Proposal and NHRA and IHRA Responses

[Ed Carpenter]

Here is a copy of the proposal. I emailed it to whole bunch of people, but here it is for everyone to see. I was hesitant to do so because I don't want to start any fights. I got great feedback positive and negative from the racers, who did respond. I did get some down right nasty emails and PM's from some people. I should have expected that and I kinda said ok screw it. I'm not going to do that. Let's all have constructive thoughts on the matter. You will see my ideas in the proposal and it was nice to hear from Graham Light at NHRA and Skooter Peaco at IHRA.

[Ed Carpenter]

Edwin (Ed) R, Carpenter Jr.
801 Glosson Ranch Rd. Dripping Springs, TX 78620
Cell: 512-517-8235
Email: trooper10538@netzero.com

May 24, 2017
Mr. Graham Light
GLight@nhra.com
National Hot Rod Association
2035 Financial Way
Glendora, CA 91741

Mr. Light,
I have been involved in racing for 40 plus years, first with my father, then on my own, and now with my son. I am an avid Super Stock racer, who has been racing in the class for about eleven years. Although my duties as a Texas State Trooper limit my participation super stock is my passion. I have been absent for the past two years due to multiple back surgeries. We are currently making plans to come back this year.
I wanted to communicate with you about enhancing the performance aspect of the stock and super stock categories. The performance aspect seems to be somewhat slipping and the purist of the sport like myself don’t want to see that happen. The performance aspect of stock and super stock racing is what brought me to the class. Each racer trying to outqualify the other on the sheet. Racers trading places on the record page working their butts off to make their car faster to get the record back. It’s called pride in what we do. As a Marine, I was always taught to improvise, adapt, and overcome no matter the situation. That’s what we as racers do during the week no matter the outcome the previous week. We work hard to better the performance of our cars each week.
Our car competes in Super Stock H. It has taken my son and I eleven years to put ourselves in the position to be competitive with the competition. Why did we stick with it so long with many many problems along the way? The desire to make my car go fast, in fact, faster than anyone else in my class. I desire to outperform everyone in my class. Performance drives us as racers. Performance is what we strive for. I have put a lot of thought into ideas and ways in which NHRA could bring performance back to the forefront in stock and super stock. I hope you and the rest of the management team at NHRA will be receptive to my proposal.
The national records page for stock and super stock are virtually empty. Records are at the root of sportsman racing. We as racers spend countless time, money, and energy in pursuit to make our cars faster. Currently, the records page is a one page forgotten piece in National Dragster. Records need to

Mr. Graham Light 2 May 24, 2017

be brought back to the forefront for stock and super stock. We have seen a loss of participation from several racers over the past few years. The racers I talk to speak directly to the point that performance in stock and super stock is fading away. In fact, I spoke to a racer a month ago at a divisional event and asked, “where is your car” he said why race anymore the performance side is gone, class means nothing, and records are a thing of the past”. This gentleman has raced stock in the NHRA since the early 70’s. It’s a shame he has decided to leave the sport. He still has his car and said if things were to change he would come back. I feel there are several others like him, but we as a racing community can do something about it right now and bring back those racers who have left. Bringing back those racers and bringing in new racers is healthy for the sport and NHRA.
I have a few proposals related to records, class racing and qualifying that the NHRA could implement to help take stock and super stock back to the performance classes they should be. First, racers would be awarded points for national records for elapsed time and speed. Twenty points for an elapsed time record and ten points for a speed record. Individuals would be allowed to set two records per year. Records can be set only with the same car (can be different combo) to prevent racers from borrowing a fast car to gain points in a championship run. No cost to NHRA.
Second, it’s time to combine the sticks and automatics. Today, there is no advantage of one over the other. Automatic transmission technology along with convertor technology has made the stick-shift advantage extinct. This increases performance in stock and super stock, in that, the possibility of heads-up races increases. Once again performance comes back to the forefront of stock and super stock racing. No cost to NHRA.
Third, when racers think of stock and super stock they think of class racing. While we as racers appreciate the opportunities to compete in class eliminations at national events expanding class racing to divisional races is another performance enhancement. Many racers like myself simply cannot compete in many national events and many times in the past when I have competed class was not offered at that event. Having class eliminations at 3 races, per division, per year, would go a long way towards providing a solution for more class racing and bringing back the performance aspect of stock and super stock.
Finally, a racer setting an elapsed time or speed record will be rewarded with one grade point to be used towards entering an NHRA national event. The racer will have one year to redeem. No cost to NHRA.
Once a record is set it can only be replaced or removed if another racer breaks the existing record or NHRA refactors the HP of a car or changes a weight factor.
A very important point here is these proposed enhancements for setting records, class racing, or qualifying in the top 10 still allows those who don’t want to work/spend for the performance continue to participate in the sport.

Mr. Graham Light 3 May 24, 2017

Setting national records does several positive things. First, it gives the owners, drivers, sponsors, and vendors increased exposure throughout the entire racing community. Secondly, suppliers of engines, transmissions, clutches, convertors, carburetors, headers etc. will certainly see positive exposure for their products that are tied to a record-setting car. Finally, and very important to racers the car owner/driver getting his/her name, crew, car info (year, make, model, engine etc.), and their sponsors give the racer the recognition deserved for setting a national record. Publication in National Dragster, social media reports, television audiences, drag racing websites, and on-line communities.
I believe implementing these incentives to set national records will bring more sponsors on board. Suppliers want to be associated with top level performances. Striving for performance can expand the success of the suppliers and contingency sponsors to our sport. Successful businesses backing our sport make our sport stronger along with the sanctioning body. Engine suppliers, engine component companies, transmissions suppliers, converters, clutch co., rear end components, etc. certainly would step forward at the chance to promote their products tied to national record holding cars. It’s a win-win situation for everyone. I know with the resources that the NHRA has at its disposal sponsorship for setting national records is attainable. The addition of Fox and All Access has given NHRA and drag racing in general a boost. Viewership is up and that brings renewed interest to drag racing. These are avenues where the performances of stock and super stock can be showcased to the masses.
I, as an individual, secured over seven thousand dollars in cash, products, and services from 23 sponsors for a Super Stock K Shootout I held in Columbus, Ohio in 2014. Many engine builders, transmission suppliers, clutch suppliers, carburetor suppliers, etc. in the stock and super stock business were my biggest supporters. Some of my sponsors were Dean Oliver (Deano’s Carbs), Matt Hartford at Total Seal, Paul Lee at McLeod Clutches, Brian Browell at Browell Bell housings, Hyatt Racing Clutches, Craig at Liberty Transmissions, Allan and Todd Patterson at Patterson/Elite, Jeff Taylor Performance, J. Allen Sherman (Sherman Racing engines), Cometic Gaskets, CompCams/FAST, Bullet Cams, and Jiffy-Tite fittings just to name a few. When seeking the assistance of these companies the biggest response I received was yes, we want to be a part of this race because its performance based. My main point here is support for performance is there these companies and individuals are proof of that. I know they would jump at the chance to support racers setting national records and putting their products on display.
Also, we as racers understand some races makes it incredibly difficult for technical personnel to tear down cars (especially if several cars set records) at one time. My thoughts are if a racer sets a national et or speed record an NHRA official will have the option to seal the engine (head to block, intake to head, carb to intake) after the car crosses the scales and passes fuel check. NHRA then can tear down said vehicle at a future NHRA event to be determined. Until the teardown process has taken place no official record will be recorded, no points awarded or entered the National Dragster.
Another proposal I would like to make is to award points for the top 10 qualifiers at national and divisional races. Points would look like this:

Mr. Graham Light 4 May 24, 2017

Qualifying Top 10 Points
1. 5 points
2. 5 Points
3. 4 Points
4. 4 Points
5. 3 Points
6. 3 Points
7. 2 Points
8. 2 Points
9. 1 Points
10. 1 Points

These are more components that will entice racers to run their cars hard and once again bring back the performance aspect of stock and super stock. Qualifying in the top 10 of an NHRA event should mean something. It’s quite an accomplishment to qualify in the top 10 with the level of competition in stock and super stock. Gaining points will encourage racers to run their cars all out and seek the points available. Also, adding class eliminations to more national events. Stock and super stock racers live to run heads-up against the competition. It’s back to the performance aspect of racing. It’s ingrained in stock and super stock racers. Once again, offering class at more events showcases the potential performance of the cars and gives national attention to racers, sponsors, vendors, and NHRA.
Finally, I would like to emphasize that I have had tremendous positive feedback via texts, calls, emails, Facebook, and our popular class racer website about this subject. I was asked to speak about it my proposal tonight on WheelsUp radio by Chris Barnes. I am excited and optimistic about what can come from this. Stock and Super Stock has always been about performance. I think Wally Parks would be amazed to see how fast stock and super stock cars are today. Putting that performance on display at every race will benefit the racers, the fans, sponsors, vendors, and NHRA. It is my hope that NHRA will take a serious look at these proposals. Thank you for your time and attention in this matter.




Mr. Graham Light 5 May 24, 2017


Sincerely,
Edwin R. Carpenter Jr.
SS/H 4244



Cc: Peter Clifford
Pat Cvengros
Danny Gracia
Glen Gray

[Ed Carpenter]

Mr. Light's response

Edwin,

As always, we welcome input from our racers and appreciate you taking the time to share your thoughts.

Glen Gray and I discussed your suggestions while at the New England Nationals this past weekend. Glen will be gathering input from the SRAC and evaluating your suggestions with both other racers and NHRA Stock/SS personnel.

Obviously the middle of the racing season is extremely hectic for everyone (racers and NHRA staff) which unfortunately will delay the review process. That being said however, Glen is committed to reviewing your input and will be responding upon completion of his review.

Thank you for your support and participation in NHRA Championship Drag Racing.

Regards,
Graham Light


Mr. Peaco's Response

Thanks for the effort you put into this. We will put this on the conversation list for when the competition committee goes through the class racing program. We have had this discussion in the past but never in this much detail. I hope we can preserve class racing in general and this is certainly a part of it.



Skooter

[Mike Voth]

A step in the right direction. I guess we'll see if it fades away or actually gets serious review from Light and Gray. Either way, I commend you, Ed, for driving these proposals forward.

[SSGT Mustang]

Couldn't agree more. Nicely done.

I wouldn't mind seeing a dramatic decrease in classes too. More heads-up runs is a good thing. Socialist racing is not...in my opinion.

[J.R. Haddad]

Ed, very nicely done. A large effort on your part on all of our behalves.
Nice to see a timely response from the HRA'S. J.R.

[sammy pizzolato]

thanks Ed for all your hard work. i hope some good comes out of this.

[jimi]

Thank you Ed well done. This is something that I believe most racers will support. If everyone would step up and send at least an email or if we make an online petition to sign in support of Ed's proposal that out lines each individual racer and competition number , I think it would be hard for either sanctioning body to ignore it.

[Frank Castros]

Very well done Ed and thank you.

[HR9121]

Nicely done Ed and very well written, I hope they will consider this and just not lip service. Thanks for your time and effort on behalf of class racers.