Re: Sportsman Advisory Counsil
 

Probably NOT going to happen. I've been working on it for years NO interest from the top at nhra. Maybe we could pick up a couple of races.

Re: Sportsman Advisory Counsil
 

IMHO, the current S/St national event schedule is crazy. I realize that they're trying to do one event in each division, but my guess is that you have a LOT more competitors in the Northeast than you do in the Midwest (and when I mean Midwest, I mean Kansas, not Ohio). Yet, right now, St. Louis would probably be the ultimate place to live if you were a S/St racer, as you'd have 3 races (Dallas, Chicago, and Topeka, and not including the Sportsnationals) within about 500 miles.

In the Northeast, we obviously have Englishtown, but from there Chicago and Atlanta are each going to be about 800 miles for the majority of the racers in the Northeast.

So, have one national event race in each division to give all of your competitors a shot at racing at a national event. But then add a few more events to the schedule in the geographic regions with the highest density of S/St racers.

I think the other complaint that people had about the S/St races is don't put so many in a row. Topeka / Chicago / Englishtown are back to back to back. I don't think any S/St racer would go to all 3, but I could definitely see a bunch trying to go to Topeka / Chicago or Chicago / Englishtown.

All that said, my preference would still be for ALL CLASSES AT ALL NATIONAL EVENTS, INCLUDING S/St!

Re: Sportsman Advisory Counsil
 

Sad to say, but I would be suprised if anything changed. They might throw us a bone by giving us a free oil down and then they will say that the advisory counsil is making a HUGE difference, don't get me wrong, not making a difference wont be from lack of effort on the counsils part, just lack of care on NHRA's part. It would not suprise me if NHRA formed the counsil just to take some of the heat off of them and put it on the shoulders of poor guys like Rock that really care.

Bottom line is I am still happy to go .90 racing, I am honored to race at national events, and I race with the best group of racers in the world! (not you Tom, I was talking about Ron & Scott)

I only wanted a S/ST national Champ to give Lynn another trophy to get, poor girl is running out of things to win.

Re: Sportsman Advisory Counsil
 

I understand your opinion and agree that S/St should be contested at all events. In checking the NHRA points for S/ST for div 1 and div 5 here is the breakdown:
2005: Div 1 146, Div 5 177 point earning drivers
2006: Div 1 153, Div 5 170
2007: Div 1 140, Div 5 167

look like div 5 has more drivers than div 1, and the fact that in div 5, quite a few racers travel more than 1,000 miles each way to three in division races. As for this thread I agree with the recomendations for oil down penalties, having S/St at all events, payouts could be better, ( as suggested to be payed out at event).
Here is a question? Since everyone has to preregister for National events, and the tracks know how many cars they can handle, could there be a way to have reserved spots online, that could eliminate some of the problems during parking at those events.

Re: Sportsman Advisory Counsil
 

Well, those numbers don't lie. I also went back and looked at the number of competitors in S/St at each of the division races for Division 1 and 5 in 2007:

Division 5
1 - Grand Bend, KS - 70
2 - Brainerd, MN - 44
3 - Morrison, CO - 60
4 - Cordova, IL - 50
5 - Topeka, KS - 60
6 - Earlville, IA - 70

Division 1
1 - Virginia - 30
2 - Maple Grove, PA - 70
3 - Atco, NH - 66
4 - Lebanon Valley, NY - 66
5 - Cecil County, MD - 54
6 - Englishtown, NJ - 62
7 - Atco, NH - 68

Throwing out the low and the high in each, and averaging the rest, Division 5 averaged 60 S/St cars per division event in 2007, and Division 1 averaged 63 cars. So, they're basically identical in division race attendance.

I don't know though...I still have a hard time believing that there's more competitors in S/St in states like South Dakota, Kansas, Wyoming, Minnesota, and Iowa than there are in states like NY, NJ, Mass., CT, and PA. I base that SOLELY on the population base. Maybe we're too busy up here in the Northeast attending the opera and drinking fine wine though.

What I DO know is that there was only ONE national event where the field was completely full, and that was Englishtown. I think a one or two people got in last year with a grade of 4, but if you want to guarantee yourself a spot over the past few years, you basically had to have a grade of 6 to get in. Here are the attendance stats for S/St for 2007 national events:

Phoenix - 58
Atlanta - 48
Chicago - 56
Englishtown - 60
Denver - 56
Seattle - 54
Houston / Dallas Debacle - 34, but I don't know how many were in Houston in the spring, but given that Houston is this weekend and the only class that's full is TA/D, I highly doubt Houston was full in S/St last year (especially considering how the weather looked going into that race).

Re: Sportsman Advisory Counsil
 

Another question for the council:

Why does the tree have to be .370 for sc and sg? I understand it for the pro stock classes.
Can't the computer be changed between the pro's and sportsman. Shouldn't the computer be programmed for each classes tree setting. Doesn't sound too difficult to me.
A .370 tree could be sending some sg racers to sst- I did.
What is the setting for sst at a national? .470 or .500. If it's .470 like I think it is-does it make any sense?
Some sst cars may only be able to go .500 with no time in the box. It also may stop some foot brakers from trying out sst at a divisional or two.

Of course if someone wanted to just buy: a new motor, a box and brake, smaller front tires, shocks and struts, maybe even a new car----than the tree settings would make no difference.
I say the more restrictions the better. My odds of winning get better with every racer that decides not to go to divisionals or nationals.

Oh, thats right..........I'm not going either..........oh well

(sorry about the jasonesque post)

Re: Sportsman Advisory Counsil
 

Personal observation: I "suspect" that the tree is as you said ".470" for S/ST at Div. 2 events. I'm carrying 1.070 or so for brackets and .045 or so for S/ST on the same trees at several of the same tracks. I don't know if the delay applies by class name in the StarTrak system, has to be preset before an event, or even involves different lamps - I'm sure Jeff Foster can answer that and I think he reads this board. If it applies by class that would support my hypothesis - simply switching the class from S/P to S/ST would cause a software-controlled delay.

Re: Sportsman Advisory Counsil
 

Gary-

Because when they swapped to the LED bulbs everyone on the average gained .025-.030 in RT, so by making it a .370/.470 tree, it puts everyone back to where they were on the incandescent bulbs.

Later!
................ Mike

Re: Sportsman Advisory Counsil
 

Get the iCard turned on and have someone at NHRA come up with a proposal that I can handle to get it turned on at divisional races also.

Re: Sportsman Advisory Counsil
 

were trying Don....