PINKS vs Class Racing

[Gary Smith]

Originally Posted by Al Saggese

Pinks is entertainment Class Racing is a prefession. What is good for a show comes first not what is fair or just.On Pinks Rich is the show decissions,controversies,personalities all come first and keep the camera on the show not on racing.I am all for putting Class Racing front and center not behind or last.I think Pinks would hurt the prefession.You guys & gals deserve much much more.

Al, I'll agree that many racers approach to S/SS racing is very professional, but in it's present format isn't making the draw like the pros. Rich did test index/handicap/breakout format but bombed big time with spectators, getting booed constantly. We need a bridge that connects us to the fans. The fans want flat out running. Even with the slower cars, when the racers push it as hard as they can coupled with Rich's excitement, the crowd still gets into it which is what's needed. That's what will attract new blood, the young guy in the stands who says "man, I could afford that, I want to be a part of this too". When the new guy enters the program and later finds it a bit too expensive, he'll discover other options like shoe polish racing at the association level. I believe over time the PINKS side will propagate into all levels which will drive a new form of popularity of S/SS. When I was a kid class racing was run off of records. I didn't know what all the class letters meant, but understood handicap starts. By the time the breakout rule and index system was instituted, although I grasped the concept, I watched as fans got turned off due to over complication, eventually leaving the stands.

[Gary Smith]

xx

[cicero819]

Everyone who races in class racing might make it depending if they can run close to their index. Pinks is left to the promoter who runs the show who will make the show. I've gone to both Arms down and pinks and none are that interesting. Maybe to someone who knows nothing about racing it might be interesting but nothing beats Stock and Super Stock .

[Floyd Gomez]

OK. I have been to several PINKS events and I can tell you the majority of the crowd is NOT there to see a 11.5 second stocker or a 10.0 Super Stocker. Most of the people I talked to wanted to see crashes and be on TV. They were interested in the cars that were running in the 8's but that is about it. I do think a change is needed however if you are looking to draw a crowd like the pro's it is never going to happen. Today's society is more about video games and electronic technology. They have an uncanning need for speed and addiction for thrill. To them, class racing is boring. This is why most young racers are into 10.5 stock suspension racing. Grudge racing. They can go fast with power adders and cheaply built cars. They have no certification so alot of rules are bent. When drag racing started there were no pros. And when the faster cars did arrive it was exhibition. Now, the public demands to see the fast cars with the big names and will pay whatever to see it. As far as changing to a CIC rule and index for stock and super stock I agree that it could work so long as the CIC was a .500 to a .700 under. Anything more than that would take a budget racer out of the picture with the new CJ's and Challengers.

[Gary Smith]

Originally Posted by Floyd Gomez

OK. I have been to several PINKS events and I can tell you the majority of the crowd is NOT there to see a 11.5 second stocker or a 10.0 Super Stocker. Most of the people I talked to wanted to see crashes and be on TV. They were interested in the cars that were running in the 8's but that is about it. I do think a change is needed however if you are looking to draw a crowd like the pro's it is never going to happen. Today's society is more about video games and electronic technology. They have an uncanning need for speed and addiction for thrill. To them, class racing is boring. This is why most young racers are into 10.5 stock suspension racing. Grudge racing. They can go fast with power adders and cheaply built cars. They have no certification so alot of rules are bent. When drag racing started there were no pros. And when the faster cars did arrive it was exhibition. Now, the public demands to see the fast cars with the big names and will pay whatever to see it. As far as changing to a CIC rule and index for stock and super stock I agree that it could work so long as the CIC was a .500 to a .700 under. Anything more than that would take a budget racer out of the picture with the new CJ's and Challengers.

There won't be index or handicap racing in this format. And I respectably disagree about the crowd not getting into 10, 11, or even 12 second cars. I myself found they were there to take in the whole experience...action, be on tv, seeing friends cars race, or just be inspired. The CIC would be based on .5 - .6, nothing more. If things work right, CIC won't be an issue. Rich and crew try to get the tightest group for the 32 car pick. Sometimes it's tight, sometimes not. I find this a nice change over trying to hit my dial or simple class eliminations.

Remember this is an attempt at something new, different, and to attract new blood. You can pick it apart and criticize, do nothing and just let class racing run its course, or give it a chance and see what happens. The very least is be out of your travel and entry expenses, nothing worse than an NHRA event.

Ultimately this will attract sponsor support, bring back healthy sticker money, incentives for setting records, increase in prize money, and dedicated TV coverage.

[Al Saggese]

On satellite T V several years back i had watched over 8 hrs of class racing from the US Nationals i don't remember what station but the format was smilier to Diamond P sports.I wish they had that program today Class Racing is all i watch when pro's come up i leave to Rome the pits.Soon i hope to finish at least one of my cars.

[Floyd Gomez]

Originally Posted by Gary Smith

There won't be index or handicap racing in this format. And I respectably disagree about the crowd not getting into 10, 11, or even 12 second cars. I myself found they were there to take in the whole experience...action, be on tv, seeing friends cars race, or just be inspired. The CIC would be based on .5 - .6, nothing more. If things work right, CIC won't be an issue. Rich and crew try to get the tightest group for the 32 car pick. Sometimes it's tight, sometimes not. I find this a nice change over trying to hit my dial or simple class eliminations.

Remember this is an attempt at something new, different, and to attract new blood. You can pick it apart and criticize, do nothing and just let class racing run its course, or give it a chance and see what happens. The very least is be out of your travel and entry expenses, nothing worse than an NHRA event.

Ultimately this will attract sponsor support, bring back healthy sticker money, incentives for setting records, increase in prize money, and dedicated TV coverage.

So I would pay 60 bucks to see if I can get in a 32 car field out of 500 cars? That doesnt seem to be helping class racers. Without a handicapped start you eliminate a ton of cars. For instance if you bring your K/S and I bring an A/S somebody is going home without a chance to race. If we do both get in (impossible with the current format) you stand no chance on a heads up race. I as anyone else could go race any weekend in et with a 60 dollar entry fee and a chance to win $1250.00 on an even field using dial in and breakout rules.

[Harry 6674]

Originally Posted by Floyd Gomez

So I would pay 60 bucks to see if I can get in a 32 car field out of 500 cars? That doesnt seem to be helping class racers. Without a handicapped start you eliminate a ton of cars. For instance if you bring your K/S and I bring an A/S somebody is going home without a chance to race. If we do both get in (impossible with the current format) you stand no chance on a heads up race. I as anyone else could go race any weekend in et with a 60 dollar entry fee and a chance to win $1250.00 on an even field using dial in and breakout rules.

If dial in, breakout racing is what you like that is what you should do. Some would rather do some real drag racing with out the shoe polish and sand bagging. Thats who Garys looking for. PLO is a hit, bracket racing not so much. Also the fans don't go to watch only the fast cars. At the Seattle race there wasn't that many fast cars but the fan turnout was huge. They just liked the close racing. When I say fast I mean 8 seconds or less. They would go nuts over a buch of wheel standing S/SSers.

[chris3racing]

I'm going to post on this one more time. You are correct not many 9 second or less cars show up at Pinks All Out. The ones that do usually are part of the quick 8 race for $500. The idea is to be in a class where the most cars are and all of the cars in that class run All Out and the times be closer than any other class. I have seen 10 second cars picked and I have seen 11 second cars picked. One show where 11 second cars were picked the margin of victory between several races was in thousanths of a second. Also you are correct the majority of the crowd wants to see the wheels up racing. At Z-Max, a station wagon was the hit of the program. That wagon carried the wheels to the 1/8 th mile mark. Everyone in the stands knew that wagon would be on TV and yes he made the TV show during the elimination runs from 32 to 16 and he was in the 4 lane race.

Gary, the parent of a young man who is in a pretty high position at SPEED in their home office in Charlotte lives here in Raleigh. They are big car fans and we see them at most every event in this area. I will try to mention to them the comments you have posted and see if I can have him call me. We hope they put something together and we will start loading up.

[Gary Smith]

Originally Posted by chris3racing

I'm going to post on this one more time. You are correct not many 9 second or less cars show up at Pinks All Out. The ones that do usually are part of the quick 8 race for $500. The idea is to be in a class where the most cars are and all of the cars in that class run All Out and the times be closer than any other class. I have seen 10 second cars picked and I have seen 11 second cars picked. One show where 11 second cars were picked the margin of victory between several races was in thousanths of a second. Also you are correct the majority of the crowd wants to see the wheels up racing. At Z-Max, a station wagon was the hit of the program. That wagon carried the wheels to the 1/8 th mile mark. Everyone in the stands knew that wagon would be on TV and yes he made the TV show during the elimination runs from 32 to 16 and he was in the 4 lane race.

Gary, the parent of a young man who is in a pretty high position at SPEED in their home office in Charlotte lives here in Raleigh. They are big car fans and we see them at most every event in this area. I will try to mention to them the comments you have posted and see if I can have him call me. We hope they put something together and we will start loading up.

Thank you Chris! I've also been passing thread status to Rich and his management company. Still, we need all the support we can muster to make this happen. I can't stress enough that to get media support, tv time, or whatever, it's paramount the "80-20 rule" be met. In fact, I'm finding it more like "90-10". In other words, we must show as much or more support towards PAO than the local bracket racers have done to make this succeed.

Floyd, to clarify, A/S vs K/S wouldn't be possible. Say you're the only A/S car, no B or C cars, you won't get in the show because you're too far out of a possible "ET pool". Also, there's never an entry list so it's the gamble you take. But the more entries there are, or can get 20 or more A/Ser's to enter, you've raised your chances to be part of the 32.