"WHAT IF" part 4

[Dick Butler]

Art, Everyone can compete.... Thats what Bracket racing at your local track is for. Guys with ALL cars can compete but NHRA AND IHRA have been interested in Entry money so long they Dumbed it down to limit Class racing by pure numbers of classes allowed and dilute the total number of cars available to run class. Have you looked at the class winners at cajun Nationals yet...over 50% of SS classes run were BYE runs. The eliminator has been turned into the goal because there are FEW highly populated classes today.
I know we can use AH as an excuse to point out the cost of SS racing today. Use FWD as an example of Cheaper opportunity to race but the point is Bracket racing is Bracket racing with or without a Class designation on your window. I feel for the good of Stk and SS the heads up class format has the greatest appeal outside your garage( the individual). Not the eliminator. See test and tune nights where people race each other heads up (not recognizing factoring) and have a ball and bring friends who pay money for food etc etc.
TOP/STK and Jr. Stock are alive and well in Div 1 where there are NUMBERS of cars which can fit. What If a manufacturer stepped up with 1000$ per event guess where more cars would be in the class structure.
Today it means nothing which class you pick as there is no money difference in pay out.SO eliminator can earn more money.10 Classes that paid $1000 per class win would MEAN something to everyone who races today . They would change their attitude to be included (and Probably their car they race)
Limit classes, more sponsors to WIN a class not participate. We all see what happened when it doesnt mean you Beat anyone....No money from sponsors as it MEANS nothing to make a BYE run.
Which would excite you more qualifying with a FWD car for no money or having a chance to RACE for $1000 to win a class of 10 cars? Every time you went to a meet.

[Nitro Joe Jackson]

Dick, Top Stk and Jr Stk is not live and well in D1, they have done away with most of their races due to no $$ support,

[Lynn A McCarty]

Originally Posted by art leong

Lynn if they combine classes where would my car SS/GS fit in your train of thought? What would you combine me with? R/SA I'm sure the guys in that class would not like it one bit
.Or Would you just say "have a nice day, now get lost"?
In a performance based eliminator it is impossible to have a completely level playing field (unless you just run heavy elim)
Years of racing and rule changes have leveled it quite a bit.
Ihra has way more classes than nhra so why not bash them the way you bash nhra. Or is that politically incorrect?

Art,

Putting forth ideas for improvement is not bashing. Everyone and everything has room for improvement (especially myself ). I love IHRA and NHRA, and this new concept for a racing venue and 100% support it all.

I dont agree things are more of a level playing field. NHRA and IHRA has made great strides, but some of the things like aftermarket parts and wrong intake runner CCs are overcoming the improvements. The AHFS is way better than doing nothing, but it is not supported by proper statistical methods. If I don't stay quiet about those things am I bashing? I dont think so.

I love my wife, but if she spends a bit too much at the store, I say something about that too! (Ask Alex, DK, Stacy and Nitro, they know how she can spend!) Stacy calls it "waisting money on snacky SH*^." It doesnt mean I am bashing my wife.

Combine classes only where it makes sense. If it doesn't make sense, don't do it. There are tons of ways as Terry says to combine classes. There are way too many.

[Lynn A McCarty]

Originally Posted by treessavoy

Gentlemen,

You're arguing a moot point. For the last 5 years I've laid out of class racing but have been to a number of national and regional events as a spectator.
Jim

Firstly, I agree arguing is not productive, but America is all about a healthy debate. It is what we do. Secondly, take all the real cars out of the events and there is no cool cars to see in the pits. Ask Billy Meyers how well that worked in IHRA when he owned it. It failed miserably, not that they probably couldnt eliminate one class or another. I submit after watching those fuel cars the fans enjoy the most getting a great sausage and walking around to see all the cool cars. No cool cars, no sausage, no ticket sales. See one TF car you seen them all.

[Ed Fernandez]

So Terry,where do you draw the line between raceable and slow? 14 sec,13 sec,12 sec 11.50 sec??????????

Ed F.
Mid 13s,but alot more
under my index than alot
of "fast" cars.

[X-TECH MAN]

Originally Posted by Ed Fernandez

So Terry,where do you draw the line between raceable and slow? 14 sec,13 sec,12 sec 11.50 sec??????????

Ed F.
Mid 13s,but alot more
under my index than alot
of "fast" cars.

15 to 15.75 or so. There are some really cool stuff that runs U and V. I used to love (still do) the old Oldsmobiles like the ones that Jack Mullin's and Racing Head Service (Ivars Smeltniks) ran. Tom Goulds Corvair is an icon and he can still kick butt at his age. I hope to have his health when I get there. Im partial because Ive done his heads (for free) since the middle/late 70's and they have ALWAYS passed NHRA and IHRA tech. I did Bill Drevo's Citation X-11 (front wheel drive by the way) heads (in the stone age-early eighties) when he set the NHRA record at Rockingham years ago so YES I like the slower cars also. I also think Clayton Wrights U/SA wagon is one sweet ride and have thought about a 60 Chebbie wagon like Captian Jacks for myself now that the 3 speed is legal but that is a lot of weight to haul to the track. Think what you want about me but I like ALL stockers and most S/S cars. I remember when being a member of "The SLUG ARMY" was a badge to be worn proudly and not a put down as some seem to think.. I guess that was before your time and several others on here.

[art leong]

Dick where were"YOU in the late 70'S????????
Do you realize there were 50 stock classes then????????
It's more than the normal munber of fingers and toes, BUT there are 51 stock classes today. Only because of the AA/stock cars.
They were the last ones in so why not be the first ones out. LOL
A net gain of "1" for 30 years.
So whats your point
Terry I wish I could belive what you say is what you think. But at 15.75 only one class (Steve Polhills)would really be affected. If that is truly your goal why not leave things as they are?
One class isn't going to turn the "masses" away.

[X-TECH MAN]

Originally Posted by art leong

Dick where were"YOU in the late 70'S????????
Do you realize there were 50 stock classes then????????
It's more than the normal munber of fingers and toes, BUT there are 51 stock classes today
A net gain of "1" for 30 years.
So whats your point
Terry I wish I could belive what you say is what you think. But at 15.75 only one class (Steve Polhills)would really be affected. If that is truly your goal why not leave things as they are?
One class isn't going to turn the "masses" away.

Again....I NEVER said anything would be changed. I threw out suggestions, ideas, etc. I remember saying we were not going to "Reinvent the Wheel" about a zillion posts back but some of you want to make a debate about ANYTHING I say on here. Give it a rest already. Id be more worried about NHRA doing away with classes that are less popular (car count) than anything I ever said. If the economy was not what it was/is (poor) they had every intention of dropping seperate FWD classes THIS year (believe it or not-I dont care but it was talked about) and putting them into RWD classes. Even Im not that stupid to think they could run with that deal.

[art leong]

And personally I think there is quite a bit of fan appeal. When a car like mine runs a SS/AM car and gets a 5 second head start. There is a lot of anticipation as the SS/AM is going 65 mph faster than me at the stripe.
In my view that is good racing.
I only wish nhra would run qualifying off the index. That would give people a reason to watch stock and super stock.

[art leong]

Terry as far as the getting rid of fwd cars goes. I'll file that rumor right next to the cylinder head runner volume debacle.
It seems like much ado about nothing We are well in to the season now and nothing has really changed.
My head is about 20 cc's larger than a stock head. Imagine if they were to use mine as a guide. LOL