Heads up today vs yesterday

[Ed Wright]

Originally Posted by fastlane

When I started racing in the mid 60s it was only class I ran mostly A/S and I ran all the other A/S cars and every other class ran each other the same then at the end of the day the winner of each class ran each other on a handicap system for overall eliminator. Why did it ever change that is the way it should still be but it is not. I know people will say you can't get a big enough car count today because the slower cars wont come. Why is it different today, back then if you had a slower car you worked on it to make it faster for next week. The payout was 25 bucks for a class win and 100 for overall eliminator. Why can't we go back to what worked there was no AFHS you tried to go as fast as you could and every week you tried to do better. Am I just dreaming of the good old days.

It was more like real racing back then. When bracket racing came along, that's where all the slow guys went. Our car counts went to nearly nothing. NHRA had to dumb it down with rediculous slow Indexes & dial your own bracket rules to get the slow guys back.
Running off records was too hard for too many, evidently.

[rognelson777]

Originally Posted by Ed Wright

It was more like real racing back then.
Running off records was too hard for too many, evidently.

What I have learned about running off records is does not work because of track altitude and weather conditions when record was set. Unless all records are factored using say SAE dyno horsepower factoring to correct ET.

For example if a record is set in A/S at dutch classic, usually mineshaft, and there is no one racing B/S at this event, and B/S is set at indy in the heat of the summer, the next year at U S NAtionals, B/S will have a Big advantage over A/S if they race off records.

To make it work you have to altitude correct records

[Ed Wright]

If the tracks were at over an 1000' elevation, we ran off of altitude corrected records. Around here (Div 4 seldom has "good air") I won points races running a tenth off my record. The fast car there that day. Didn't see a lot of brake lights before the finish line back then. :-)

Kinda comical at national events around here, and the World Finals when held here, to see national record holders that had set their records at Atco, NJ or Fremont, CA show up here, and could not run fast enough to qualify. They just thought they were real fast because of the tracks back home.
And, people not bright enough to not set records in mineshaft conditions made it tough for others running their class.

We didn't all have these weather stations & Crew Chief Pro software back then. All we knew was "Man, it's slow here!" :-)

[CMcAllister]

Look around. Nothing is as it was in the "good ol' days" and never will be. At least we can still remember it, mostly, and wax nostalgic.

[Ed Wright]

Just need to accept we have become a bunch of friggin bracket racers. With cars much more expensive than a bracket car needs to be.

[X-TECH MAN]

Originally Posted by Ed Wright

Just need to accept we have become a bunch of friggin bracket racers. With cars much more expensive than a bracket car needs to be.

You nailed it !

[Dan Lattimore]

Originally Posted by Ed Wright

Just need to accept we have become a bunch of friggin bracket racers. With cars much more expensive than a bracket car needs to be.

Completely agree Ed --- 99.9 % of the time. The other .1 % is when the car in the other lane is in my class.

[Mike Jones]

Originally Posted by Ed Wright

Just need to accept we have become a bunch of friggin bracket racers. With cars much more expensive than a bracket car needs to be.

nostalgia bracket racers
Mike

[fastlane]

And do away with AHFS what ever happened to a racing that the fastest car wins. If you have a slower car work on it to be competitive. AHFS is like socialism.

[Nmbr1GMfan]

Originally Posted by Ed Wright

Just need to accept we have become a bunch of friggin bracket racers. With cars much more expensive than a bracket car needs to be.

Unfortunately this statement is reality.