U.S. Nationals, remember when?

Bench Racer · 08-31-2014, 08:21 PM

I'm kinda hesitant to write this because I don't race a car but drag racing has been in the family since the early 80's. I remember my first trip to Indy, My brother and I drove up just to watch class runs. I think there were around 250 cars in Super Stock and I don't remember any empty classes. It was an all day event and I was hooked on Indy. I have been back several times since. Once drove up by my self from N.C. to watch class then came back home. Went with my brother twice when he took his car and had an awesome time making and meeting friends and admiring the cars. Back in the day of "a class win gets you in" Indy was a car nuts dream come true. I spent hours walking in the pits looking at Stockers and Super Stockers that I had only got to see in magazines. Now I got an up close look and got to talk to the owners and get some pictures too. Back then I got to see some awesome cars ranging from 4 cylinders to Thunder Bolts, factory built drag cars from the 60's, and the muscle cars I dreamed of having when I was a little snot nosed kid. Then the format changed from class wins to 128 top qualifiers. I noticed the variety of cars that came to Indy looks a lot different now. A lot of the cars that always won class back in the day don't even show up anymore. Im not bashing any make or class of car, but in my humble opinion NHRA made a poor decision switching from the class win get's you in format. Reading some of the rants about Stock at Indy 2014 reinforces my point. I enjoy watching SS/GT cars along with the new factory rocket Stockers but my true love is traditional Super Stock and old model Stockers. We all heard the complaints, " that low dollar piece of crap won class and gets to run and my 100K+ car didn't make the field, GT cars are gonna run out the traditional Super Stockers, Fuel injection will run out all the carburetors, ect. the jury may still be out on that but one thing is for sure NHRA has run some pretty neat cars away from the U.S. Nationals. If the class win format was still in effect the Stocker situation at Indy 2014 would not be an issue. No bashing intended, just stating my opinion. Don Jackson

08-31-2014, 08:21 PM	#1
Bench Racer Member Join Date: May 2002 Location: Green Creek (Tryon) North Carolina Posts: 331 Likes: 69 Liked 99 Times in 21 Posts	U.S. Nationals, remember when? I'm kinda hesitant to write this because I don't race a car but drag racing has been in the family since the early 80's. I remember my first trip to Indy, My brother and I drove up just to watch class runs. I think there were around 250 cars in Super Stock and I don't remember any empty classes. It was an all day event and I was hooked on Indy. I have been back several times since. Once drove up by my self from N.C. to watch class then came back home. Went with my brother twice when he took his car and had an awesome time making and meeting friends and admiring the cars. Back in the day of "a class win gets you in" Indy was a car nuts dream come true. I spent hours walking in the pits looking at Stockers and Super Stockers that I had only got to see in magazines. Now I got an up close look and got to talk to the owners and get some pictures too. Back then I got to see some awesome cars ranging from 4 cylinders to Thunder Bolts, factory built drag cars from the 60's, and the muscle cars I dreamed of having when I was a little snot nosed kid. Then the format changed from class wins to 128 top qualifiers. I noticed the variety of cars that came to Indy looks a lot different now. A lot of the cars that always won class back in the day don't even show up anymore. Im not bashing any make or class of car, but in my humble opinion NHRA made a poor decision switching from the class win get's you in format. Reading some of the rants about Stock at Indy 2014 reinforces my point. I enjoy watching SS/GT cars along with the new factory rocket Stockers but my true love is traditional Super Stock and old model Stockers. We all heard the complaints, " that low dollar piece of crap won class and gets to run and my 100K+ car didn't make the field, GT cars are gonna run out the traditional Super Stockers, Fuel injection will run out all the carburetors, ect. the jury may still be out on that but one thing is for sure NHRA has run some pretty neat cars away from the U.S. Nationals. If the class win format was still in effect the Stocker situation at Indy 2014 would not be an issue. No bashing intended, just stating my opinion. Don Jackson