New shifter rule poll
 

I am doing a poll on the new shifter rule. In the 2026 season the new rule will allow you to run an RPM activated air or electric shifter in stock eliminator. This is like what Super Stock and the super classes run. I am only polling people that are on last year's points list. This is an anonymous, I am not sharing how individuals have voted, just sharing for or against results of the new rule. I am unbiased and just want to present the results to NHRA. I want to make the voices of what stock eliminator racers want. You can PM me here on Classracer or use Facebook messenger. I know not everbody is on these two plarforms so if you know someone that is not, please help me reach out to them with contact info like a phone # to text them or an Email. FOR or AGAINST the new rule.

Thanks to every one that has already replied to me and every one that has help me get contacts. For D3 Travis and Ellis Buth are helping out and you can contact them by the same as above.

Re: New shifter rule poll
 

Could not get PM to work on this site.

My son and I both race Stock/SS and we are very
against the rule in stock!

Re: New shifter rule poll
 

I don't really have anything against it in Stock or Super Stock for that matter. I can say with certainty it is a sanitizing effect for me and makes it more boring as a driver.

My Stocker has a stick shift and it is way more fun to drive than when it was an automatic (e-shift) and when I drive one of our Super Stockers that has an air shifter. I have had more success with the automatics since I am new to the manuals, but I think I thrive on chaos which my Stocker has it in spades.

That may bode well for me. Ha!

Re: New shifter rule poll
 

I speak for myself and not Brenda.

Well... This Bull$41t. If you cannot shift a stocker on your own you have no business racing stock eliminator. Brenda Shifts her... car on her own (once or possibly twice)... with the front wheels in the air. We were asked by a person/company to run an automated shifter/transmission in the 2000's. We passed on a this and never looked back.

I know it will piss a lot of people off (I speak for myself and not Brenda). I...I believe if you want to run and automated shifter you should have to run what came from the factory. (IE...a Factory ECU). We need to change for the sake of leveling the playing field.

Then there are the "it levels the playing field people." Once again Bull$41T. Fine.. lets go with that. Factory cars have CNC ported heads, some cars have blowers/turbos, some cars have EFI, some factory cars have Comp Eliminator styled pistons, some cars have shorter/longer wheelbases, some cars are smaller, some have more rear overhang, some cars have a plethora of engine choices, some cars are faster, have lighter pistons/rods/crankshafts, some have more cylinders, larger/smaller cylinders, some have better stroke/bore ratios. We need to change for the sake of leveling the playing field.

What about the stick racers... we should give them automated shifters for Lenco drives. I do not know of a stock eliminator stick driver that shifts with the clutch (except when driving around the pits). They tear up way more parts than any other drivers I know. I know one driver that had a trans repaired after...lets just say less than 50 runs. The bill was close to a new transmission. next time he will just order a new trans (granted their car is Bad ***** quick). We need to change for the sake of leveling the playing field.

Where will it stop? Do you have the money to keep up with the proverbial Jonses'. Maybe we should ask the advantaged racers to pay for the upgrades to the disadvantaged races program. You know for the sake of leveling the playing field

If this rule goes into effect...(and from what I am hearing is it has yet to be written in stone), I will begrudgingly adapt (given if it is what the driver wants). But where will the insanity end.

We can make changes for the sake of leveling the playing field, change the class to Bracket 1, and give out participation trophies...or we can race the car we choose (with all the warts, pimples, short cars, tall cars, skinny cars, fat cars, cars with small feet, cars with big feet, black cars , red cars, blue cars, yellow cars, or even white cars... you get to make the choice), and be happy!

Re: New shifter rule poll
 

Please not in stock. Damn shift your car !!!!!

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The first time I saw a Camaro with an electric aluminum water pump and an electric fan,...no shroud, and 6 inches of nothing in between, I knew it was over ..Just a matter of time.
This particular caper doesn't matter much. I'd vote NO just on general principles, but it's already gone.

Re: New shifter rule poll
 

Most of my time has been spent In a Super Gas car. So I'm familiar with air shifters.

But not in Stock. I want to go Stock racing, partially because they don't have all that crap and you have to drive the car.

Re: New shifter rule poll
 

If a slush box racer can not shift his trans he should not be in the drivers seat.

Re: New shifter rule poll
 

I am also very much against the air/electric shifter rule.

Casey FJ
3480 U/SA

Re: New shifter rule poll
 

Put me down as AGAINST.

Re: New shifter rule poll
 

Where or who did this idea come from?

Re: New shifter rule poll
 

If you can run e shift then you should be able to have an air shifter. It doesn?t affect me either way as I don?t care, but in all fairness if you?re gonna have one, you gotta have the other.

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Why was E shift ever allowed in Stock, not available to all just certain Makes and Models?

I’m old and need all the help I can get, but if all Stockers can’t get/use it, should not be allowed.

RJ

Re: New shifter rule poll
 

NO to any kind of self-shifting setup.. shouldn't be allowed in new cars either.
my opinion stock ,super stock and comp should be shifted by the driver.

I propose ALL self-shifting devices be prohibited in Stock, Super Stock and Comp Eliminator

Re: New shifter rule poll
 

no to the proposed new rule.

If level playing field is what is wanted, then everyone should shift every gear.

Re: New shifter rule poll
 

nope, have to shift the trans by hand. just another expense added to racing a car, leave the rules alone, thanks.

Re: New shifter rule poll
 

No, not in Stock.

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What is good and allowed for one, should be allowed by all. Why should someone have an advantage over another? I have raced both with and without. I personally like the consistency of using it. Dyno

Re: New shifter rule poll
 

I run a stick in stock, I say NO.

Randy Wells
I/S 5628

Re: New shifter rule poll
 

I'm running SS so I have no dog in this fight but I'm against any rule that puts Stock closer to Super Stock.

Re: New shifter rule poll
 

Well said Bill, I don't agree with it either. But you know what I want to level the playing field, a rear suspension like the new cars have!

Re: New shifter rule poll
 

Not only NO but &@$! NO!!!

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They have to shift Pro Stockers by hand. So for Stock, No electric/pneumatic.

Re: New shifter rule poll
 

This post is intriguing to me, because if the shifters are allowed, then it'll be added to a growing list of parts legal on Stockers that weren't back in the '80's or '90's. What humors me more is when I look at the pure stock drag racing from Mid-America Raceway. They show muscle cars that run 14's and 15's in the quarter-mile. Interesting that my Z24 Cavalier ran a 17.55 @ Bandimere Speedway in October 1994, which at sea level would've been a 16.51. My point being cars that run 10's to 11's today (thanks to allowances many Stockers enjoy that weren't legal 30-40yrs ago), would've only been 2sec's (+/-) quicker than my so-called "slow car"!
When I ran that 17.55 "Shark Bait" 🦈, still had the power robbers in it, and was a street legal car itself!

Normally I would start a thread in honor of April being "Muscle Motor Month", but now that the FS ('er Factory Super-Charged) cars get to run in Stock, even the A‐D class cars have since become chasees, at the hands of mouse motor supercharged modern muscle cars!

Heck, even beyond the above modern day reality, I can compare my FWD car to Stockers back in the '70's and '80's, and Surprise Surprise, they didn't run 3-5sec.' quicker than my Cavalier, like they do nowadays!!!! 🤔

Re: New shifter rule poll
 

Whether or not the new change happens, I'll still be pushing the same buttons I have been since 71.

Re: New shifter rule poll
 

I vote NO.

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Another proposal to take stock farther from stock???
How about the 9x30 slicks that were first allowed in 1975, gee, that is 50 years ago. Should that be updated as well? How about 18x36 or thereabouts?

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I honestly do not care any way.

But I would truly like to see a sound argument against, other than saying it is not the way stock should be or has been over the years.

If that was the case, why were two steps allowed in the early 2000s? If you cannot footbrake your car, you should not be in stock.

The same logic from this thread could be applied to the two step argument but I do not hear anyone out hear beating the drum for disallowing two steps.

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I would be ok with the two steps getting taken away as well, at least for the Auto cars. I am fine with stick cars having a 2 step. Have the rules similar to sportsman class in that regard.

Re: New shifter rule poll
 

Best shifter I have ever used...

Re: New shifter rule poll
 

Agreed, take the 2 steps from autos as well!

Casey FJ

Re: New shifter rule poll
 

My logic is.... Pro Stock, Pro Mod TAD, TAFC all shift as result of driver function all performance based, non electronic classes, MY REASONING and PROPOSAL is why should Stock,Super Stock and Competition Eliminator be ANY different than the other perfomance based,non electronic classes..

.90 classes, Top Sportsman ,Top Dragster and Super Pro are electronic, bracket based classes let them use air/electric/co2 automated shifters

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I'm with you guys on 2-steps, no idea why autos have them. I do not use one and I'm honestly not sure why I would need one.

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How about cam and heads like the new cars!

Once down the rabbit hole...

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It would seem that we have come along ways from Stock. The Genie is out of the bottle. If we go back to stock there should only be OEM components used. Exhaust manifolds, carbs, original springs and suspension components, shocks. There are combos that have complete aftermarket engines. So the whole automaticity shifting an automatic transmission seems to not really matter in my opinion. If we are all honest with ourselves there is something on all of our cars that is improved from stock. I?m not going to pretend I dont.

Re: New shifter rule poll
 

NOPE!

Re: New shifter rule poll
 

After racing all 3 types of cars last year (4-speed, automatic & air-shifter) I discovered the shifter type doesn't play a role in whether I won a round or lost. Leaving on time and driving the finish line seem to be more crucial to winning, which I discovered I am not very good at anymore...

The same guys will win most rounds because they can repeat rounds if you gave them a tricycle.

My preferred car to race for a fun factor is my 4-speed.

As a mentor told my once after I asked him why he switched to a 4-speed, he stated "they won't let me run a 10-speed".

I want to win, but the fun factor is hard to beat.

If I am watching my daughter go down the track, I'll take the air shifter option.

The only advantage I see on utilizing an Air Shifter personally is having more time to find an opponent, which I believe is well within the realm of the high speed cars we are currently competing against who have them.

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I am sure you would agree that to cut consistent reactions times while foot braking you need to have steady starting line rpms. With dual 750 carbs and vacuum secondaries, my car is not easy to hold a steady rpm while staging. The 2 step lets me leave consistently at the desired rpm. You may not need one, but other combinations do.

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Same here, when I'm staged, my right hand is on the wheel and left thumb on the second gear button, it's almost too easy.

Re: New shifter rule poll
 

As one of many who are still left after fifty years starting with pure stock in my 68 Cobra Jet with a fully automatic transmission , and then a 1969 BBC Camaro again with a fully automatic transmission , along with other stock eliminator cars I have owned .As the years have gone by there been many changes to the rules ,some I agree with, some I do not ,I feel the big question is not how the car is shifted , today with all the technology the the newer car have compared to the cars of the sixty's , it's easy to understand why many want to up date the technology in the older race cars ,but hard to understand why many do not , the old statement one more change to the rules, and we will all be in super stock ,at this point in time I would hope that after the dozens of changes since pure stock we can move to a equal playing field that all benefit, and not worry about how the race car is shifted