[joe huestis]

been reading this thread for quite awhile and thought it was time to chime in.
I too started racing when our local track had no bracket racing. We didn't even know what it was until probably 1973 0r '74. You either ran stock class for a trophy or stock or super stock eliminator for a cash prize. No combos back then, both separate eliminators along with comp and modified (production) eliminators. I remember always large fields of cars racing and always a great weekly show put on. I had several friends who I grew up with racing almost every week. Today, I am the only one of our close knit group still active. Most of my friends just kept throwing money at their cars until they were broke and lost interest. I always had the slowest of the cars which hardly ever broke. But , I always raced within my means and still do today by mainly competing at CCRA combo events. The cost of running a national event with children in college to support is too exhorbent, so I choose to race locally to feed my addiction.
What I find sad is the bracket racers who approach me at our STK./SS combo races and have no clue what is involved in running one of these class cars. They will ask me why I don't have a 4 bbl. on my motor so I can run quicker or where is my nitrous bottle located. I try to educate them as best I can and explain some of the rules we must conform to. I guess these are folks who never got the opportunity like most of us on this forum to experience how awesome sportsman racing really is with all our restrictions, etc.