Should Indy be an All Run Field in Stock?

[Ed Fernandez]

Originally Posted by Alan Roehrich

The only problem I have with this is the classes with one car that never competes for class, and many times would not even come close to qualifying based off of the index.

So I'd say contested class winners get in, not just class winners.

Because these are performance based eliminators. If you do not have to race another car to win class, then you should qualify according to how far you run under your index. Performance based means you measure yourself against competitors. If there are no competitors in your class, then you measure your performance against the rest of the cars qualifying off of their index.

Yeah, I know, "it's not your fault you're the only person who built an obscure combination for a class no one else in the country runs." But it is your fault if that combination can't run far enough under the index to qualify. If the guy who decides to run B/SA against 10-15 other cars, but doesn't win class, does not qualify running 0.780 under his index, why should anyone who competes against no one get in if they can't run 0.500 under going down hill with a tail wind, just because they got to solo for class? How do you call it a performance based eliminator, then reward someone for avoiding the need to compete based on performance? If you're going to do that, just stopping racing, and give everyone a trophy for showing up.

Alan,the knife cuts both ways.I had a car that ran T/SA.There are more than a few around the country. It's not my fault if they don't care to come to Indy.
Worse comes to worse they could run the auto/stick combo if need be.

[Larry Hill]

The best place to tune for Indy is Bowling Green. Test on Thursday, race the weekend, if needed rent the track on Monday. Do what it takes to get in the "Show".

Class winners,(must run on or under index), and the rest of field filed by the fastest qualifiers. The AHFS will work much better in the larger classes if class winners get in. It will raise the bump spot for a year or two and get people looking at different combos.

[Ron Ortiz]

I go to Indy one year and there are 4 U/SA cars there. I win class and get into the Eliminator. The following year I go and I am the only U/SA car there. I can't run the index and I don't get in the Eliminator. Then NHRA changes format and says you have to be -500 under on a bye run to get in. Then they group all the singles into a combo category where the fastest is going to win for sure

I have had it with you nitwits that say "you're the only person in a class", "no one else in the country runs that combo", "you need to work on your car" You guys complain about the new cars being under factored and it's not fair.

How about having to deal with this for a lot of years.Bob Dennis banana car. Bob Shaw's turbo Mercury Capri, Chevrolet Caprice, and the Caddy. Paul Wong and his Chevy pick up, Gary Summers little Mustang, Lloyd MacKay Buick. #1 qualifiers all of them. And not by a little bit, 2 second under cars.

I'll just throw $20,000 in the car with hard work and then I'll be right there with them, right. NHRA's AHFS is an absolute joke that is run by the manufactures. How about all those die hards that have flogged their combo for years to get it to run as good as it does. Then NHRA allows some bogus HP cars to come into their class and totally destroy them.

"Class" is supposed to be a performance based thing, got no problem with that. But if I'm the only one in my class, don't give me your crap about me trying to win with some obscure combo. Heck, NHRA is the one who is screwing over everyone with their new format of the quickest 128.

Indy should be class winners followed by the quickest. And if I win class as I am the only one, don't I still have to dial in for the Eliminator.

And if you do not like my opinion, then tell it to me face to face so I can recognize you as an a$$hole.

Ron Ortiz
U/SA where the #1's live.

[Mickey Whaley]

Originally Posted by Ron Ortiz

I go to Indy one year and there are 4 U/SA cars there. I win class and get into the Eliminator. The following year I go and I am the only U/SA car there. I can't run the index and I don't get in the Eliminator. Then NHRA changes format and says you have to be -500 under on a bye run to get in. Then they group all the singles into a combo category where the fastest is going to win for sure

I have had it with you nitwits that say "you're the only person in a class", "no one else in the country runs that combo", "you need to work on your car" You guys complain about the new cars being under factored and it's not fair.

How about having to deal with this for a lot of years.Bob Dennis banana car. Bob Shaw's turbo Mercury Capri, Chevrolet Caprice, and the Caddy. Paul Wong and his Chevy pick up, Gary Summers little Mustang, Lloyd MacKay Buick. #1 qualifiers all of them. And not by a little bit, 2 second under cars.

I'll just throw $20,000 in the car with hard work and then I'll be right there with them, right. NHRA's AHFS is an absolute joke that is run by the manufactures. How about all those die hards that have flogged their combo for years to get it to run as good as it does. Then NHRA allows some bogus HP cars to come into their class and totally destroy them.

"Class" is supposed to be a performance based thing, got no problem with that. But if I'm the only one in my class, don't give me your crap about me trying to win with some obscure combo. Heck, NHRA is the one who is screwing over everyone with their new format of the quickest 128.

Indy should be class winners followed by the quickest. And if I win class as I am the only one, don't I still have to dial in for the Eliminator.

And if you do not like my opinion, then tell it to me face to face so I can recognize you as an a$$hole.

Ron Ortiz
U/SA where the #1's live.

damn ron you may need some jack links beef jerky cause they are messin with sasquach

[Alan Roehrich]

Originally Posted by Ed Fernandez

Alan,the knife cuts both ways.I had a car that ran T/SA.There are more than a few around the country. It's not my fault if they don't care to come to Indy.
Worse comes to worse they could run the auto/stick combo if need be.

Ed, that's fair enough, then they either win their combo to get in, or they qualify off of their index. That evens things up.

[Mike Carr]

What about a racer who has 10-12 cars in his/her Class in the country. All but one live east of the Mississippi. Two years in a row at Indy, he is the only one who shows up. **** it, penalize him, he showed when no one else did and was only -.73, he can't race.

[Alan Roehrich]

Originally Posted by Mike Carr

What about a racer who has 10-12 cars in his/her Class in the country. All but one live east of the Mississippi. Two years in a row at Indy, he is the only one who shows up. **** it, penalize him, he showed when no one else did and was only -.73, he can't race.

How is that guy any different than the guy who shows up, races 3 rounds of class, doesn't win, and doesn't go far enough under to get in on time? If they both go 0.730 under, and the bump is 0.770, they were both too slow to make the cut.

If we're going to call it a "performance based class", why should anyone not have to qualify based off of their index?

Everyone qualifies off of their index, everyone competes for a class win, the cars that are alone in their class race in the combo, and everyone is subject to the AHFS. So everyone has to perform to the same standard to make the final eliminations, either win your class or class combo, or be far enough under the index. Seems fair enough to me.

We plan to be back at Indy soon, if we don't make the cut, it means we didn't get it done, we'll go home.

[Mike Carr]

Originally Posted by Alan Roehrich

How is that guy any different than the guy who shows up, races 3 rounds of class, doesn't win, and doesn't go far enough under to get in on time?

Driver A won class (NHRA's definition of a Class Winner)
Driver B lost in class

Hell, with today's rule, you could get a racer who WINS class, winning 3-4 rounds, but is only -.80 or -.85 and not one of the 128 quickest (-.88 bump I think this year). He's getting screwed too. He would not have been ten years ago.

It worked for fifty-plus years. You won Class; you raced in the race. The field was then filled with the quickest non-Class winning cars to make 128 (or whatever number back in the day). Then those who could not do either spoke up and we have what we have now (if you're not rich or have an under factored car or a modern car, stay home).

Maybe we should just make it Class Winners ONLY (and ALL Class winners) run eliminations. Forty or fifty Class Winners = 40-50 cars for round one. That would speed up the AHFS process a bunch. And piss a lot of people off I'm sure.

[james schaechter]

Good point about class winners since there are no freebies any longer anyway. Win your class or combo. Not likely to be many bump ins anyway and if there is, there racer fought their way in.
All run makes it easy for NhRA and some guys that would like to just show up, but Indy should always be performance oriented. Indy is not broken. Breaking out the factory cars or getting some of the factors within 100 hp of reality would do it.

[Bobby Fazio]

Class winners should get in, solo or not, go back to that .5 under to win class rule. Most of the time Indy ruins the obscure combo for the rest of its life anyway so who cares. Let the FS cars duke it out for a spot in the eliminator, traditional HP rules better apply. It takes a few spots away from factory race cars eating up the top half of the ladder and opens them up for some 60s muscle, it also lets the AHFS do its job because people will be mashing the index to win class. It will also diversify the field a little bit and I think the crowd would like to see different makes and speeds going down the track. PS this is coming from a guy who has never won class.