"Live" from the IHRA World Finals at Memphis International R

[Ed Wright]

Regular points race, in Texas, they announced no heads up races. Therefore no need to worry about the scales either. Heck, just call it a bracket race. That was my last IHRA race.

Who would complain about having heads up races? No real racer. That is the normal way Super Stock is run.

[HR9121]

It has happened a few times where due to certain circumstances that there were no heads up runs, scales not working,etc but I do believe I recall this happening at a couple NHRA races also, maybe somebody got tangled up down there. I can understand where IHRA would do it this way in this particular format, some people don't like it but until they can come up with somewhat of a national points format this is the only way they can do it.
IHRA is a long way from being NHRA but it works for alot of people, personally I would love to be in the position to run alot of NHRA races but trying to run a business not to mention having 2 small children at home is not conducive for me to leave home on Wednesday or Thursday to go racing. I just dont understand why people just want to sit around and bash it all the time though, if you dont like something then fine dont go anymore but dont sit back and act like everyone else is second class that does enjoy or race with them.

[John Duzac]

Originally Posted by Ed Wright

Regular points race, in Texas, they announced no heads up races. Therefore no need to worry about the scales either. Heck, just call it a bracket race. That was my last IHRA race.

Who would complain about having heads up races? No real racer. That is the normal way Super Stock is run.

Ed I Agree with everything you said. No heads up tells me no one wants to work on their cars and actually have a race. I wish it would go back to the way it was back in the 1970's. No reaction time and they ran off the records. You had to win class just to get in the eliminations. Imagine that, a real race.

[Ed Wright]

Originally Posted by John Duzac

Ed I Agree with everything you said. No heads up tells me no one wants to work on their cars and actually have a race. I wish it would go back to the way it was back in the 1970's. No reaction time and they ran off the records. You had to win class just to get in the eliminations. Imagine that, a real race.

Yep! The records were hard enough, that not everybody could run the record all the time. Some never could. I won a couple of divisional races running a tenth off the record, still the fastest car there that day. Jack Mullins' Pontiac wagon was the first one I can remember being able to usually run under.
Bad thing was, when bracket racing came along the guys that didn't want to work hard to get faster just went bracket racing. We ended up with very low car counts. Guess not everybody is wired to race that hard.

[Another Friendly Racer]

Ed is obviously missing the point of why IHRA does not have heads up in their championship event. Way to highjack this thread with your personal vendetta. You always have a million reasons why you don't want to race and think of your opinions as gold. I don't know who you think you are to go around saying who is a "real racer" and who is not.

[Michael T Johnson]

Originally Posted by Ed Wright

No need to be fast. LOL

And they wonder why they draw no cars? Just keeps getting worse. smh

Mr. Wright,
I understand your view point on heads up racing. However, the IHRA is providing the real "driver" sportsman their chance to demonstrate their ability to react and drive the finish line. I have nothing against you, but am frustrated with your attitude against the IHRA. I'm in the military deployed overseas and love the opportunities the IHRA provides to it's racers. I will be back in the US in FEB 15. I'm willing to haul my IHRA crate motor stocker to your track of chioce to demonstrate the capability/commitment of an IHRA racer west of the Mississippi. I'm stationed in California. We can discuss the value of the race outside social media.

v/r
Mike Johnson

[treekiller]

Why not do this? Make every run in eliminations heads up. When all the class run offs are done then make the winners race each other. Furthest under the index wins. Then all you dinosaurs with your old cars and attitudes can be on the trailer barbecuing after 1st rd watching the same cars win every week. The new ones. But at least you won't lose your precious heads ups. You probably hate bracket racing because you can't handle people who can cut lights seven rds in a row and drive the finish line. Really makes sense to have a 30-150,000 car that you can only run 5-10 times a year

[treekiller]

To say that someone is not a real racer because they didn't start racing w a flagman or they don't have to work on their cars 7 days a week including at the track is crazy. Running for some good money in Baton Rouge next weekend. Drag your stuff out there ed and let's see how many rds you go. I will say this though. To each his own. Gene Schmaltz Jr.

[Hagen Gary]

Originally Posted by Another Friendly Racer

You always have a million reasons why you don't want to race and think of your opinions as gold. I don't know who you think you are to go around saying who is a "real racer" and who is not.

This from a guy who hides behind his keyboard, attacks people for their opinions and then refuses to put a name to his comments... Classic

Ed is completely right here. IHRA is a Bracket race. And that’s fine. They put on a good multi-class bracket race. But they have zero clue what stock and super stock is. From the head of tech to the dude working the scales. They don't have a clue why we have these rules. The S/SS car counts vs the other classes prove that. I can bring my Stocker to a local bracket race, and if I happen to win, call myself the S/SS combo winner, but everyone knows I just won a bracket race. That is exactly what’s going on here. It’s a Bracket 1 and 2 world championship, and that’s quite an accomplishment. But its not Stock or Super Stock. Playing the Ladder is a skill of a S/SS racer. Heads up runs is the main thing that separates us from bracket racing. You take those away and you have a Bracket race.

I was a heavy player in IHRA just a short time ago, but they lost me when these 3 things happened in 1 weekend a couple years ago. I'd rather go to a bracket race where there is more return vs entry if I win. In fact, you would be better off entering you stocker in the et bracket class at these IHRA events, Its half the entry for the same payout

#1 The official running the scales tells me not to worry about weight because we qualify on reaction time. Can somebody please tell him why he's out there if that’s the case

#2 A good friend went up for first round and ran a car dialed 2 tenths over the index. My buddy tries to tell the starter but they just send him down. My buddy loses. He goes up to the tower to point out the rule and the Director tells him it’s up to the guy who dialed above his index to make the decision for a rerun. In case you guys don't know, you can’t change your dial on a rerun either, so how does that fix anything? The other guy should have lost, You cannot dial over the index, but when the Director has no idea, that’s what you get. My buddy packed his stuff up, and so did I

#3 I went to the Tower to inform them that 3 cars were claiming the wrong HP because they got HP 1 month previous. Turns out, The Director couldn't do anything because the Head of Tech decided to put 2001 Camaro as the one who got HP in the book (which is a joke if you ever looked at it). These other racers were able to slide that and claim 99, 00 or 02 model year or they had a firebird. So they gained bye runs because the head of tech doesn't have a clue.

Like I said, Head of Tech to the dude working the scales. NO CLUE why we have these rules. But they put on a Good bracket race. Just turns out I'm not a bracket racer and I enjoy the rules, so I've never been back and won't go until they start grasping the concept. Its not just the finals thats run as a Bracket race. It's the whole season.

[Hagen Gary]

BTW, did they run this thing last night? Who won?