new A/FX CLASS

[Dan Bennett]

I look at this a bit differently since it is my hope that it will grow to replace the gas funny cars they now call Pro Stock.

As for affecting quotas, I can see the concern but I think it's a separate issue where the suits made a terrible decision years ago and will never admit they made a mistake that needs to change. They add classes in hopes of a better gate take - and sportsman quotas, if they even are on the list, are at the bottom.

A third thing is that there is absolutely no doubt that sportman racing is why the NHRA came to be and is its background. But the mbas in Glendora never think about that. Sportsmen pay way too much money and don't get what's fair in return. And they cost money to provide services for. Yes, all of you provide the money for NHRA to make theirs.

The classes that have been added are some finance geek's wet dream as to how to increase revenue (spectators) while not spending another cent. If any of the manufacturers are still involved, that's more free income.

Is it right or is it fair? Not by any stretch. But no one should be surprised that some overpaid execs forgot about you (but not the money you're charged) long ago. We allowed our voice to be silenced decades ago. It's painful, but the best (only?) strategy right now is to make the best of what we can.


I don't expect this post to be very popular, but having been involved since the early 1960's, it seems very clear to me.

[Mark Yacavone]

My take is it's a great class in and of itself, but I don't see where it fits in, in the grand scheme of things.
They jumped right up and changed the rules to let the factory ringers in..anywhere they could .
They dominate qualifying in Stock, for the most part.
They are all over S/S too.
They brought them into Comp to pump that up.
The showdown cars were supposed to be the answer for fans who only want to watch heads up, flat out racing.
Now we've got a few F/X cars, so far (back in a minute)

As someone called it, Camaro Stock got out of control with the body mods and all the same power plants.
Are they going to phase it out in a few years? Do they want to? Do they like getting sued? Those guys aren't going to want to slow back down and run F/X.

Showdown cars are just a slower version of F/X, with automatics, to the guys in the stands. Do they want to phase them back out too? Without new cars to participate, might as well..They can get in on the lawsuit too.
Some of those guys are getting a little long in the tooth, you might say and are not going to want to move up to a Comp type stick shift class.

So where is this all going, except maybe to the lawyers?
Remember Pro/Stock Truck !

[Dan Bennett]

Interesting you mentioned PST. I was thinking of that situation the entire time I was writing my post.


I've stayed silent for a long time about how I felt about the class. Life is strange. I got assigned to write an intro article about them for Super Stock and the next thing I knew I was doing color commentary on them in the tower.

So, spilling the beans, I always thought it was the answer to a question the racers never asked. Not once did I ever hear it brought up.

It was the start, or at least a major jump, in the "money gets you anything" programs we've seen rise up through the years. Truck sales were getting hot, and the factories were on board and willing to throw some money at them. NASCAR had already done the same and back then it was monkey see, monkey do with NHRA brass following and adopting their programs as quickly as they could.

But other than the piles of money from the various makes, a tremendous amount of lobbying was being done by nonracers in the industry. Chassis builders led the pack, followed closely by anyone who made parts that would go on the things. I can't count the number of racers who made plans due to being told "It's a cheaper way to go Pro Stock/It's small block Pro Stock/you'll be racing in prime time/lots of sponsors wanting to jump in."

So people bought into that, most of the sales pitches didn't pan out, and it wasn't long before the stands would empty when the sessions started.

I think that situation is 180 degrees away from the new A/FX. I'm pretty sure people will once again like seeing production cars that they can buy (yes, in some cases it will have to be used for now) using highly developed production engines that will take an immense amount of talent to drive well.

[Billy Nees]

"In the grand scheme of things", NHRA really needs to shake up it's entire Professional program. The suits have been selling the same show with (mostly) the same people for years. I'm glad to see that they've finally given the Pro Mods a bigger part in the show to take advantage of the popularity of the street outlaws stuff which, realistically, are Pro Mod cars. And they (Pro Mods) pay their own way, don't they?
IMHO, NHRA should make the T/F and F/C engines much smaller and allow any type of engine to make things less generic and more interesting. And in F/C, go back to the old "engine make has to match the body" rule. Probably should do the same thing for P/S.
No, I'm not drinking........... just doing some brain farting.

[SSDiv6]

When the class was initially created, it did not require the current investment.

Then, the big chassis builders got involved and demanded changes to the chassis and body to fit their agendas such as one-piece front ends, carbon brakes, and more. One of my close friends who is a well-known chassis builder started to build the first COPO for the class and worked directly with Lonnie on making sure the build and design of the car met the rulebook.

However, due to the pressure exerted by the big-name shops, every other week was a new change to the cars by NHRA. Eventually, he had to go back and start changing stuff on his new car, including going from bolt-on fenders to the new one-piece front end. Not only wasted money and time but also increased the cost of building the car by a large amount.

[Mike Pearson]

It’s a cool class and all but just another pro class that takes up time from the sportsman classes. When is NHRA going to learn that they already have too many different classes. This will be an extremely expensive class to run and will take a big crew similar to pro stock. The clutch tuning to get down the track will be tricky on the small tires. Another bad idea by NHRA. One already crashed several months ago testing.
What class will they drop to make room for this new class?

[MR DERBY CITY]

Sorry guys but I just don’t share your enthusiasm. The FS cars should never have been allowed in STOCK eliminator, PERIOD …As fas as the new A/FX class, I really don’t care one way or another what the millionaires do with their $$ ….

[Billy Nees]

Originally Posted by Mike Pearson

When is NHRA going to learn that they already have too many different classes. What class will they drop to make room for this new class?

I've believed for a long time that they (the suits) keep coming up with different classes hoping for one to be a "home run".

[GUMP]

Originally Posted by MR DERBY CITY

The FS cars should never have been allowed in STOCK eliminator, PERIOD

How about sharing which rules were changed that allowed the FS cars into Stock Eliminator?

[GUMP]

Originally Posted by Billy Nees

I've believed for a long time that they (the suits) keep coming up with different classes hoping for one to be a "home run".

I'm pretty sure that the "Suits" didn't come up with this new class.