IHRA Sportsman racers - Letter from Skooter Peaco
 

To All IHRA Sportsman Racers:

As we head into the new year, we wanted to make sure that everyone has seen or heard of the major change we have made to help sportsman racers compete for a world championship in 2009.

I know many of you have read about the new "Tournament Of Champions" program by now, but there are a still a bunch of racers who have not. I wanted to pass along this link to the details of the program for those who have not seen what change is in store for 2009. http://www.ihra.com/article/3619.html We are very excited about the possibility of opening up a national program to so many that have not been able to participate in the past.

Additionally, the rules updates for 2009 have been announced and can be found here
http://www.ihra.com/article/3741.html along with the special class schedule http://www.ihra.com/article/3666.html.

Last but not least, we have expanded the popular sportsman only Champion Systems "Sportsman Nationals" series presented by VP Racing Fuels http://www.ihra.com/proam/results/2009/index.php to 6 events in 2009. These will be events that will also be Tournament Of Champions qualifiers for the class winners. We are excited to have Champion Systems (a new sportsman racer oriented team uniform manufacturer) and VP Racing Fuels see the value in what IHRA does for sportsman racing to support these events.

Since Champion Systems is brand new to drag racing, they wanted to pass along an introduction to you:

.....Greetings from Champion System. I’m Scott Kaylin, one of the co-founders, and I would like to invite you to stop by our booth at the PRI Trade Show (booth 5346 and 5348). We’ll be displaying our full line of custom technical pit crew shirts that are only $60 each.

We’re excited to be the official uniform supplier of IHRA Drag Racing as well as the title sponsor of the 2009 Sportsman Nationals Series and we’re looking forward to supporting race teams of all levels. We offer pit crew shirts and other tech garments at unheard-of low prices and our new CS-5 program has a low 5 piece minimum for full custom crew shirts with no artwork, design or set-up charges. We think this low minimum is what sportsman racers have been looking for.

Feedback is always important to us so please contact me if you have any questions about our products or services. We look forward to working with IHRA race teams and to making custom crew shirts that will really set your team apart!

I look forward to having the opportunity to making you and your team part of the Champion System family

That brings you up to date. It seems like we are making announcements on a daily basis lately, so feel free to stop by ihra.com for all the news. We will continue to communicate all the news to you and you can always feel free to contact myself or my team in the competition department with any questions, concerns or comments. We are continually searching for new and innovative ways to grow our sportsman racing programs and feedback from you helps a great deal. The best way to find out what is going on is to contact us directly and not rely on the internet message boards for information. Based on the quality and accuracy of what is on the message boards, those should be used for entertainment purposes only!

As we face new challenges in the new year, rest assured we are ready to meet them head on. All of us at IHRA wish you and your family Happy Holidays and a safe New Year!


Skooter Peaco
Vice President
IHRA / Feld Motorsports

Re: IHRA Sportsman racers - Letter from Skooter Peaco
 

I got a email from Skooter informing me that in the race for Champion that Stock & Superstock same class would be a spot. I would like to apologize to all nhra races who said we nothing but braket racers. Sorry you were right. Marvin strickland jr. 9777 c/cm

Re: IHRA Sportsman racers - Letter from Skooter Peaco
 

Marvin, I agree 100% This really doesn't make sense to me though I've seen a few posts from people stating that a racer may "borrow a fast car" to race forcing a heads up run. This is easily prevented by IHRA, I'm not sure of this but I would guess that there aren't a lot of the same class cars in the normal top of points. Sure a racer could at the "run off" borrow a car to run heads up however he would have to know the pairings in advance correct? how would he know what class car to borrow? And last but not least this is Class Racing, which unless the meaning has changed means two cars in the same class run "HEADS UP" sure it would be upsetting to be beat in a championship run off in a heads up run, but just think how the winner would feel, if he indeed did it the right way, WOW I raced good and now my hard work on my CLASS CAR paid off. Just my opinion and I know it's not widely accepted. Joe. By the way what the heck does SCOOTER know about class racing? I thought he ran the Rod classes.

Re: IHRA Sportsman racers - Letter from Skooter Peaco
 

From what I understand,this is for ONE race that theoretically only the best drivers will be participating in.If there is a very populated class,somebody could feasibly win 5 or 6 rounds of heads up races with a fast car that they don't even own.It could be borrowed for just this ONE race.I think they made a good decision on this.Like I said before,IHRA could have FREE entry and $1000 cash for first round losers at all events and some would still be upset.Since I race both sanctioning bodies,my car is built to NHRA rules.I didn't even realize until reading another thread that IHRA doesn't care what size rods you run or what the weight of your pistons are,or what your cylinder head volume is.That could be a real disadvantage racing somebody in the same class..Its tough to please everyone.I'm not saying this just because I have a slow car.

Re: IHRA Sportsman racers - Letter from Skooter Peaco
 

This is out and out bull****!
We are supposed to be class racers. Class racers race heads up when you meet a same class car.
If you are lucky enough to make it to the final race of champions then you should be bringing your "A" game. As a driver and with the performance of your car.

Would IHRA give a nitrous pro mod a spot against a blower pro mod in the finals due to their inequity?

Go fast or stay home!

Re: IHRA Sportsman racers - Letter from Skooter Peaco
 

[QUOTELike I said before,IHRA could have FREE entry and $1000 cash for first round losers at all events and some would still be upset.Since I race both sanctioning bodies,my car is built to NHRA rules.I didn't even realize until reading another thread that IHRA doesn't care what size rods you run or what the weight of your pistons are,or what your cylinder head volume is.That could be a real disadvantage racing somebody in the same class..Its tough to please everyone.I'm not saying this just because I have a slow car.[/QUOTE]

The entry cost doesn't bother me, you pay to play, what bothers me is the no heads up thing of which there would be a slim to none chance of happening, however there are no doubt some racers that would do anything to win. What with all the lifting @ 1000' running to the I-card and running their ladder generating software to try and hook up with a "duck" it's obvious that there are some racers more worried about "playing the game" than racing heads up. sorry if this offends some people but as my dad always said the" truth only hurts if it should". Most of the racers I know value the respect of their peers above most things and would not intentionally do anything to lose that. IMO Joe

Re: IHRA Sportsman racers - Letter from Skooter Peaco
 

Hypothetical situation:
Racer A has an A/SA car that runs .7 under because he doesn't have $$$ coming out of his ***.Racer
B is a so called traveling sportsman pro and has an A/SA car that goes .8 or .9 under.He has alot of contacts to borrow a 1.20 under car.Bye bye low buck guy.
On the other hand Racer A might get lucky and be offered a fast ride.So it's a wash.
I would go along with the heads up runs if the participant would have to use the car they raced all year.
But wait,some guys use different cars sometimes during the season.What a mess.Obviously there is no fair solution to the problem.Every body is right and every body is wrong.

Ed F.

Re: IHRA Sportsman racers - Letter from Skooter Peaco
 

[/QUOTE]The entry cost doesn't bother me, you pay to play, what bothers me is the no heads up thing of which there would be a slim to none chance of happening, however there are no doubt some racers that would do anything to win. What with all the lifting @ 1000' running to the I-card and running their ladder generating software to try and hook up with a "duck" it's obvious that there are some racers more worried about "playing the game" than racing heads up. sorry if this offends some people IMO Joe[/QUOTE]

Some people actually lift @1000 ft HOPING to get a "Heads Up".It is all part of the strategy of SS/S racing.Just as some are hoping to avoid a heads up,others are hoping that they can get one.If enough people feel strongly enough about this rule,maybe it could be "voted on" before the race.If the majority want heads up,then I think it should be that way.I gave my $4.42,maybe some others can give theirs.I would post a poll on here,but a bunch of people will vote that don't even have any intention of running any IHRA races anyway.

Re: IHRA Sportsman racers - Letter from Skooter Peaco
 

It would seem that with as many classes as they have in Super Stock, that the slow guys could duck into a production class to avoid the heads up thing. Maybe its more of a problem in stock. However I personally have had to spend alot of money to keep up in the normal classes since IHRA won't allow a ford racer to be able to compete in the production classes due to the silly corporate transmission rule. Don't the GM cars have a Ford 9 inch rear end in them? But irregardless, seems like a let down after all the money and work I did to my car to make it fast enough to protect myself frorm the heads ups that I would have to spot someone who hasn't paid his dues in the sport cause hes only been racing IHRA a couple races here or there for a year or two, the same jerk off that would be so arrogant to think my shut off runs had anything to do with him and come in my pit area and bitch at me that I was trying to get him heads up. No on the contrary my shut off runs are mostly because I can't run one of the soft production classes anymore and cannot qualify high enough to get a bye run and so even though I have twice/three times the money and work into my engine, they get a first round bye in an odd car field, while I qualify 4th on an all out run and don't get any bye runs. So why am I tearin up my stuff in qualifying. I would be better served to shut off and get that #1, #2 qualifier and race him for his bye run. So for all the people who piss and moan about "what are you doin?" theres your answer. remember this cause the next time somebody comes whining at me in my pit area I won't be as pleasant I have been in the past... Oh yeah and as far as the division winners get a first round bye, thats stupid. They should take whatever the field is and qualify em in the same manner as each class uses all year and run em in the normal race format. It would be better if there weren't ANY bye runs if the ladder worked out that way..

Re: IHRA Sportsman racers - Letter from Skooter Peaco
 

I agree and disagree with this type of racing format ......But, each of the Accel Survivor Series races had the same bracket race format. One year there were 2 well known B/SA cars and drivers that ran into each other in the semis I believe. These 2 never complained about not running heads up! This is the same idea.
I do see how some "high dollar killer fast respectable cars" would have a problem. Not to be a dick but if you dont like the format dont do it. My slow car will then have a better chance to get in this race. Happy Holidays.