What would you do if the NHRA banned timers in .90 (Super) class racing?

[Michael Pliska]

Originally Posted by sc1153

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The part I don't like about the timers is that it requires you to spend more money to be competitive in the class. In other words, it provides a distinct advantage to those who spend the most money
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Ummm you have this BASS ACKWARDS, the throttle stops and timers help REGULATE the cost of winning in this class. If you want to burn Real Big Money for little payout try racing TAD, TAFC, TOP SPORTSMAN, TOP DRAGSTER, COMP, or ANY PRO CLASS

Take it from me I placed #9 in national points last year and I had the slowest MPH in the top 20. Is there an advantage of going fast....... YES....is it necessary to win..... NO! You just need to out dial or out drive the other racer.......and I would love to see some of those "OLD SCHOOL" racers in Super Comp, there would be a LINE of people following him up into the lanes first round....LOL

By the way, try to explain COMP ELIMINATOR to a fan if you think Super Class racing is unfavorable! Weight / Cubic Dollar

Dont talk about what you do not know!

Congrats on making the top ten, that is a heck of an accomplishment.

I never said anything about banning throttle stops, or that high mph was necessary to win (but that it was an advantage). You just said for yourself that an "OLD SCHOOL" racer would be seen as a first round duck (presumably because of the low mph).

Maybe I'm missing something, but how do the timers REGULATE the cost of .90 racing? Before timers, it cost LESS to build a competitive car. How do I know? I built a car 21 years ago on a college kid's budget and was very competitive. No, I never made it into the top 10, but I was almost always around in the late rounds. Simple math - for me to be as competitive today I would need considerably more horsepower, which last time I checked cost more money.

Obviously Comp is a completely different story. I have tried explaining the CIC to newcomers, and it usually puts them to sleep.

I'm not sure I agree that T/S requires significantly more money than S/G, at least around here. The races around here are either "All-run" or have a large field, so that you see plenty of mid-high 8-second cars in T/S. Obviously most of the S/G cars could run a mid-high 8. I've helped out in my friend's TAD pits, so I've also seen firsthand the cubic dollar expenditures.

Regards,

[sc1153]

The OLD SCHOOL guy would not be a duck because he has "low MPH" he would be a duck because he has no clue how to race now a days......You give this OLD SCHOOL type of driver a 180 mph car and he will not go rounds if he cant drive a race car properly.....you are missing the point.....MPH is an advantage....however it is not necessary to win races or to be better.....knowing how to drivie your car makes you a racer not the big engine.....

[Rich Biebel]

I raced S/ST in the early 80's locally and at a few NHRA races......I had different engines for my 1969 Camaro. One could run 10.40's One could run 10.80's. I went to the final at one of the $1000 to win races at E-Town getting pasted by Jim Harrington for the $$$......That was with my 10.80 motor and I used weight and was foot braking on a .4 tree. I ran S/ST and S/G in my next car a Vega. Small block power for a couple seasons then a big block. I won the 1988 Summernationls in S/G using a Dedenbaer plate stop.....9.90's at 136 or so. We had extremely close races and your competitior was usually within a car length of you all the way down track with a pretty hard launch and lots of cars did big wheelstands. Racing was fun for sure then.....You could hit your T-Stop overide switch as the plates were on after the gear change...I should have on a few occasions but never did.......Around 1989 or 1990 timers came onto the scene. I got one of those and immediately was able to run 9.90 at over 140. I hated it and also hated the automated shifters. All the stuff in the car was more things to go wrong. I got burned by it more than once and really hated it. It was usually my fault when something was wrong. The event that started todays big MPH deal in the .90 classes was Troy Coughlin at Indy in the early 90's. He ran 9.90's at 170+ and won the event......Even experienced guys were intimidated by his big speed. I have used timers, no timers, delay boxes, no delay boxes.....trans brakes, no trans brakes.........I like to race and try to be competitive no matter what gizmo's we have. I like the bigger speeds we run today and presently have a mid 160's MPH S/C car and I can and have won in the modern era with that kind of speed. Would I like the 180 MPH speed for S/C.....NO but 170-175 would be a little better than what I have now.....Plain and simple.....NOBODY likes looking over their shoulder and racing when your out front is a lot more difficult. OH but lots of guys with bigger speed than me like to go for that stripe and I am only to happy to feed it to them......sometimes it works out in my favor and sometimes it don't...dats racin......As an Old School guy I see no reason to go back to the old, no timer days......

[CBS]

I'm getting tired of this thread .......so I'm getting ready to lock it......you're beating a dead horse....

cbs