Does IHRA run "class?"
 

Does IHRA run "class" eliminations at any of their races. In the mid-nineties, I ran J/TS at a race in Louisville, KY, for a class plaque. Do they still do that, and if so, which races do they do that at?
Thanks,
Dan

Re: Does IHRA run "class?"
 

Unfortunately, IHRA discontinued "class" eliminations several years ago. Car counts were down, schedules tightened up and the current Nitro Jam national events are basically upgraded ProAm events for divisional points.

Re: Does IHRA run "class?"
 

Last couple I went to even did away with no break out heads ups. Didn't want to have to weigh cars. Strictly bracket races.

Re: Does IHRA run "class?"
 

Ed, they do have heads up in eliminations and they scale almost every round. At least they have at every race I've been to the last three years. Jim


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Re: Does IHRA run "class?"
 

They weren't around here last few I went to. Biggest reason I stopped going.

Re: Does IHRA run "class?"
 

They weighed us every round at the Immokalee pro am a few weeks ago. It was a very well run event

Re: Does IHRA run "class?"
 

While there have been extremely rare special circumstances (weather, problem with the scales) that dictated otherwise, standard operating procedure at IHRA Pro-Ams and Nitro Jam events includes scaling cars and heads-up runs in effect.

Re: Does IHRA run "class?"
 

He keeps pushing that crap. I have raced at least 70 or 80 events and other than the world finals I have only seen it once because the scales were broken.

Re: Does IHRA run "class?"
 

He can't help it, getting old sucks and makes for a miserable old fart so he wants everyone else to be miserable right along with him.......just saying

Re: Does IHRA run "class?"
 

I'm with you Jeff.

Re: Does IHRA run "class?"
 

weigh every round in div 9 and div 2 and div 1 that i work at. i am the one doing the weighing

Re: Does IHRA run "class?"
 

Danny, you also weighed us at the national events at Tulsa. That is where I met you. It was a Div 4 race in Texas, and Baton Rouge where they didn't weigh us. I like my heads ups, it happened two races in a row.

Re: Does IHRA run "class?"
 

I am not sure what year that happened or even care for that matter, it's past history if it's even true or not, so For gods sake Ed, let it go, just let it go already.......

Re: Does IHRA run "class?"
 

I did, I only run NHRA now.

Re: Does IHRA run "class?"
 

All I can say about that it is your loss! You're missing out on some great racing. Jim


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Re: Does IHRA run "class?"
 

That's FUNNY.....A NO NAME telling a REAL racer to let it go......!!

Re: Does IHRA run "class?"
 

The only great racing I experienced were too many single digit Super Stock fields. I don't recall more than ten or twelve. I don't know how they have stayed in business.

Re: Does IHRA run "class?"
 

So I guess you won a lot of those races ?

Re: Does IHRA run "class?"
 

Never said I did. It was the same guys that I saw at Div 4 NHRA races, just very few of them. It was still on small tires then, before Eastexas Racecars back-halved it. The marginal starting lines made it pretty much a crap shoot. NHRA Div 4 track prep is the best I've been on. If I never ran with anybody else, I could have left it that way. Now, it will hook anyplace. A lot of my enjoyment comes from seeing all my raceing friends. Hardly anybody ever showed up. The cars that came were friends, pretty much all hitters. Didn't take long to catch up with everybody. :-)
If it's better in your area, I am happy for you having more places to race. I ran it about 2 years before giving up. Thought it would grow, never did.

Re: Does IHRA run "class?"
 

While we are on the subject of IHRA. Why do they race on Friday and Saturday? Instead of sat/sun.

Re: Does IHRA run "class?"
 

The discussion was about IHRA and Ed stated his experience at a couple of their races..so what?? This is a general S/SS forum last time I checked and he has every right to put it out there whether you like it or not! He's probably forgot more about S/SS than you will ever begin to know.

I'll also go out on a limb here and say that not every experience he's had with NHRA has been good and if the subject came up he would be more than happy to share those!

Re: Does IHRA run "class?"
 

What are you talking about? I wish they would race Friday and Saturday. I don't enjoy leaving the track at 5 O'clock Sunday evening and face a 6-8 hour drive home.

Re: Does IHRA run "class?"
 

They ran some like that around here. I don't know if they still do. Have not run with them for a while now. Some guys need to realize not every division is run the same, or as well.

Re: Does IHRA run "class?"
 

Its really a shame that only 10-20 or so cars show up at a lot of the races outside of the Carolinas. I guess its just a vicious circle. If IHRA checked fuel more, weighed cars more often (most tracks for the pro-ams use portable scales where you have to start and stop/start twice to get on/off the scales), maybe more people would show up.
But my guess in not in most areas of the country. Unfortunately, in a lot of the country, a lot of the races are far away, and when people are spending over $1000 to get to a race, most die-hards are going to go to an NHRA event. I think that the current ownership of IHRA is trying to do all they can to re-build the brand, but its going to take a long time. When only a handful of cars show up for a pro-am, its hard to get the tracks to keep having them and who would blame them. That's just more of the vicious circle though because if more tracks had points races, then more racers would be entering because the tracks are probably closer to their home. If they start collecting points, they are more likely to travel to other tracks. If there is more competition, it would make sense to check fuel more and scale more............
No one is right or wrong. It is just determined by your personal situation and what you want out of the sport you choose to spend your money on.

Re: Does IHRA run "class?"
 

You're going to be a happy man. IHRA made a good chunk of their races fri/sat events for 2015.

Re: Does IHRA run "class?"
 

I personally like the timing. Race on Fri, race on Sat, get home on Sun...or another day to race in case of weather issues.

Re: Does IHRA run "class?"
 

It may be marketing. I bet they get more spectators when they have the Nitro Jam cars Fri. & Sat. evening rather than Sunday.

Re: Does IHRA run "class?"
 

Sorry...I don't pay much attention to the Nitro Jam Schedules. I was just talking about the regular Pro-Am points races.

Re: Does IHRA run "class?"
 

Immokalee Had an Impressive Car Count at the Pro Am Opener this year :)

“Our event’s car count grew from 25-30% over last year,” Hester said. “It’s the biggest race we’ve ever had. We sold 276 tech cards and 269 cars went down the track in the first round. We had approximately 25 drivers that had never raced with us before. We had a wonderful time. It’s our season-opener, our biggest race of the season and something we look forward to every year. We’ve had this race for 12 years now and we’ve always been the first race, being in Florida. It means a lot for us to have that race.

Rick Blake

Re: Does IHRA run "class?"
 

Reason I asked is because I was looking at their schedule. And one of the Cordova races is Fri Sat. That means another day away from my businesses. Which after all are what pay for this craziness. And why I would prefer the sat sun setup. I'm still going to try and do at least one of the Cordova races and one of the Memphis races. Most guys biggest struggle with racing is paying for it. Mine is being able to get away from work to go do it.

Re: Does IHRA run "class?"
 

After a quick look at the schedules, it appears that most, if not all, of the double-header Pro-Ams are through Sunday. The single ProAms run in conjunction with the Nitro Jams are through Saturday.

Re: Does IHRA run "class?"
 

Even for the 'single' events like the Nitro Jams, I prefer a Sat-Sun format, but I do know that they do those particular races Fri-Sat for higher spectator attendance.

For Sat-Sun races, only the people that make it to the late rounds on Sunday have to worry much about travel time. For a Fri-Sat race, *everyone* is guaranteed to have to take off Friday, and possibly Thursday too.

Either way, it still beats NHRA's schedule. They typically close tech at 5:00 pm on the button, which drives me insane. Even though I run my own business, I have to blow a day of work even for close races just to get through tech. At least IHRA generally has tech open until 9:00PM so that long-distance travellers can get situated, or folks that live close can work most of the day and still get there in time.

I ran mostly NHRA stuff last year, and never in my life have I had to take so much time off work to make so few runs. I'll still run some this year, but I'm very happy to have IHRA back on my schedule this year where you can actually get some racing done.

Re: Does IHRA run "class?"
 

How many paid vacation days do you give yourself Michael? Lol!

Re: Does IHRA run "class?"
 

Division 4 NHRA techs Saturday mornings for guys that could not get off work for qualifying on Friday.

Re: Does IHRA run "class?"
 

Yes, I understand that tech is open Saturday morning. When Terry has the Stocker there, it can be a mad rush to get both cars through tech and ready to run. Sometimes we have to get tires, swap fuel, or there's a long line in tech. It would simply be good customer service and common sense to rotate Tech hours back on Thursdays: open later, close later.