IHRA tournament of Champions

[JJ3159]

First of all this is nothing against anyone who qualified for the toc,me i just dont care for the format, a person has his or her day in that race and their world champ . Those of us who have run ihra and chased points in the past have always delt with weather ,every race ihra runs when problems occur they do something diffrent each time.i stopped nhra racing 6 years ago till this year ,i went to columbus for the sports nats ,weather was bad still had fun and we raced ,time trials each day at an ihra race is a waste of time .if they trimmed down the number of claims in the old system that would save us all money too.again just my opinon. H/r 399 s/r 399 jj.

[sstSteveM]

Boy oh boy, ain't this a pickle! It's good to see you guys discussing solutions, keep'em coming!
It's no doubt this was an absolute worst case scenario, but
a. the reason there was a sportsnational was because of the TOC, not the other way around, the TOC had priority that weekend. (note to IHRA)
b. Time runs are overrated, the TOC racers are there mainly because these are the guys who don't need time runs. 1 is all you need and if weather is a threat that's it race'em. (note to IHRA 2)
Possible solutions?
a. Split pay out by '09 points earned + tow money like the Jegs allstars,
free invite to the 2010 TOC to those who qualified in 2009.
b. Roll over championship purse and double the $$ winnings for the 2010 TOC. Once again free invite to the 09 qualifiers. Next year run the sportsnational race the week before the TOC race (or ax it) and the TOC race will be the 09 and 2010 qualifiers for 20 K + deeper prize package for r-ups.

Craig Schultz is a good example of the benefits of the new format, in '05 he chased Div 5 points in NHRA and logged 4194 miles round trip for
a possible 2 K division championship prize. This year he travels to Byron, wins a richer pot in the sportsnational, and races at the Rock for a shot at a national championship and 10K. Total miles for those 2 races for Craig, 2900.
In this respect you can see (at least I can see) the new format working.

Over the last couple years I have sketched up plans for a mobile tarp system similar to that used on baseball fields for a dragstrip. Now Mr Feld should have good connections with tarps and tent material, it is time to invest in a system to help keep the track from getting soaked (or just wet) in rain events. If you could imagine all of the time and labor saved, jet fuel saved, increased racer and fan satisfaction, reducing the chances of weepers, I could go on and on. It would pay for itself in no time.....
a bit long sorry but if they want to run a show in a tight window I feel this would help accomplish that.
Just my crazy thoughts
Thanks,

-steve

[td1332]

I like the thoughts of doubling the purse and having the 09 and 10 TOC qualifiers run together but I also believe it will drop the car count because you already have 32 cars qualified. I have a feeling they are going to reschedule it to Florida in Feb for the 1st National event, which is bs I went all the way to Rockingham NC from Syracuse NY in Oct, closed my business for a week took my 5 year old child out of school and spent my hard earned money to go and stay there for a week and come home with nothing. Is it fair to the up north racers who may not even be able to get there trailers out of the snow and possibly have to race guys who have been already racing for months. I also agree the sportsnationals sgould have never happen

[Brandon Peterson]

free entry 10k to win, im sold put the race where ever ill be back, im out of vacation days at work took my last 3 for the braket finals and 2 days for the world finals, but i would beg and plead with my bosses to let me go....i made the moser shootout for the 2010 season ill be at Martin for my free entry for 22.5k if i lose first rd wouldnt be the first time...did last year at Milan which was 15 hours to get there for nothing...3 blown trailer tires an all night ride home and no money earned and back to work at 730 the next day...i understand what Michael is saying bout the travel but we all do it because we love racing and i for sure want it to be here for a very long time....the deal at the Rock sucked for all of us even if it was only a 45 minute ride from the house....im still moping around because i wanted to do the TOC race more than anything.........summit super sereies,bracket world finals all are a 1 race deal with a world champ at the end of the day...if i came out a TOC winner i would say hey i went to 10 pro ams 3 sports natls and 3 reg. natls this year heck yeah i deserve it i may not have won every race i attended but damn if i didn't try to......

on the lighter side of the race there were deff. too many races trying to be ran including the sports natl...but i brought my stocker and i sure was one of the dummies that wanted to run it because guess what i wanted my "last chance" to make the TOC in stock...if any of the you that had 2 cars or and opp. to drive another that weekend and make the TOC im sure you would have been glad they had that race(even though they never finished all of it...lol)

[luckydog]

I really feel for everyone involved. Seems there is no right answer regarding how to finish the TOC. Quite the pickle!! This will always be a definate possability when you put all your eggs in one basket, which is the 1 reason I dislike the TOC format, and think IHRA needs to go back to the drawing board. I hope for the best for everyone invloved.

[Pugsley]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Jason Oldfield
And supporting the new system 100% means just that - supporting it ONE HUNDRED PERCENT! If you are saying that the system needs some tweaking, then that means you're not behind it 100%. You may still generally like the new format, maybe 80% or 90%, but not 100%. 100% implies no changes are necessary.




I suppose I may have been a little vague with my statement. I do not agree 100% with the format (about 95%), but I will support it 100%. So I guess that makes it like 97.75691% is that better? By the way Jason, the top 3 in each division make it to Rockingham, not 2.
__________________
Damien Hazelton
Lucky Dog Racing
2007 IHRA Hot Rod World Champion

[Jeff Beckman]

Clearly no one answer will ever suffice for you all. No matter what decision was made then,or will be made now will go without controversy. When we race we take chances, when promoters put races together, they gamble. If we all pi$$ and moan enough, no one will organize races. Then, we will have plenty of time to be back seat drivers.

I also believe the powers that be made a ton of crap decisions. Maybe some should step aside. But at least us racers should come to terms with the fact that any decision hurts/angers someone. I'll bet I could pick any 10 racers, and could not get you to agree on a cup of coffee. Human Nature, please guys, dont kill another sanctioning body. If you race, be productive. Write to IHRA and be candid, If you think Scooter should go, write IHRA and tell them that. If you have the Ideal way to resolve this pickel, write to IHRA.

Everyone knows driving from Minnesota to Richmond for not sucks, nothing new or productive. Not a racer on this site with a heart thinks that dont stink. But it is what it is, Try to give good ideas and a positive momentum to this.

Old people will stand in line to Bitch. We'll all be old soon enough.

[luckydog]

Originally Posted by pugsley

quote:
Originally posted by jason oldfield
and supporting the new system 100% means just that - supporting it one hundred percent! If you are saying that the system needs some tweaking, then that means you're not behind it 100%. You may still generally like the new format, maybe 80% or 90%, but not 100%. 100% implies no changes are necessary.




I suppose i may have been a little vague with my statement. I do not agree 100% with the format (about 95%), but i will support it 100%. So i guess that makes it like 97.75691% is that better? By the way jason, the top 3 in each division make it to rockingham, not 2.
__________________
damien hazelton
lucky dog racing
2007 ihra hot rod world champion

huh? I don't get it Pug?

[mcaruso]

Here's a BRILLIANT idea.......

Why not give the racers points for each round they won @ a predetermined amount of regional & national races, see who has the most points and determine a champ for each class based on his accomplishments for the SEASON & call him/her the WORLD Champ?!

I can't believe NO one has ever thought of this?! BRILLIANT!

[Michael Beard]

Originally Posted by mcaruso

Here's a BRILLIANT idea.......

Why not give the racers points for each round they won @ a predetermined amount of regional & national races, see who has the most points and determine a champ for each class based on his accomplishments for the SEASON & call him/her the WORLD Champ?!

I can't believe NO one has ever thought of this?! BRILLIANT!

That's what we used to do. That, however, is not the rules that were set before us for the 2009 season. I won the first National event I went to, and because of that I didn't chase any more. Regardless of what we think of rules, one way or the other, they should be followed.

If they want to do that for 2010, that's fine. "Tell me what the rules of the playground are, and I'll go play on it."