Re: With 200 in both stock and super stock what will the bum
 

I went the whole enchilada. I couldn't run the index and won class a couple of years and missed the ladder, then ran the index and won class, then ran .500 under and won class and then when YEARS of tradition were trashed because of the never ending whining I will admit now that I cheated to run fast enough to qualify for the ladder!
So I suppose the 129th qualifier in '08 and '09 has a bitch coming!

Re: With 200 in both stock and super stock what will the bum
 

Depends on the air. Last year the air was pretty ugly and the bump .78. I think its going to take close to .90-under in Stock with 200 cars entered.

Re: With 200 in both stock and super stock what will the bum
 

I say .693 under gets you in SS.

Re: With 200 in both stock and super stock what will the bum
 

No malice intended. Personally have nothing against FWD cars (or tow bars for that matter). Merely pointing out something that Bob Frey used to say, "one man's ceiling is another man's floor"

I do, however, remember the year my father-in-law's car "qualified" about 125th but didn't get to race after the bump-ins (mostly single car class winners) were added. Needless to say he was quite frustrated.

I don't get a vote but if I did, my preference would be that the quickest 128 cars qualify.

Re: With 200 in both stock and super stock what will the bum
 

Class winners don't "bump-in". They WERE in. NHRA even worded it that way in the payout section for Nat'l events: "128 car field max (Class winners + low ET qualifiers)". Class winners are IN; the field was filled with the quickest cars (against Index) that did not win Class.

Your father-in-law didn't get ''bumped'' by a Class Winner. He got bumped by a quicker, non-Class winning car.

Re: With 200 in both stock and super stock what will the bum
 

Kevin ,This could be debated for a week here. Just like politics, you won't change anyone's mind either.

Little background here:

First thing happened, Class win cash and goodies declined significantly since the 70's.

2, A new generation of racers , raised on bracket racing, decided the Eliminator was where the money was at. They figured out it was easier to win with the faster car.
2A, Another sub- group decided that, if they were going to spend all that money for travel and entries, they might as well have a 10 second car and do big wheelies, and try to emulate the consistent winners' come from behind strategy.

3 , Now the low 11 and10 second cars held a majority, but a bunch of them couldn't get in the eliminator at Indy.
They asked for a rule change that tossed out a 50 + year tradition ...and they got it.

So,
Does NHRA ever have a long range vision on this stuff , or do they just sit by and watch it happen and just wing it, after the fact?
Maybe you could tell us. Glad to have you here.

Re: With 200 in both stock and super stock what will the bum
 

Mike Carr,

You are simply arguing semantics here. The fact is that under the previous system a .70-under car went home while a .50-under car raced. I'm sure some people are fine with that and others aren't.

Mark,

You are 100% correct when you say this could be debated endlessly with zero progress made. Personally, I'd like to think I've been around long enough to have respect for longstanding traditions such as Indy class, but I also like to think I'm progressive enough to understand that sometimes change is inevitable.

I can't tell you if the decision to abandon the "win class and you're in" rule was the right one but with 402 SS and STK cars currently entered for Indy I don't think you could say that it was a mistake either.

Finally, I'll address your comments about NHRA's long range vision. As you know, I write for National Dragster. I don't work in the Tech Dept. and I don't make policy and I'm quite happy about that. I suppose this would also be a good place to file the standard disclaimer that states that any opinion expressed here is solely my own.

Personally, I'm counting the days 'till Wednesday's first session at Indy and I'm not sure if I've felt that way for a few years.

Kevin

Re: With 200 in both stock and super stock what will the bum
 

If it was too wrong in most people's view, I doubt there would be so many entires. Agree?

Re: With 200 in both stock and super stock what will the bum
 

If you count the 08 and 09 challengers, I can up with 65 or so new cars. Mustangs, Camaro's, and Challengers. I would think most could qualify, that leaves 63 spots for 135 or so cars... So 89 under in stock and 83 under in super stock. I also counted 24 or so hemi cars. That should be a blast to watch.

Re: With 200 in both stock and super stock what will the bum
 

Ed, I don't think the participant numbers in general have changed a lot since the 70's..just the demographics have..

Also I think tradition is very underrated in this case .

After all, where are all the .90 cars?
**
I better get on the board here: .90 under in Stock