The answer to indexes, and performance.

[Jim Wahl]

Gary, that wasn't a large animal with big teeth, it was Scott Helms with his shirt off! He kept screaming for beer and fried chicken and was scaring all the little children.Jim

[pauldilcher]

Well Said Gary !!!

[55 Chevy]

Excellent post Ron.

Who cares how far a car runs under, yes get rid of the trigger. What purpose does it serve anyway. Ladder would still look relatively the same & the beginner will still want to class race cause he can run the number. Lowering the index only hurts them not the guys at the top. We need more competitors,not less.

[Gary Smith]

Originally Posted by Jim Wahl

Gary, that wasn't a large animal with big teeth, it was Scott Helms with his shirt off! He kept screaming for beer and fried chicken and was scaring all the little children.Jim

Oooschh!! That's ugly. I think I'll park in the sticks next time. Or maybe that's why the Summerton's didn't invite us for lunch in fear that Scott would leave a bad impression on Andrew.

[greg fulk]

Just what will lowering the indexes .2 do? Nothing! All it will do is run off the guys that are on a budget or have a combo that is "bad". Roy Dean & Harlan Updike have been running stock for years....they run about .1 to .2ths under...their good racers on a budget. My Dad is the same way...he has a car that in NHRA trim can run 15.40's on a 15.80 index...most of the time. But with the cost of fuel I'd say he'll be out once or twice this year. I make good money he dosen't so I foot part of the bill sometimes (he dosen't know that) just so he can race...this is an expensive thing we do & lowering the indexes don't help anybody! Hey think of it this way IF ya draw one of these guys in the late rounds you have pretty much a by run! Be carefull what ya ask for ya just might get it...& if we have 30 stockers show up It won't take long till their is NO stock!

[kansas stocker]

I too don't see what lowering the indexes will do to help anyone. It's a bracket race if you are not racing someone in your class and if you are it's a duck walk if you are a second under and they are just barely running the index. Make no difference to me but I can think of a couple of good racers that will be staying home.

[Ron Ortiz]

Gary Parker, you have a very valid point, and I see where you arer coming from. But with the recording of all incrimental times it would be easy to filter out that problem. The guys with the fast cars lift early and still can predict their 1/4 mile ET times due to the incrimental factor of their previous runs and that particular run. By lifting they protect their HP factor, and still know how fast they are. But with the incrimental recording, so will NHRA know.

If the trigger is eliminated, everyone can run it out the back door. Sure, we'll see who the really fast guys are, but it does'nt matter if they are. This will put the whole Stock category where it needs to be. Lifting on a run to protect yourself is an embarrasment to the sport. Stock is a performance based category, let it be a performance category.

Lets say someone is really flying. The others in his class are told to work harder on their combos if they want to keep up. It takes money to do that, you are not going to get under the hood and start tweaking stuff and pick up that 2 tenths needed to keep up. No, your going to have to open up that wallet and get better stuff. Sure, spend $5,000 to pick up four hundreths, maybe add another $3,000 for another two hundreths. Hey, I've got a message for all you out there with that I've got money attitude, work on your stuff, pick another class, or go home. First get your nose out of the clouds, remove your head from your rectum, and spend that money by protesting the guy that is flying. Is he legal to be going that fast? Probably not. If he is though, maybe you might want to look around and buy some intelligence and applicability techniques, because that probably is the difference, not the money.

After about a year everything will pan out. The legal fast guys will be on top where they should be, the illegal ones will be out, NHRA will see the data and make the corrections to bogus combos, and the fields should be getting pretty level.

And what about the ones that are'nt fast like myself? Well, I need to start my application theory, start working on my stuff harder, spend my little bit of money wisely, and most of all, avoid liked classed cars in eliminations.

Bottom line, eliminate the trigger and lets have some fun again.

Ron Ortiz
U/SA Please send cash.