Grade Point Alternative

[Jeff Niceswanger]

Charlie !!! Can you get Led Zeppelin Tickets ? People will pay whatever you want....

I think you're on to something here..

[Whalen3186]

This is the 2nd year in a row that stock for the Gators has filled in under 6 minutes. Why hasn’t anyone addressed the elephant in the room of how ridiculously easy it is to accumulate grade points in D2?? With the amount of divisionals and national opens offered in the southeast, everyone can easily get 12-15 gp’s in a season.

A few short years ago many guys were b!tching about how hard it was to get gp’s in d2. Now there’s more gp opportunities than any other division in the country and you wonder why a race fills so quick. This is capitalism working at its finest to fix a problem that NHRA created.

Quotas are half of what they should be, especially for a 4 day national event. That deserves a whole other thread and NHRA should do more to meet customer demands/expectations for the sportsman racer.

[Ron Ortiz]

Not all of D2 has easy access, down in south Florida it is a long haul just to get out of the state. I really feel for the racers out in the northwest, it's closer to Mars than a divisional. The northeast has tracks everywhere, just takes a long time to cross a street.
Every national event should cater to the area they are in. Local (statewide) racers should be able to attend national in their division, along with all the other traveling "pros". Small quote are a bad thing for racing. A qualified field is way more appropriate. That is why we have divisions.

[Larry Hill]

Charlie if you only charged past Champs that no longer race a 15% commission it would be a nice supplement to their income.

[Dragrac419]

Originally Posted by Whalen3186

This is the 2nd year in a row that stock for the Gators has filled in under 6 minutes. Why hasn’t anyone addressed the elephant in the room of how ridiculously easy it is to accumulate grade points in D2?? With the amount of divisionals and national opens offered in the southeast, everyone can easily get 12-15 gp’s in a season.

A few short years ago many guys were b!tching about how hard it was to get gp’s in d2. Now there’s more gp opportunities than any other division in the country and you wonder why a race fills so quick. This is capitalism working at its finest to fix a problem that NHRA created.

Quotas are half of what they should be, especially for a 4 day national event. That deserves a whole other thread and NHRA should do more to meet customer demands/expectations for the sportsman racer.

Drew,
I think you confused D2 with the D1 schedule as you can get a total of 12 GP's in D2 but you can get a total of 18 GP's in D1 with the divisional and national opens. Have not seen the schedule yet do D2 national opens. If you look at the list of people entered for the Gators majority of them are from D1.

[Lenny5160]

Originally Posted by Ron Ortiz

Every national event should cater to the area they are in. Local (statewide) racers should be able to attend national in their division, along with all the other traveling "pros".

This kind of thinking is the problem. "The circus is coming to town and I want to be a part of it."

Edit: the above quote is fine. The problem is "The circus is coming to town and, as a local racer, I am entitled to be a part of it."

This is a national racing points series. If you aren't out there running the races needed to compete in the series, you really don't need to be there.

[Mike Pearson]

Originally Posted by Lenny5160

This kind of thinking is the problem. "The circus is coming to town and I want to be a part of it."

This is a national racing points series. If you aren't out there running the races needed to compete in the series, you really don't need to be there.

Actually you can only claim 3 national events towards the championship. Makes no sense to drive from California to Florida to race a national event. I tend to agree with the local home division guys have first crack at the national events in their home division.
I like to race at the Gators. It’s only 150 miles from my house. I do bust my a&& to get enough grade points to enter. This might be my last year trying to do it.

[442OLDS]

Originally Posted by Lenny5160

This is a national racing points series. If you aren't out there running the races needed to compete in the series, you really don't need to be there.

That is a great point.But how is somebody supposed to make a serious run for a National Championship when they can't get in their six National events to take their best three?

[Lenny5160]

Originally Posted by Mike Pearson

Actually you can only claim 3 national events towards the championship. Makes no sense to drive from California to Florida to race a national event. I tend to agree with the local home division guys have first crack at the national events in their home division.
I like to race at the Gators. It’s only 150 miles from my house. I do bust my a&& to get enough grade points to enter. This might be my last year trying to do it.

I'd argue that any serious competitor is going to use all 6 potential claims, but I'll stick with your 3 for now.

What does a serious points challenger from Divisions 1, 4, or 6 do when they do not have 3 in-division national events and the 'home division' racers are given priority at all other events?

There are no California racers currently entered in the Gators but I do appreciate a good strawman.

In reply to Daryl - unfortunately it would pretty much require a 'burn year' to acquire grade points before someone could seriously battle for a championship in most classes.

[Billy Nees]

Just out of curiosity, where and when can "car owner" grade points be used for entries?