[james schaechter]

Parity is key for sure. It is a great show when you have the new cars actually show their muscle. When everyone is protecting their combo, no one can tell who is the quickest. There are always going to be racers that have a quicker car than all the others for various reasons. Indy should be the place to prove it!

I would say that Larry has a great idea! Why give the soft combo players a hallpass on AHFS? If they are going to do that, just take them out of the stock eliminator. i would say also that NHRA could give them a choice. If they enter the shootout, no AHFS, but they cannot also be in Stock or SS. If they don't enter the shootout, they can enter the stock or SS race. If they enter Stock or SS, they are then subject to AHFS.

Indy was a tough qualifying field for sure. We have two engine combos that were good, not great. We even changed engine, and rear gear and weight class the sunday before the race because we knew the other engine would not be as good in hot conditions.

We are not a big buck team, but we really try hard when it comes to tuning and testing. We were glad to make it in (just barely). I felt bad until I saw all the really good cars that didn't make it in. Indy is tough. The weather can be very different, the car doesn't always cooperate, etc.
There is always something to improve on your car. We have a list a mile long every year. We only pick the stuff we have time for and can afford. The improvements we plan won't keep us on pace with some of the new cars, but we know if it helps our car. There is satisfaction in that for us. It is not very exciting to me to run a car that is so soft, even an ugly run is "quick".
We don't have the money to buy a copo, but we will have a new engine this year that will help.

I don't want Indy to be dumbed down so performance is left out. I think it is NHRA to provide parity with performance. If that is done, then the best of every division will come to Indy and see how they measure up. Indy is really the only Performance based National Event left. I would rather work hard to keep up, than to get in by just showing up.