Automatic Horsepower Factoring System

[Ron Ortiz]

I am one of those racers that used to be close to the index, and with some work have managed to get faster. Recently I tried some newer components and have managed to get back to square one, only running about 3 tenths under. I know of other racers that sometimes are near the indexes. I DO NOT LIKE THE IDEA OF LOWERING THE INDEXES. It does nothing except help the people that run very fast from getting horsepower. The lowering of indexes was done to bring more people into the category, not to punish people from going too fast. There are so many bogus combos, parts, etc. that need to be addressed first. The AHFS cannot work as long as these things exist. Fast guys are jamming on the brakes to protect their HP, and NHRA keeps telling you to stop it because it is a safety thing. But do they enforce it, NO. I can't tell you how much smoke I have seen comming off the front tires of people trying to make it close with my 14 second slug at the finish line, What happens, they are told "if you do that again we are going to DQ you" Do they ever get DQ'd , NO, it's a bunch of bull. I watch cars from the stands at the finish line and see so much sand bagging it's disgusting. This is a performance based category, and it has turned into a circus. No one wants to go too fast, but they want to be the fastest. A bunch of bull.

NHRA needs to start tracking every run and all incremintal times from the 60' to the finish line to detemine what the vehicles really are capable of. They need to implement a system that accounts for weather and altitude tracks, and I know it can be done with todays technology. They need to start enforing their own interpretation of the rules they made. When some guy out in the middle of nowhere hits your combo with a fast run, you get penalized even though there are differences in the two combos. Is that fair, no a bunch of bull. Someone goes out and goes 1.50 under and is immediatelly hit with HP. Are they torn down first to make sure it was legit? If they are legit then they deserve HP because it was factored wrong in the first place. Superceded parts are another joke, it's given to some but not others, and you wonder why the AHFS is not working. I read where people have a varied view of the way things should be done, lower the indexes, lower the trigger, leave it alone, allow certain things, .50 under to win class, more teardowns, no paper cars, give us more parts, STOP IT.
There is nothing wrong with the current indexes. Eliminate the trigger system, let the fast cars go fast, stop the sand bagging, enforce the rules correctly, this is Stock Eliminator, a PERFORMANCE BASED category. If you want more liberal rules or parts, go to Super Stock.

Ron Ortiz
U/SA .3 under and still competitive.

[Dick Butler]

Ron Ortiz, You are correct on all the issues you have addressed. You did not address how to adjust the factoring on those weakly factored cars which would Dominate if no for of AHFS at all were present.
The hope is the AHFS could be a "hands off" way to adjust HP but forgets the human component of the driver. The driver can "choose " to sandbag, put in wt, use the brakes if everything is left alone. With NO system to adjust of any kind class racing would become very biased to Bogus Hp cars.... Not just the hard working guys or the popular well worked combinations. Some people live to be #1 qualifier .Some might say using the "ratings game" for an underfactored car motor is a weaknes of the racing.