Quote:
Originally Posted by boostedf22c
They like the people. The social aspect. Hanging around with family and friends. The racing when it’s head up. When I start talking about Comp rules and indexes and handicaps and all that they kind of lose interest.
I mean I don’t blame them. I still don’t quite understand it all. I’m a first generation racer. I wasn’t brought up around NHRA class Racing. I totally respect it, I’m just not all that excited about it anymore. I was introduced to Racing with heads up, Pro Tree. And I never realized how much I truly disliked NHRA class racing until I owned/drove a “fast” car. And by “fast” I mean so much under this made up “index” that someone came up with. We all kind of lost passion in this type of Racing once we started talking about slowing the car down. Most would be thrilled to have a Comp car that can go almost .90 under. But when the talks are...slowing it down, dumping it early, etc.. Doesn’t even make sense in RACING!! The people/racers are the only reason we are still supporting some of the NHRA races. And the fact that Indy is only 8 miles from our shop. Haha.
Crazy to think at age 40 I’m one of the young ones. Haha.
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What people need to understand in Sportsman racing there is more to the equation than just going fast. There are a lot of nuances that come into play with Sportsman class racing. The combos are not all created equal so to balance that you have to have some sort of index system. The racers are really in control of the indexes. If you run your car all out the index will be adjusted to the performance that the car is capable of. If you are holding back then the index does not get adjusted as fast. The best place for a spectator in handicap racing is the finish line not the starting line if they want to see how close the racing is at the top end. The index system is not very difficult to understand if the announcer is knowledgeable about the type classes that are being run. Not everyone is interested in heads up and grudge type racing so there is a little something for everyone in drag racing. The cost to run a comp car has really gotten out of control and that is killing the class for the majority of racers. All of the other NHRA sportsman classes have also gotten very expensive to compete in but those classes are still healthy. I have been racing for 40 years and have about 10 - 15 years left to race if my health holds out. Hopefully I can keep going for a while. I do enjoy racing Super Stock even though I am one of the slow guys. Its all about having fun in the end.