Why Class racing dies slowly

[THE LEGEND]

Like it or not all forms of Sportsman classes have some sort of bracket RACING involved.
Started back class racng this year after taking a few years off to run.90 and chase Big Buck Bracket Races. Most fun I've had in quite some time. I looked at schedules before coming back and between NHRA, IHRA, CCRA,and the Redline series I have 29 races within a 5 hour drive and I'm sure there are some I missed. With that much Class RACING it doesn't sound like its dying to me.

[James Perrone]

dick can't handle the truth? 😜

[Andrew Hill]

Originally Posted by Jeff Niceswanger

Just got back from the Layer/Doane Memorial race.... You would have loved it Dick... It was a Stock/Superstock Combo...(Put on by Rodger Keeling) .. But the final came down to 2 GT/DA Superstockers... A normal bracket race was going on at the track in conjunction with the SS race . You should have seen all the folks walking over to the stands and fence to see a heads up final ...The announcer made a big deal how this was like the good old days...Run what u brung... Your right on one thing... The heads up portion of this class is ....special. In our opinion, its the only reason we are in the class in the first place. Otherwise, we would still be purely bracket racing...
BTW.. Richard Doanes old car , with Rick Brown at the controls, won...

Like!!! Congrats Rick Brown on the win! Especially cool that it's in Richard Doane's old car.

[Mickey Whaley]

They got throwed out

[Travis Miller]

Dick, I cannot see anyone else wanting to change the definition of Class racing to only include cars running in heads up eliminations for the class trophy. Everyone racing in Stock and/or S/S is part of Class racing whether the event they attend has class runoffs or is an all run event with a dial-in. Those are cars that fall into different classes and must meet certain class requirements and specifications. If anyone wants to call that bracket racing, then so be it. But it is bracket racing with the correct engine, carb or throttle body, and many other items that have to meet specific rules. In order for everyone to compete there must be a handicap system that allows the lower classed cars to play against the higher classed cars.

As far as heads up racing goes, I've been teching long enough to remember a time when a certain heads up eliminator was started that had many cars competing. Over the years a lot of good hard working participants fell to the wayside because in order to stay competitive in a heads up format, it took deeper and deeper pockets. Today that heads up eliminator is barely surviving, sometimes with less than 16 cars in the field. But for some unknown reason Stock and S/S have to have a maximum quota put on them at the same event.

[Nitro Joe Jackson]

as far as I'm concerned the car counts in both SS & Stock are up this year due to the new classes made for the new cars and seeing the addition of a lot of old bodied cars coming back out in competition.
So I totally disagree on it dying, as for the heads up stuff, we tried it in NSCA, didn't work, Dick tried it, didn't work, this is working very well and even the independent SS/Stock series are working at this time.
As for racing shoe polish, versus racing like comp eliminator, we all see the car counts over there, very scary.

[Alan Roehrich]

Dick, for pete's sake, lay off the doom and gloom. Even though we (Kevin and I) are sitting it out for a while, we can see that it's getting better, not worse. We are working on returning. The new cars are in their own classes where they belong, and the car counts are up, despite the weak economy.

Could some things in Stock and Super Stock be better, and be done better? Sure. But they're not dying classes and they don't need to be reinvented or radically altered to survive. Anyone claiming that is doing more harm than they'll ever do good. People wanting to throw the baby out with the bath water are a hazard to the sport.

Yes, NHRA could do a lot to encourage, and reward, performance. Yes, more emphasis could be placed on performance. But there also must be a balance that has to be maintained.

[Dick Butler]

Guys, Thanks for all the comments. Sounds like everyone is pleased with the racing in eliminator and class as it stands. I loved to attend the points meets and race dial in too. I just liked Class better as a personal challenge to get the most out of my car I could on that day against similar cars and drivers.
Thanks again.

[randy wilson]

Originally Posted by Travis Miller

Dick, I cannot see anyone else wanting to change the definition of Class racing to only include cars running in heads up eliminations for the class trophy. Everyone racing in Stock and/or S/S is part of Class racing whether the event they attend has class runoffs or is an all run event with a dial-in. Those are cars that fall into different classes and must meet certain class requirements and specifications. If anyone wants to call that bracket racing, then so be it. But it is bracket racing with the correct engine, carb or throttle body, and many other items that have to meet specific rules. In order for everyone to compete there must be a handicap system that allows the lower classed cars to play against the higher classed cars.

As far as heads up racing goes, I've been teching long enough to remember a time when a certain heads up eliminator was started that had many cars competing. Over the years a lot of good hard working participants fell to the wayside because in order to stay competitive in a heads up format, it took deeper and deeper pockets. Today that heads up eliminator is barely surviving, sometimes with less than 16 cars in the field. But for some unknown reason Stock and S/S have to have a maximum quota put on them at the same event.

I don't think Dick wants to change any class. He was testing the waters to see if there'd be interest in a heads up limited class. No class has ever been tried like he is trying to explain. Circle track racers have done it successfully, so it may be worth a shot. They'll never know if it would be popular, because it will never be tried. The only thing I have a problem with is the vitriol that some racers seem to have against a non existent class. I could care less how many new eliminator a they come up with if it doesn't effect me.

[Bobby Zlatkin]

Dick, I miss the Jr. Stock days of the sixties also and wish it was like that now. However, I realize it ain't never going to happen. The fellow with the Q/SA '55 Chevy obviously relates to that time also, but has adapted his program to the 2015 secne and I'm sure he's having a ball participating now.