Question on SS/AH & AH/SM

[Pistol Pete]

Why is the AH/SM index at 8.75 in Comp. Elim. and
Super Stock it is a 9.60 ??
Are their more modifications allowed if you run it in Comp ?

To be competitive in Comp you have to run at least 5 under.
I haven’t seen any hemi cars running 8.25.
Maybe raise the index to 9.00 and see what happens.

Just my .02 cents.

[Dyno]

Pete, you answered it.

[Superfan1]

Originally Posted by Pistol Pete

Why is the AH/SM index at 8.75 in Comp. Elim. and
Super Stock it is a 9.60 ??
Are their more modifications allowed if you run it in Comp ?

To be competitive in Comp you have to run at least 5 under.
I haven’t seen any hemi cars running 8.25.
Maybe raise the index to 9.00 and see what happens.

Just my .02 cents.

It should have been at least 9.00 to start with.

[Ed Carpenter]

Super Stock got .30 this year. I need to find out how they did it so I can get it too. The comp index is stupid should be 9.00-9.10

[Greenlight]

Raising the index in comp has/is being discussed.


This is cut and pasted from the Comp Elim racer website:

Wescott ran a 8.38 & 8.39 at Indy in 2012.
Wescott ran an 8.22 at Div 2 NO race in 2010
Daniels ran an 8.28 at Reading in 2011
Hard ran an 8.26 at the Dutch in 2012
Wolkwitz ran an 8.31 at a Div 1 race in 2013
Wolkwitz ran an 8.28 at the Dutch in 2014
Wolkwitz ran an 8.21 at a Div. 1 race in 2015
Hess ran an 8.28 at a Div. 1 race in 2016
Daniels ran an 8.22 at the Gators in 2017
Wolkwitz ran an 8.30 at the Gators in 2018

[Steve Stasko]

Using Wolkwitz's 8.30 pass at Gainesville in 2018...9.0 would have made him #10 qualifier, and 9.10 would have put him at the top of the Comp field. The purpose of adding AH to Comp was to let the fast cars run...without the worry of hitting the combo for weight/hp in S/S.

Yeah, 8.75 is a bit steep. If you would have wrote these guys into Comp at the top part of the field at a 9.0-9.10 index...I'm sure what's left of the Comp racers who show up to the events would have been none too pleased with all the Hemi cars that would show up for what could be an easy win.

[Steve Polhill]

just my 2 cents but, I agree the Comp classes index is too steep. But with the added modifications allowed I don't think we should make the index so soft that a SS/AH car can just switch to comp and be an immediate 60 under player without any other modifications.I'd say 8:90 is fair. At 8:90 many AH cars would be 40-50 under without changing a thing.

[Ben Holt]

We have, officially, been fighting this since the index was announced. We have a formal request into the NHRA to change the index to 9.05.
I agree that if modifications were allowed that the index would be ok, but the AH/SM rules are exactly the same as in Super Stock. They literally lifted the rules verbatim and placed them in Comp. So I don't see where, especially the top running guys (Wolkwitz, Daniels, Comella, Bucky, Hebert, Pancake, etc), would pick up at all running in comp. We run these things on the ragged edge every run, cooling, pushing as much as we can, etc. They are pretty much already comp cars. And they have been ran for 50 years, and have been ran like mini Pro Stock the last ten or so years. I don't see why someone like Gary or Jimmy SHOULDN'T be able to run .65 off the bat. These are refined combinations (a close example to me is someone like Bailey or Galbraith or Browell in D3) that should be a front running comp car. Now, I'm not saying they should be able to go .85 off the bat, but I believe if you qualify #1 in the Hemi Shootout at INdy, you should be a top 10 player in comp at the same race.

And in all honesty, what's the difference between a .3 under comp car and a .45-.5 under one? Not much. Most of the field (at least the fast guys) are .6 -.65 under capable. Maybe you can win a round or two, but you aren't really that fast. that's why 9.05 seemed fair to us.

But to answer the original question. If you have a legal SS/AH car, all you need to do is upgrade your license to have a Comp endorsement, and run the Sunoco spec fuel. That is all

[Mike Pearson]

Originally Posted by Ed Carpenter

Super Stock got .30 this year. I need to find out how they did it so I can get it too. The comp index is stupid should be 9.00-9.10

I am pretty sure NHRA wanted to get some more of these AH cars back in the show at Indy. The last few years since the index was hit almost none of them could compete at Indy. It seems to be the case with a lot of the old iron. The newer stuff seems to be a bit softer. A lot of the older cars combos have been beat up for years and have had HP hits that have made them where they can’t compete as well as they did at one time. When I look at a Q sheet I look for the first car that is a conventional SS car with a carb combo.
That’s what interests me. I like the old iron.

[Chuck Beach]

Originally Posted by Greenlight

Raising the index in comp has/is being discussed.


This is cut and pasted from the Comp Elim racer website:

Wescott ran a 8.38 & 8.39 at Indy in 2012.
Wescott ran an 8.22 at Div 2 NO race in 2010
Daniels ran an 8.28 at Reading in 2011
Hard ran an 8.26 at the Dutch in 2012
Wolkwitz ran an 8.31 at a Div 1 race in 2013
Wolkwitz ran an 8.28 at the Dutch in 2014
Wolkwitz ran an 8.21 at a Div. 1 race in 2015
Hess ran an 8.28 at a Div. 1 race in 2016
Daniels ran an 8.22 at the Gators in 2017
Wolkwitz ran an 8.30 at the Gators in 2018

All these runs are at sea level tracks in good air, not to take anything away from these guys but I doubt you will see them run these numbers at Indy even if the air is really good. If the air is good the fast comp cars will be 7 tenths + under. Wescott's, unless they come out of 'retirement' are currently not a factor. The index should be 9.00 to 9.05.