Ok Div. 5, 6, & 7 Sportsman racers.....
 

In the wake of Glendora's decision to cancel Southwestern International Dragway from their sanctioning body, both SIR, and Rocky Mountain Raceway in Salt Lake City are now interested in knowing if you will embrace the thought of IHRA coming west? The window of opportunity is here, are we going to open it and climb into it? They're waiting on our feedback, and so is the IHRA!!!

Re: Ok Div. 5, 6, & 7 Sportsman racers.....
 

Now if they were to add Ashcroft ? hmmm.

Re: Ok Div. 5, 6, & 7 Sportsman racers.....
 

Ashcroft IS an IHRA sanctioned track now, as is Prince George, and I believe, Kelowna.

Re: Ok Div. 5, 6, & 7 Sportsman racers.....
 

IHRA Division 6 for Summit Super Series

To accompany its rapid expansion westward, the International Hot Rod Association is proud to announce the formation of a new division in the Summit SuperSeries made up of tracks in western Canada and the north west portion of the United States.

Beginning in 2011, 10 tracks in three Canadian provinces and four U.S. states will begin immediate competition in Division 6 with the Summit SuperSeries grassroots racing series. Each track will be eligible to compete in the Summit Team Finals which will be held next season at Castrol Raceway in Edmonton, Alberta.

The newly formed division will consist of Castrol Raceway and Race City Motorsports Park in Alberta, Gimli Motorsports Park in Manitoba, Thunder Mountain Raceway, Prince George Motorsports Park and Nl’akapxm Eagle Motorplex in British Columbia and Rocky Mountain Raceways, Alaska Raceway Park, Magic City International Dragway and Philips County Motorsports Dragstrip in the United States.

“Forming this new division has been in the making for two years and it is great to finally see it come to life,” said Phil Gingerich, IHRA Director of Track Development. “This will provide the west coast exposure to the benefits of IHRA racing and could result in more new tracks joining in the future.”

IHRA officials also haven’t ruled out the possibility of expanding the division to include the Summit Racing Equipment Pro-Am series in the near future. For now, however, the focus is on getting the founding tracks of the new division up and running as members of the Summit SuperSeries and continue to grow the division over the next few years.

Re: Ok Div. 5, 6, & 7 Sportsman racers.....
 

I was gioing to go to Tucson again this year now that has change with the schedule. We in the Northwest have not had much doings with IHRA but I think there are alot of peolpe that are willing to go for it. It could be a big turn out if they get a track in Washington or Oregon. I htink the closest in the past has been Alberta for us.

Re: Ok Div. 5, 6, & 7 Sportsman racers.....
 

Yes Gary i agree we need to support IHRA if they come out...BUT word on the street is that NHRA has scheduled their first vegas divisional on the same day as the IHRA event @ tucson.. This is a BIG F YOU to the sportsmen racers from NHRA to make us choose and car counts will suffer.We have multiple cars on our team that are still in the points hunt for Jegs Allstars. So now what??? give up all star points to support IHRA? Once again we out west will get screwed. NHRA makes us choose one or the other and if we support the ONE race for IHRA we lose points for our NHRA season which has alot more races and impact BUT if we dont support the ONE race then the possibilty of a west coast alternative goes away... I thought we lived in a democratic non monopolistic society...We DEFINITELY dont race in one...

God help us and & our sport
Kenny Newsome 7709 ?/sa

ps, yes my car is gonna stay parked until the drag packs factor out....

Re: Ok Div. 5, 6, & 7 Sportsman racers.....
 

Drag pacs and Mustangs have their own class and index in IHRA so your old car can run

Re: Ok Div. 5, 6, & 7 Sportsman racers.....
 

The Nitro Jam race at Tucson is E.T. and Jr's only, so there's no conflict.

If the racers push the tracks, maybe you could get some to go IHRA and have a new Pro-Am Division, but the only one you've got out west right now is Edmonton (June 24-26). You had Salt Lake last year, but racers didn't support it, so now it's just for TD, TS, ET, and Jr's.

You really want to DO something? Save up and go to Edmonton. There's no schedule conflicts that I can see. Show up in force, and make a statement. Show the tracks that you will support them if they make the commitment.

Re: Ok Div. 5, 6, & 7 Sportsman racers.....
 

Mark, it's been awhile since I checked but they not only still have the the FI classes separated from the carb classes, but they still have all 16 fwd stocker classes too. Thus the CJ's and the DP's will have to run in FI (like Bob Pagano stated), which should make a lot of people happier...I know I would be because there'd be no turbo's in EF/SA (their equivalent to DF/S).

Re: Ok Div. 5, 6, & 7 Sportsman racers.....
 

try it, you'll like it.

Re: Ok Div. 5, 6, & 7 Sportsman racers.....
 

Thanks Mike for your added info. I spoke with Scooter Peaco yesterday, and he told me much of the same things you put here, but he also told me that although the Rocky Mountain race is as Michael Beard mentioned, if the racers contact them in at least a 24ct participant number (as one of the Super Classes has done, and contact their track), they could modify their planned race to include those extra classes...again it's up to racer interest. Furthermore, it's no coincedence that the 'Vegas divisional was scheduled the same wknd as the Tucson "Nitro Jam" race (to put a fly in the ointment of thoughts of sportsman classes being there this year), however next year and beyond will be a different story, so as not to conflict with anything D5 (?), 6, or 7 will schedule...also per Scooter....again it's up to racers contacting those tracks, or contacting Scooter, Phil, or even Hank Blankenship. They're waiting, and interested in talking with us!

Re: Ok Div. 5, 6, & 7 Sportsman racers.....
 

Trust me Ed, I want to and I have 305 reasons (or lack thereof), for wanting to!!!

Re: Ok Div. 5, 6, & 7 Sportsman racers.....
 

Well, there ya go, guys! Can't beat that. You should be able to scrounge up 24 Stk and 24 SS cars and go have a great race at Salt Lake. Call yer buddies.

Re: Ok Div. 5, 6, & 7 Sportsman racers.....
 

Unfortunately, this is the same weekend as an NHRA division race in Spokane, WA. So the chance of drawing many D6 cars is slim once again :-(

Maybe some guys from 5 or 7 will support it???

Re: Ok Div. 5, 6, & 7 Sportsman racers.....
 

Why can't they find open weekends?

Re: Ok Div. 5, 6, & 7 Sportsman racers.....
 

Nice thought Mark, but I just noticed that Div 5 has their Bandimere Divisional in Denver that weekend too. Hopefully next year Rocky Mountain Raceway will schedule around those two races, then they might do better. However, Div 7 (RMR's former Div.), has their Fallon race one week prior, so D7 racers may have it to ponder???

Oh, and btw, I just thought of another reason I hope our three divisions and even Div. 4's racers will show interest in this possible IHRA takeover, the .30 sec.'s we had taken away from us by NHRA last year...I know that caused some racers in my budget range to back away since they would be lucky to run their (new) indexes, let alone get under them. IHRA hasn't followed that lousy ideal, anymore than the class meshing NHRA did as well... :(

It might also be worth noting that Southwestern International Raceway has been getting a lot of phone calls since this possibility has become known to us, which could be a great thing for us as well as their track!!! :)

Finally, they have a racer meeting scheduled for next Saturday (Jan. 22nd), @ 5-6:30pm at the Celebrations Party Spot...2831 N Stone Ave (with the racer Banquet to follow, which is $20 bucks per person). If interested in the banquet, you need to let their office know by Monday! This will be a great opportunity for those of us who can attend to visually put our hats of interest into the ring with them...I'm certain that those of you who live in nearby states can call their office and leave messages for Bernie (he'll probably appreciate the added interest), too!

Re: Ok Div. 5, 6, & 7 Sportsman racers.....
 

Theres only 52 of them in a year......LOL

Re: Ok Div. 5, 6, & 7 Sportsman racers.....
 

I'm guessing the meager turnout last year guided their thoughts, but I too am not sure why they didn't schedule around those div's race dates for the RMR event this year (?), but I hope that if the track gets the 24ct + of interested class & .90 racers, that if they can't change anything this year, they'll be flexible enough to schedule around those divisions races next year...again as per Scooter Peaco of IHRA (imagine a joe blow racer like me being able to chat on the phone with a VP of a motorsports sanctioning body!!!).

As per S.I.R., to me it's no coincedence that the 'Vegas (replacement) divisional was scheduled on the same wknd as the Nitro Jam race....once again though, that will be adjusted next year as well if racer interest is high enough. I'm glad you're interested Ed, because that's what we need out here (from racers in your area), so those of us nearer the west coast can possibly enjoy what you central and eastern racers have enjoyed for years....an option for our racing dollars!!! :)

Re: Ok Div. 5, 6, & 7 Sportsman racers.....
 

Look at Nitro Joe's 2011 racing schedule.. There are 125 race dates on it now. Not making excuses ,but that is a lot of races to try to schedule around..........Don't worry ,be happy ......lol

Re: Ok Div. 5, 6, & 7 Sportsman racers.....
 

Danny, that many in that part of the country?

Re: Ok Div. 5, 6, & 7 Sportsman racers.....
 

Nah, just was looking at all the races in general. 125 races in one year is a lot no matter where they are.....It is hard to schedule no matter what you do. Here at home on the same weekend as West Palm IHRA race we have a racers re-union(that i go to every year) with lots of legends in attendence such as Bobby Warren ,Garley Daniels ,Harold Denton , Ed Mcglawhorn ,Troy Dennis, Roy Hill , and the list goes on and on. The weekend before that we also have a bracket /class racer (Steve Taylor) that will be inducted in the North Carolina Drag Racing Hall of Fame along with Sam Carroll, Charles Carpenter, Ronnie Hood , . Then we have a 5 grander Winter series race at my home track (just 10 minutes from home ). I don't know how to get to do all of these things ,just lucky we got all this stuff going on and to be able to have choices......Some areas are not so lucky as this area in general..........Go look under the EVENTS section and you can see what i will be missing $#@$#@$@%@$@.....

Re: Ok Div. 5, 6, & 7 Sportsman racers.....
 

Danny, you underscored why I started this thread....we have several weekends throughout the season (and I'm just talking about from April-October), out here where there's nothing going on (in all three divisions combined), that could be filled with other semi-pro racing events (regardless of sanctioning body). The seat time, would be good, and the optional points chasing series would be good for racers chasing more than just NHRA's Lucas Oil national/divisional championships...over and beyond the index adjustment and national event entry fee increase...next thing that'll happen is divisional races will cost $200 (or more)! It's taken far too long for this opportunity to come about, and if we don't seize the moment this opportunity brings, then the monopoly will continue and all of us will be weeded out of this our expression of the great sport of Drag Racing, and that will truly be a sad day here in the lower 48 states of America.....

Re: Ok Div. 5, 6, & 7 Sportsman racers.....
 

Gary, when we have them stacked on top of each other around here, there are open weekends around them. Guess I'm not smart enough to understand it.

Re: Ok Div. 5, 6, & 7 Sportsman racers.....
 

Ed, since you live in Tulsa, Ok., you have several options that are within a 500-600 mile towing range (one-way and with both sanctioning bodies), of your home base. Unless I moved up to either Boise, Id. or Salt Lake City, Ut. (if not to a mid-western state similar to yours), I don't have that flexibility of 2+ different divisions that I could race in (nor would I have the two different sanctioning bodies I could enjoy (unless Rocky Mountain Raceway either gives us sportsman racers a second chance, and/or S.I.R. becomes an IHRA sanctioned track). Spokane, Wa. is far enough from Denver, Co., that no D6 cars will show for the D5 race (or vice/versa). However, D6 & D7 messed up last year by hosting their Spokane, Wa. & Fallon, Nv. divisionals the same weekend, and because of it they both had meager car counts...they learned their lessons since it won't be like that this year! Unfortunately we don't have the luxury of such stacking of events out here in the western three div's. (especially without the IHRA option), so we have no concept of what you central/eastern racers get to choose from (hopefully the possible addition of Tucson to the IHRA family will start a process that will give us that, and maybe an IHRA division of our own to boot that would start by housing RMR, & SIR within it?). I'm sorry, that you have to choose what championship you want to chase the most, and plan your races accordingly, but it must be nice to have those options....

Re: Ok Div. 5, 6, & 7 Sportsman racers.....
 

Gary , i hope it does grow in your area,and i hope it will be IHRA that grows it... Maybe once they get into that area and see the turn outs or the interest it will make it happen..I will not be working the Tuscon race this year ,but hopefully they will include all the sportsman class cars the next event and i can come out that way to work and meet you guys..... Was not trying to underscore at all......Hope to see you guys soon ....and good luck..

Re: Ok Div. 5, 6, & 7 Sportsman racers.....
 

Thanks Danny, for those thoughts....we need all the help we can get to try this, and so far 5 out of 6 sportsman racers I've spoken with are in favor of them giving us another venue for our racing dollars (that allow points chasing championships to chime in with it), so that's a good sign....not to mention the racers who've posted here about their interest in it as well. I also like the fact that IHRA's indexes haven't changed (like NHRA's did last year), and they haven't been raising the competition entry fees or registration costs like our Glendora based buds (?) have done in recent years either! The added benefit of the DP & CJ cars having to run in non-carbureted Stock Eliminator classes should be an added bonus to those who race in the classes currently being affected by the merging of the FI classes into the traditional classes.

It's my hope that if we can get IHRA out here in our area, that the contingency companies will latch onto this as well, with a growing interest in new postings for their events too...a win, win for us racers, the companies involved, and IHRA as well!!! :)

Re: Ok Div. 5, 6, & 7 Sportsman racers.....
 

I was one of the three stockers who attended Rocky Mountain's IHRA event last year and I will be the first one of the 24 willing to commit - just need to know where to send my money. Spokane is my home track but with the .03 index hit my rulebook legal stocker only runs .02-.03 under the index in C/SA. With between 5 and 7 C/SA cars typically attending Spokane it is worth it to drive the 11 hours to run the National event in Salt Lake - they put on a great show last year and IHRA ended up paying for my trip. If you are not chasing division points, the fun factor is definitely with IHRA. I do know there are one or two guys in Salt Lake trying to put together crate motor stockers after last years event that might be willing to attend. Maybe the Salt Lake guys can get some of the locals to commit.

Re: Ok Div. 5, 6, & 7 Sportsman racers.....
 

delete duplicate - sorry fat fingers

Re: Ok Div. 5, 6, & 7 Sportsman racers.....
 

That's good to hear Paul, and I wish I could've been there too, because I sure wanted to! I'll add my name to that list for Salt Lake City as well...especially if my geographic location stays as close (if not becomes closer?) to there than it is now (that's a work in process). As I stated in the thread "Tucson", I'll offer to pay the entry fee for the RMR event (even if I don't actually get to participate in it), if the Tucson race doesn't work out for us Stock/Super Stock racers, thus the RMR folks will get the 24 committed racers needed to add our category back into their show (per Scooter Peaco, of IHRA)! Two down, 22 more to go...heck I know of a Ca. racer who expressed an interest in that race if they get it back, so if you and the others who were there last year can come back, then I think we'll only need around 17 more cars to make it happen...any other takers???

Re: Ok Div. 5, 6, & 7 Sportsman racers.....
 

I just emailed Scooter and Mike Baker confirming my entry and have asked them where to send the money. If you are truly interested in having stock eliminator at this event, please email these guys at speaco@feldinc.com, mbaker@feldinc.com and confirm your participation.

Be willing to send in your entry fees in advance, this is the only way they will be able to know for sure that they will have the dollars to contest the 24 car minimum class.

If you even think yo have a car close to being class legal, I would also recommend talking to Mike Baker personally to see if it will pass tech.

In my opinion it is worth doing this to promote stock eliminator in the new division six and insure Rocky Mountain gets this class every year - they treat you like gold, you typically get to pit right next to the staging lanes and last year I got 9 passes between qualifying runs, gamblers race, etc. at a 2-day National Event plus a boatload of press - the value is incredible!

I will kick in an extra $200 to be awarded based on a random drawing at the race - I know it is not a lot but it will at least pay for 1 of the 24 car's entry fee.

I look forward to seeing you there!

Re: Ok Div. 5, 6, & 7 Sportsman racers.....
 

Thanks Paul,

I just had a good chat with Ron Craft of Rocky Mountain Raceway, and he too is hoping (as I am), that Southwestern International Raceway's racers will embrace the IHRA into their fold....the oil down penalty that Glendora is placing upon us sportsman racers is the latest reason to hope for this addition, to them! If they don't then I'll be working towards joining you there Paul, and I have a couple of friends who'll likely go there too...

Re: Ok Div. 5, 6, & 7 Sportsman racers.....
 

Two more key reasons to give IHRA a try out west in our lower 48's:

1. Membership in IHRA, plus your competition number is only $70 vs the $119 for NHRA!

2. No physical is required for those of you stocker racers who had to get them, with NHRA.

Sounds great to me!!! Now how about the rest of you??? :)

If you have any other membership questions, Donna Harper is a phone call away, and waiting to hear from you @ (419) 660-4219.

Re: Ok Div. 5, 6, & 7 Sportsman racers.....
 

I am not seeing a lot of posts regarding interest in contesting stock eliminator at the Salt Lake IHRA Nitrojam event - I think the last count was about 7 people. Are there any Salt Lake locals besides superstock racer Tom Albritton that come to this forum? We need to hear from you or your buddies on this issue.

Put quite simply, if the local racers in a city of $1M+ people can't find at least 12 of the 24 cars locally to compete, there should be no complaining by anyone on why IHRA is not automatically willing to cough up $2K-$3K in prize money plus contingency for three cars to show up only one of which was local (he actually won the event).

I keep hearing the cry baby stories about NHRA has this event scheduled and that event scheduled at the same time - boo hoo! IHRA has many different stock classes in which you can compete. Let me list these for you -- STOCK - just like NHRA except you get 10.5" and roller rockers, STOCK FUEL INJECTION, STOCK TRUCKS, STOCK GT, PURE STOCK and CRATE MOTOR STOCK.

So here is some outside the box thinking - go to a local car show, talk to a few wheel polisher types and ask them to take there cars to the track to enter the PURE STOCK class. We then approach IHRA about letting these guys run, even if they don't quite fit the rules to the letter. There has to be at 5 or 10 people with restored vintage iron in Salt Lake. We do the same for some of the other classes - I keep stressing the crate motor class because a lot of no box cars are pretty close.

The 24 who show up that are 100% legal to run the class, get to make the decision on whether to allow the almost legal guys to run. I would venture a guess that there won't be many heads-up matches anyway at which point were talking about foot brake bracket racing.

Why is this different than the no-box class?

Once these guys get a chance to see what stock eliminator is all about and learn from some of the seasoned vets, you will start getting converts. One of the coolest things about stock is the ability to innovate - it is like a drug. Next to the money, most people shy away from class racing because it is very complicated to understand for new people who would like to try the sport.

Let's do something new and different, get off the couch and help us get this class to salt lake in 2011.

I will volunteer to talk to IHRA about a fresh idea.

Re: Ok Div. 5, 6, & 7 Sportsman racers.....
 

Lots of luck and I mean that. I tried for years in an area that was over run with class legal cars without any luck.

Re: Ok Div. 5, 6, & 7 Sportsman racers.....
 

Thanks for your work in trying to get something going out west.

That being said...
NO. There are plenty of LEGAL S/SS cars out there. Get THEM to come to the race.

Re: Ok Div. 5, 6, & 7 Sportsman racers.....
 

Paul, X-TECH MAN, & Michael,

I think NHRA (per the thread "IRS & the NHRA".....), may end up helping those of us who want IHRA out west here succeed in that happening...their credibility of being a "Not-for-profit-organization", is in serious jeopardy based on the incomes of the top people from Glendora, as opposed to the cost's we racers have incurred in recent years! Tucson's track and their efforts to attract IHRA, may have just rec'd a big shot in the arm from this new development???

Re: Ok Div. 5, 6, & 7 Sportsman racers.....
 

NO. There are plenty of LEGAL S/SS cars out there. Get THEM to come to the race.[/QUOTE]

I mean no disrespect to you, IHRA, NHRA or any other racer, but, here is my opinion on the uphill battle with teaching old dogs new tricks and why we need to attract fresh blood to IHRA stock eliminator.

When I go to NHRA division and national event races out west, the same racers and racers families have been going to these events since the day the class was started. Not only are many of these folks long in the tooth, they are also dyed in the wool NHRA competitors. The other issue is the family reunion nature of such long standing traditions. Most of these racers and their families have known each other for 40 or 50 years.

When you tell them to stop patronizing NHRA, no matter how dysfunctional that organization may or may not be, you will not overcome the family reunion nature of NHRA drag racing out west. Every event out here is like family gathering.

The other issue we have out here vs. where you are located in the southeast is that in division 6 my closest 5 IHRA tracks are 5 hours, 7 hours, 8 hours, 10 hours and 11 hours away. I recall in your article - 13 tracks within a 100 miles. Trust me I am envious and tried to convince my wife to move to your town - she said I could but would have to sell the car to cover the alimony and child support!! Basically, on my budget I can afford to attend two IHRA national events and one NHRA division race a year , which is in my home town.

On Salt Lake's Nitrojam week-end I will be making the choice to travel 11 hours to an IHRA class race vs. 45 minutes to our only local NHRA division race as they are both on the same week-end. Normally, this would fly in the face of reason, however, it is worth it to me to promote IHRA and help build something new for those who are outsiders to the NHRA click.

Demographically, this sport is in trouble and too expensive for most people to afford. Due to high cost of traveling out west, I am hoping you can see where I am coming from on ways to attract " new local blood" to the sport.

Remember back in the day, you bought these cars at the dealership on Monday and Drag Raced them on Saturday and Sunday - no aluminum transmissions, acid ported heads, $50K-$100K purpose built stockers, etc. This is where it all started and I think we need to find a way to bring fresh blood in through the same door, today, if this form of racing is to thrive.

At the end of the day I am hoping that we get enough interest out here to get division 6 off the ground and build an alternative and fun class racing series through IHRA! It would be great if we could do it keeping everything the same as it has been for 40 years without changing rules or making concessions and just convince the NHRA guys to come over to IHRA. This, I fear is a dead-end road.

Hopefully the discussion on this topic will prompt a few more people to commit and we can actually race stock at Salt Lake in June.

Re: Ok Div. 5, 6, & 7 Sportsman racers.....
 

I've been coming to this site for several years now but have never posted anything until now. I really only come here to learn from most of you guys. I race at Rocky Mountain Raceway and last year when I heard we were going to have the Stock and Super Stock classes running I couldn't wait to get to the race track. As it turns out, I was pitted across from Paul Plummer. I went over to see if I could ask him some questions about how to get involved in class racing and I really expected to get the brush off or a quick half hearted answer but to my surprise he was actually genuinely interested in telling me what I needed to know and was extremely helpful in explaining some things I still don't really understand lol but since that day, I have emailed him some questions and he has always been awesome to respond with more than I expected. Thanks Paul.

Anyways, I have been bracket racing for over twenty years and have always had an interest in Stock and Super Stock but have never really had too much input from anyone. I am trying to get a car ready for this year but unfortunately the funds have been really slow coming in and I don't think it will be ready but I have a couple of friends in mind that don't race anymore but have complete cars (Full interior and most of the stuff my car doesn't have) that should fit most of the rules that I might ask if I can race for the weekend. It's a long shot and I'm not really very excited about using someone else's car but if I do get my hands on one then I guarantee I'll pay whatever the price even just to make the car count. I've also put the word out to some of the guys I know around here and so hopefully we'll get a handfull of locals to sign up. I want to see some Stock Eliminator racing out here really bad this year so I'm going to keep spreading the word.

Re: Ok Div. 5, 6, & 7 Sportsman racers.....
 

Welcome, Bruce!

Paul - that's the kind of 'new blood' I'm talking about. Someone that's interested in S/SS racing, and has the desire to learn the rules and play by the rules. If it's not legal, then it ceases to be S/SS. Guys like Bruce want to do it the right way. While there are $100K+ cars out there, there's also a lot of relatively inexpensive ways to get involved. I've got a great starter car for sale, and there's many more out there, or people can build cars to suit their needs and budget.

You expand the S/SS ranks, you're already doing one of the key components, and that is to be open and talk to people, just like the story Bruce related. But to get people into S/SS racing, it's very likely that you have to get people into the simpler levels of the sport first. You need a foundation. I've written extensively about building that foundation, including this old article entitled "The Farm System": http://www.competitionplus.com/2006_02/farm_system.html Also kind of interesting to look back on this feature on S/SS racing... http://www.competitionplus.com/2006_...ss_racing.html

Build the foundation, and from the foundation bring up new S/SS racers. And if the long-time NHRA racers won't cross over, then they will get what they have always gotten: "enhanced."

Races are like family reunions out here in the more densely populated areas, too. It's a self-fulfilling prophecy, though. If everybody goes to the same race, then everybody is at the same race... regardless of who's running the event.

Re: Ok Div. 5, 6, & 7 Sportsman racers.....
 

I couldn't agree with you more Paul, and well said to you too Michael...you two are the reason I'm looking forward to this evenings meeting in Tucson, because per another thread started by Aspen 7709, there are several Az. Div 7 racers who're trying to also launch the Tucson Nitro Jam race for this coming March....thus the words spreading!

As for you Bruce, let me be the first from Az. to welcome you into our realm of drag racing, and I hope I get a chance to travel up there to be able to meet and race with you & Paul, and if you like bratwurst, and burgers, so much the better!!! :)