if wally was'nt dead this woulda killed him

[Rich Biebel]

I began racing seriously in 1966 with a partner and we had a '57 Chevy sedan delivery Jr Stocker. Going to Indy and winning class was like Nirvana to most people that raced back then. Winning the eliminator was not really even what we thought about much. Winning class was huge. That and being a national record holder were the 2 biggest goals for many. Winning an eliminator would also have been big but seemed like a more remote thing to accomplish at a place like Indy. We managed to get to the H/SA ? class final at Indy in 1966 and got a big paper "T" decal on our windshield.....I never removed that "T". Some racers got to go many times and won class many times. In the modern era with so many classes it doesn't mean much. Making a bye run for a class win is pretty meaningless....back in 1966 every class had a lot of cars but there were a lot less classes. Every class winner got torn down and if he was illegal the R/Up got torn down and was given the win if he was found to be legal.....I think there are to many classes and there are a ton of them that should be dropped........Indy should still be class winners and then low qualifiers but cut the number of classes and there are many I personally would drop completely. Nobody wants to watch a pile of slow cars make singles and that is not the way it used to be at Indy......

[Jeff Lee]

Rich,
My sentiments exactly.

[Alan Roehrich]

Originally Posted by Rich Biebel

I began racing seriously in 1966 with a partner and we had a '57 Chevy sedan delivery Jr Stocker. Going to Indy and winning class was like Nirvana to most people that raced back then. Winning the eliminator was not really even what we thought about much. Winning class was huge. That and being a national record holder were the 2 biggest goals for many. Winning an eliminator would also have been big but seemed like a more remote thing to accomplish at a place like Indy. We managed to get to the H/SA ? class final at Indy in 1966 and got a big paper "T" decal on our windshield.....I never removed that "T". Some racers got to go many times and won class many times. In the modern era with so many classes it doesn't mean much. Making a bye run for a class win is pretty meaningless....back in 1966 every class had a lot of cars but there were a lot less classes. Every class winner got torn down and if he was illegal the R/Up got torn down and was given the win if he was found to be legal.....I think there are to many classes and there are a ton of them that should be dropped........Indy should still be class winners and then low qualifiers but cut the number of classes and there are many I personally would drop completely. Nobody wants to watch a pile of slow cars make singles and that is not the way it used to be at Indy......

A LOT of what Rich says has great merit. Great post.

[Jim Wahl]

Rich said: .I think there are to many classes and there are a ton of them that should be dropped........Indy should still be class winners and then low qualifiers but cut the number of classes and there are many I personally would drop completely. Nobody wants to watch a pile of slow cars make singles and that is not the way it used to be at Indy......

Let me guess which classes you would "drop completely". The "slow cars" right? So what exactly IS a "slow car"? Anything slower than what YOU run no doubt. What you say makes as much sense as me saying I don't think there should be any fast cars because they take up too much time and nobody wants to watch a pile of Camaro's run each other. Why don't you just say " If your car isn't just like mine you shouldn't be allowed to race." Jim

[Billy Nees]

Calm down Jim, I've known Rich for a long, long time and you are wrongly assuming what he meant.

[Rich Biebel]

Thanks Billy....and yes we are good friends for many years. I know it takes a big effort to make any car run fast including 6 cylinder powered cars as well as FWD's. I was just making a post about my experiences in my foray's in Stock over the last 40+years. Jim your obviously very defensive as are almost all guys that race cars in the slower classes as well as fwd's. I guess your used to hearing stuff that threatens what you race so It's understandable if you get defensive. NO I don't think Stock should consist of 128 -396 Camaros or only for cars that cost $30,000+ but I also don't think Stock should have a pile of classes where only one car shows up. It seems to me those are usually the slower classed cars as well as the fwd categories. They are not heavily populated with cars. Thats just my observations and nothing else. NHRA should do whats best for the category and Indy should be run the way it always was......See ya at the races Billy......

[THE LEGEND]

I'm tired of reading so I skipped to the end to post. I remember racing a pure stocker (IHRA) in the early 80's. You had to win class or you did'nt race on Sunday. in 1981 I won class all 3 races I went to with multiple cars in the class I might add. We had to teardown at 2 of them. Fast forward a couple of years we got a single for class and still had to teardown.
STOCK
1) Should be performance driven.
2) Cars should be torn down
3) CLASS WINNERS SHOULD GET TO RACE
4) If you want fastest cars only run COMP.

Underdog rule: How many times have you watched a run with a 3 or 4 second spot, and pulled for the slow car to win?

The reason the A,B,C, etc cars don't want the slow cars racing is the same reason Dragsters don't like running door cars in bracket racing. THEY CAN'T JUDGE THEM. THEY HAVE TO DIAL HONEST.

What I see here is a bunch of people that have figured out buy a camaro pick an engine builder and run 1 second+ under. No work involved with that. The problem they hav'nt figured out is if you run off these other class cars you eventually only have about 4 or 5 classes at a race. That means more heads up runs. I guess thats when they do away with heads up. If this rule stays in, you will see Stock end up like IHRA Top Stock.

Former Class racer that still has Class
Chip Johnson

[Bruce Noland]

Thanks Tony,

I felt like there had to be at least one person to do it over all these years.

[Billy Nees]

Damn Chip, I've never met you but I knew that there was something about you that I like!

[Bob Shaw]

According to some of you guys Kevin Helms should not have been allowed to run stock eliminator at the 2007 U S Nationals. He singled for his class win in B/S and only ran .78 under. I guess he needs to work harder, spend more money, learn how to go faster, change to a class with more cars in it, and then he would be considered good enough to race with the rest of you!