[Alan Roehrich]

The AA classes, stick and automatic, started with a 10.90 index. It was 10.90 because Len Imbrogno specifically asked about a 1/2 dozen people what they wanted for an index, and 10.90 was decided upon because it would allow the fastest cars to run wide open and not hit the 1.20 under automatic HP trigger. At the time, the index for A/SA was 11.30, and for A/S, 11.25, if memory serves correct.

Just a couple of years after AA was formed, NHRA dropped all of the indexes by 3 tenths, including the AA classes, despite the AA classes having an index that was already much lower in comparison to the other classes. So, the AA index became 10.60, which, for a traditional car, makes qualifying for the U.S. Nationals in a AA class a near impossible feat. If the index were returned to 10.90, or at least no lower than 10.80, it might be possible for a fast AA car to make the cut.