An Idea for the Future
 

What do you guys think of making the SS/E - F - G Modified classes for pre-1970 cars only. Maybe create an H Modified for the 6-cylinder cars. Maybe make the SS/GM cars for the old big wagons like the Good Ole Charlie Brown.

Can't help it, I miss my old Modified eliminator.

Re: An Idea for the Future
 

That makes too much sense for Ca. to do.

Re: An Idea for the Future
 

I never did understand why they got rid of Modified instead of Comp. Not many raced Comp, and nobody watched Comp.

Re: An Idea for the Future
 

I would try to do it if I still worked for IHRA. Maybe something like that would be good for a NEW Sportsman Association run by input from racers and not a bunch of fuel queers and circus freaks. I miss modified to but is it to late to bring back the old days?

Re: An Idea for the Future
 

I see a new _HRA organization in the furure. ?
Maybe the S.H.R.A. (Sportsman Hot Rod Assn.)

Only one rule:
A person cannot be on the board of directors if they have never been a racer at the sportsman level.

You can be the tech man ? :D

Re: An Idea for the Future
 

Money and politics !

Re: An Idea for the Future
 

Bobby, did you see the pics I posted? Boyles just got the car repainted and it looks SWEEEEET! http://classracer.com/classforum/showthread.php?t=28555

Re: An Idea for the Future
 

Any new sanctioning body is doomed right from the beginning due to the fact that NHRA
and IHRA (obviously mostly NHRA) has a stranglehold on all the major and many minor race tracks.That is all the leverage they they need to stifle any competition.
The only hope is someone with a lot of $$$$$ coming in and sueing the HRA's in court to stop the practice.

Re: An Idea for the Future
 

You are way off base on this Ed. Back at the time that Modified got axed, it was very common for close to 60 cars or more show up for 32 car show. It was also common for 100 plus to show for 64 car show. Comp was and still is the class that bridges the gap technology and innovation wise from Super Stock to Pro Stock. I have worked on Modified cars back in the day as well as Comp cars then and now. It was a shame that Modified took it in the shorts like they did because it obsoleted most cars from that category overnight. The problem with Comp nowadays is that it is awful hard to explain index, CIC and permenant index hits to the average Joe. Collectively as Sportsman racers, we can not afford to lose any classes from Comp on down. I may not care for some sportsman classes in terms of how they race, but I hope that I never go to a race again and find out that someone just got axed like I did back in Indy many years ago. I did shed a tear when that happened to Modified knowing that this was the last time that I would see many familar faces that showed up every week without fail and supported the very organization that stuck it in their rearend. My rant is now over..........

Re: An Idea for the Future
 

Were you actually racing in the late 1970s, 1980s? Where were these 32 & 64 car shows? The WCS races were all run, national events were all class winners. Comp Eliminator today is not the Comp of those days. Mostly Econo dragsters back then.
Thinking maybe the car count fell off drastically after I quit at the end of the 1979 season when Modified greatly out numbered Comp. So after reading your " rant" I emailed Bill Long, Mike Edward's partner when he was running B/SM with his Maverick. Bill says Modified greatly out numbered Comp right up to the end. I'll take his word since I know for certain they were there. Modified Eliminator World Champs, right?

Re: An Idea for the Future
 

So, am I to assume you guys believe there's merit in a pre-1970s rule for those 3 Modified classifications?

Re: An Idea for the Future
 

Bobby, as an automotive journalist why don't you try and get an interview with Gracia,Bruce and Graham Light about these new cars?And ask them the tough questions being addressed on Class Racer?

Re: An Idea for the Future
 

The car count in those classes is so small, it just doesn't mater to the masses, only to those building a new car, right Bobby?? The more important fight is fixing the big picture items like CJ & DP classes.

Re: An Idea for the Future
 

I agree.

Re: An Idea for the Future
 

Sorry Ed,

I may have misled you in some areas of this topic. I don't dispute the large turnouts for Modified. You convey an idea that Comp had no turnout and that was not the case at all. Comp was strong back then and not so much currently. Econo dragsters were plentiful, but then again I believe they were out numbered by altereds. Edwards was the Champ, the last Champ and there is no dispute there. It was the same situation then as it is now concerning car counts if comparing SS to Comp. It only makes sense that Comp does not have the counts as it is terribly expensive to run one of these cars competitively as compared to most SS cars. Although there are a few operations out there currently that are spending Comp money to race SS. That makes no sense to me. Comp never qualified off class winners and I never remember an all run situation. Stock&Super Stock all run I agree with that, Comp was not that way in the late seventies. I will say that I read Phil Burgess' article about Modified's demise and was wondering where he got his facts about car counts. The only division that was weak was Div 6. I remember that at the Fall nationals there were more Div 1,2,3,4,5 cars than there were Div 6&7 combined. Ed, about driving back in the 70's-I would if I could have but as a 15 year old that didn't have two nickels to rub together it became apparent that that would have to wait. Now I got the nickels to run Comp but the currency changed to big dollars (it may never happen for me on my own). Atleast it didn't deter me from building an affordable stocker. One last point that I want to make. Modified did not have to be axed. It was healthy as were all sportsman classes at that time. But on a side note, they bring in more SG and SC cars now than Modified and Comp combined did back then. This axing of Modified made NHRA alot of money and put many people in business selling electronics that a rocket scientist marvels at. It also cost alot of guys alot of money on cars that were not worth .50 cents on the dollar. I worry that at some point that this will happen again to some class and we will write and talk about what a travesty it is but have no voice with the sanctioning body. It's all good isn't it? History could repeat itself.

Re: An Idea for the Future
 

Does somebody have a copy of Modified Eliminator rules?

Or at least, since I'm too young to have been around for modified, the difference between modified and comp.

Re: An Idea for the Future
 

I don't know where you're from, but in Div 4 we always had many more Modifieds than Comp, which was mostly econo dragsters, not all that many altereds. All ran at div races, paired off qualifying just like Stock, SS and Comp right now. Could be that we never had enough Comp cars for a full field, but everybody ran. I was not a 15 year old kid watching, I was about 25 years old and running a C/SM Camaro in Modified.

Re: An Idea for the Future
 

Ed,

Talked to a old Comp racer and he tells me that he thought that all run in Comp ended around 1979 (maybe 78) but no later than 1980. He also said that his opinion of why cars counts dropped in Comp was due to escalating expenses (cylinder heads primarily). You are correct about Div 4 having alot of Modified cars, much more than Comp. Same scenario in Div 3. I don't remember your C/SM Camaro, but they were a popular combination as I remember seeing many of them. The idea of classes for updated older vehicles is appealing I am sure to many people.

Re: An Idea for the Future
 

Comp Eliminator evolved in the same way as Stock and Super Stock. Today's Comp cars have a lot of the Pro Stock chassis and engine technology that makes it a very expensive class to run. I still remember when Super Modified were limited to the original suspension and the trick was to use the leaf-link system. They were also limited to a 10.5" rear tire.

Re: An Idea for the Future
 

Comp was still all run, same as Modified, when I quit at the end of 1979. The econo dragsters had the same heads and engines as super modifieds.

Re: An Idea for the Future
 

Not knocking Super Gas but I get tired of explaining to friends/co-workers how and why they run like they do off of the starting line. Modified WOULD put a few people back in the stands because they could identify with it much easier plus who in their right minds doesn't like to see a car wheelstand? Ed, I agree with you on the Comp Eliminator issue. While D4 had a bunch of Comp cars (Rickie Klarr, James Cox, Lindley Isonhood,etc), the Modified Elim/Gas class cars littered the place. I was discussing this same thing last year with Eddie Conrad. We can only dream that NHRA would create something close to Modified Eliminator again but it is not in their agenda since it would not make them money. Still is hard to believe that this class has been gone almost thirty years. These cars were responsible for creating this drag racing disease inside of me.

Re: An Idea for the Future
 

Bobby, as an automotive journalist why don't you try and get an interview with Gracia,Bruce and Graham Light about these new cars?And ask them the tough questions being addressed on Class Racer?[/QUOTE]

Now there's a good start for an article right there. It's called investigative journalism.

Re: An Idea for the Future
 

Comp in 1977-1981 when we ran it was not all run. Div 3 was 16 cars at WCS meets.
National events was either 16 or 32 cars
Indy was 64 cars
Ralph

Re: An Idea for the Future
 

Jim that's already been in the works, just takes time to finish.

So I guess few want to talk about the possibilities of this.

And yes, I am building a new car for one of those classes.

SS/E Modified

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