Where were you TEXAS, & D4 racers???
 

I'm asking this because of the shockingly poor turnout that this race had from you guys...especially since Scooter Peaco told me yesterday that Texas has the second largest IHRA membership (second only to North Carolina). I don't get it given I, Matt & Chuck Hawk, as well as Steve Mikus, and Joe Harper, traveled through other states to get here to participate in this race that you guys begged IHRA to offer you?

Well guess what, your poor showing here, just insured that this race won't be back here ever again (per Scooter Peaco, vp of racing operations)! You had the biggest paying race in your categories that any HRA could/would provide, and you didn't show up....I'm waiting to read a collection of reasons why people stayed home, and failed to support this so-called wanted event!!! I read the other website about this thread, and in it I noticed only two racers (so far), had good reasons to not attend...what about the rest of you???

Guess what, North Carolina, you'll be getting this race next year, and given that your state loves IHRA drag racing so much, that you have your own division, Texas's loss will be your gain!!!! I hope you're happy with yourselves Texans, I know the North Carolinans will be!!!

Re: Where were you TEXAS, & D4 racers???
 

NC has the highest membership and we:
Have to drive 600 miles to the nearest Nitro Jam race.
Have to drive 300 miles to the nearest Sportsman Spectacular.
Have to drive 600 miles to the season ending TOC Championship race.
COME ON IHRA. We feel like we have been left out in the cold.
Chip Johnson

Re: Where were you TEXAS, & D4 racers???
 

Chip atleast you don't live down here on the coast, you can add 2 hours to all your tows but the fishing sure is better out here! If they don't get more in line with the membership or atleast me I'll be using my super street # some next year.

Re: Where were you TEXAS, & D4 racers???
 

They have surely opened the doors for the N crowd to swoop in.
Zmax- 2 hours
Bristol- 5hrs
Atlanta- 5 hrs
VMP 3.5hrs
Thats 7 races total right there.
Chip

Re: Where were you TEXAS, & D4 racers???
 

They had a race in San Antonio?????

Most people know that I have been working on getting my car back together after a wreck at Dallas last year. Been slow and the guy doing the work is not too talented. If I had my car together I would have been there. I sold Kirk's car back to Bennie Latham the week after he won the Sunday event at the Nitro Jam. We are also building a new car for next year, so most of our time, energy and money are spoken for.

I was surprised at the lack of entry's, but some things to consider. It has been 95 to 100 degrees for the last two weeks, San Antonio is not the best hooking track around and IHRA does not spend the time or money to make it a decent hooking facility. Did I mention the temperatures during the last two weeks?? If you have a mid to high Class car good luck with getting the car to hook with any consistency.

Hows that for an excuse??

RJ

Re: Where were you TEXAS, & D4 racers???
 

When the heat is 100 degrees in Texas, are there any other tracks in the state that have a good starting line?

Re: Where were you TEXAS, & D4 racers???
 

Sounds like you have 3 options
A) Work on the car so it will work
B) Get a car that will work
C) Stay Home

At Least RJ had a good excuse (building a new car). How about the other several hundred racers in that region. If it was on this side of the Mississippi i would probably have gone.
Chip Johnson

Re: Where were you TEXAS, & D4 racers???
 

My opinion is that most NHRA racers don't have any interest in 1/8th mile racing. I know that I don't. Now me saying that I don't know that it was 1/8th mile, but I know all of the IHRA races around me are, so that is why I don't go.
Chuck

Re: Where were you TEXAS, & D4 racers???
 

It was 1/4 mile

Re: Where were you TEXAS, & D4 racers???
 

RJ, I'll accept the excuse of your car being in the building stages, and the other one not working, but given that I had to race a wheel-standing "Jammin" Jerry Emmons in the first round, he surely didn't appear to have any problems hooking up to the track. Neither did Matt Hawk who doubled up with his 11-12 second Mustang. Oh and there was a '65 Dodge Coronet there that was either a 9sec car, or a 10 sec car, and even he didn't have traction issues, so I'm not so sure about the track prep not being up to par...

What I don't get is why there was 21 Stockers there in March, and only 7 (maybe less) of those racers were here for this one? NHRA doesn't pay a non-contingency purse that's even half of what IHRA posted for this event, and for only $200 bucks!!! I've been in this sport for 37yrs, and racing Stock Eliminator for the last 17 of them, and I've never seen anything like this....I'm sorry but I wasn't about to be silent here because that was the best damn tasting water that any HRA has offered to all sportsman classes (including the newest pair, Top Dragster, and Top Sportsman), without contingency money falling into play. Why don't you Texans go ask Pete Peery why he's glad he showed up for that race? Thanks to his win, he not only went home with well over the posted $5,000 bucks, but now he (if he's an IHRA member), qualified for the upcoming Tournament of Champions race, where he'll have the chance to be a world champion in Super Stock W/O having to traverse much of the country to earn a bunch of points to out-point Peter Biondo, Dan Fletcher, Jody Lang, et.al....I hope he is, because it'll come down to who's game is best on World Finals Day (like it used to be long before I got into this category) :( !!!

I just don't get it....well I know one thing for sure, you all who could've showed up (and didn't), just proved one thing to be not completely true...everything is bigger in Texas. That may have been true and many things, but with this field size (especially in Stock and Super Stock), it definitely WAS NOT BIGGER IN TEXAS, & THAT'S TEXAS SIZE SAD!!!! :(

Oh, and one more thing, this website even carried the thread about the race at the top of the list of threads, so that everyone who browses this website would've seen the advertisement for the race, and they did this way back in March (if not earlier), so it's not as though no notice was given about the race...plus that when IHRA posted their 2012 schedule, it was in their first Drag Review Magazine, and I believe the notice was made about this race as far back as December, so that's one excuse I won't accept from any of you who had better/faster cars and more money to spend to go racing than I do (it would be harder to find those who have less than I do than more, but I still came)!!!