[jarn05]

this is something i sent to len imbrogno last year when there was a disscussion about this same situation,


hi len , i am concerned as to what is happening to stock / super stock , i have been a racer since 1986 and have seen a lot of changes some good and some bad, i do support the ahfs but not entirely how it works, i am sure you get email on this touchy subject all the time,the last ten years i feel s/ss eliminators regardless of high car counts has taken a major turn for the worst, in 1996 i was ridiculed for using superseded carbs on my max wedge and now cars can run with aftermarket edelbrock aluminum heads when they never came with aluminum heads and that is ok in my book as long as everyone can have them which right now is not the case,i don't think anymore examples are necessary i know from past experience , from reading your posts you know s/ss inside out and upside down.

what is on my mind is the 2 tenth reduction for indexes is needed , ahfs is needed , what i think needs to be changed and i have been largely voiced about this at the races is "NO CLASS RUNS DURING ELIMINATIONS!!!". ahfs should only apply during CLASS ELIMINATIONS at national events,it should not even apply on setting records , these classes are for performance based go as fast as you can with what you have legally cars .

i see it like this if every one has to dial in during eliminations the slow cars/owners(under the index) will not complain when the get beat dialing in/handicap racing and because performance factor is not an issue, ahfs will not be an issue because the playing ground is flattened evenly for everyone,i feel this could only improve car counts in these classes.

if racers like to go and be the fastest ,spend the most money or just like to brag that is ok too! those racers can go to national events to run class eliminations or show up to select divisional races and run top stock/ss,or set class records, class eliminations at national events should be where cars are judged for ahfs, on the grandest scale for divisional sportsman racers there is. i feel it is a joke that when you set a record more than 1.5 under the index that you don't receive the record for your accomplishment and get factored or indexed the next day as well records are meant to stand ! they should not ever go back to a minimum the next guy in line even if it takes 10 years should have to go faster. in your time working for nhra have you ever seen a class or combination slow down? i never have , all of my cars are constantly a work in progress to always find something to pick up a little bit.

s/ss racers are bracket racers ,even if the majority does not want to admit it, having class runs during eliminations does nothing for the class,if class runoffs were only used at national events it would make it more appealing for racers to attend and compete at a divisional level to qualify for acceptance at the national level where class run offs could be more of prestigious event like it used to be when i started racing.

my summary of the current situation in these classes is,

1 money it ruins everything. racers who have it ,spend it to go quick and fast at all costs, racers who don't have a lot to spend complain about the fast cars and the money they spend, fix? no class run offs during eliminations.

2 ahfs same as # 1 big money spenders set record which triggers factoring and kills the class for slower or lower funded cars ,the fix ,don't ahfs record runs it is not necessary ,remember there should not be any class runs during eliminations either , the ahfs should only be applied per car engine combo, registrant nhra # and driver ,ex i run a 1962 413 maxwedge nhra rated 395hp and you have the same car as me, i run 1.44 under the index at a national event in class eliminations,you run .50 under the index at the same race should you have to bear the penalty for me going that fast ? no only i should, i would guess that 90 % of the available combos are properly rated ,your car that you are going to race would have to be registered with nhra divisional office yearly and proper notification would be required if switching combinations, at first it would be a little more work building the data base but once all information is logged it would be no work per division to keep track of racers combos , on mondays all the divisions sync up and properly adjust racer car hp combinations.

3 if the class run offs during eliminations were removed the possibility to condense the classes becomes a reality, there would be no bitching about stick shift verse automatic or fi combos.

i know these are only my opinions but if enough of us racers would work together and voice our opinions to the people who make the rule changes happen instead of complianing just maybe the racers as a whole could accomplish something positive.

jimi vignogna