many high speed wrecks on the highway from oil spills. LOL

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Come to NJ,bumper car capital of the world.

Re: Sportsman Council phone conference Tonight!
 

Rhetorical question: Are any of the SRAC reps for the Super classes driving cars NOT capable of running more than 1.5 seconds under the current indices?

Lowering class indexes accomplishes nothing but locking out otherwise valid entries, a disproportionate number of those being newer racers, who tend to be the lower-HP and budget-conscious. In an era where the economics are already very challenging and car counts are dropping in most divisions and classes, that's the last thing we should do.

Re: Sportsman Council phone conference Tonight!
 

I respectfully disagree. Lowering the indexes means cars are on the stop for a significantly shorter time, which in turn accomplishes a number of things:

1) It reduces the advantage of the big$/bigHP person because the tortoise/hare game is much closer. This then reduces the desire to outspend the next guy.

2) It can help with the leakage from SC to TD (and SG to TS) because the people who want to run faster can still do it in the Super classes.

3) It makes the racing more challenging and fun, because faster means harder to judge at the stripe.

4) It makes the Super classes far more palatable to the average fan who complains about the long "idling" or "coasting" that they do. The shorter the time on the stop, the better.

Finally, I'm not sure the $$ spend to run SC or SG is really causing much of an issue these days. It's pretty hard to find a car that couldn't run 7.90 (or 8.90) in these classes these days. Perhaps that's an issue in Super Street, but I don't think it is in SC or SG.

Re: Sportsman Council phone conference Tonight!
 

Chris,

I get what you are saying however that is only a temporary change....Engines keep getting bigger, Pro stock technology keeps trickling down...so in just a few short years the differential will be right back, just faster overall......I think the best idea is to leave it alone....I think eventually it will fix itself.....the fast guys will get bored and move up.....the slow guys want to go faster and eventually do.....then you have parity.....and the best part is it still makes it viable for the lower budgets....which given the economy, isn't a bad thing.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it!!! See ya all this week at the big go!!! Headed back to the Motorhome now.......

Re: Sportsman Council phone conference Tonight!
 

I don't buy either 1) or 3), because the real challenge is in MPH differential, not absolute MPH. Kicking out the slower cars would just mean the fastest cars have fewer chances to face a 20+ MPH closure rate, at which point the tortoise and hare become more equal.

The worst place you can be in a Super race is 10 MPH slower than everyone else on the ladder (funny, that's where I usually am in a 162 MPH dragster (8.20 all out) or 129 MPH door car (10.20 all out)). I can't do anything about my new "advantages" you claim if I'm on the sideline, and I'm fine with continuing to face the challenges I have now - it makes me a better racer, especially when I go back to ET racing. I also do NOT favor speed limits in Super classes for the same reasons.

As to 2) and 4), I can't speak for every racer or fan, but the MPH is only 4-5 slower on the stop than all out - it's the ET that may be attractive to Top racers. And I have yet to hear a fan say "they look weird and broke off the starting line, but I'd be a lot more interested if they looked broke for 2 seconds less".

Even if every point was unassailable, would it be worth closing the door to the lowest-budget racers when the goal of NHRA is to grow the sport?