IHRA the good ol days
 

I was at John Montecalvo's birthday party Saturday and several pro stockers were there and others from the racing world and we were recounting the good ol days about 5 years ago when IHRA had the pros, Top Stock and tons of racers.What a great time you could race,party at night drive your golf cart have a bon fire.The track officials were the best you were treated wonderfully one big family.Good racing but still lots of fun.Not a bunch of self important A-holes like a lot of places. What went wrong? The officials are still nice you can still have the fire and drive the cart but no pros? You have to have pros.And how many times do i have to hear racers and fans alike say they miss Top Stock.What a shame-what a shame.

Re: IHRA the good ol days
 

AGREE! Worst thing missing from IHRA are the prostocks how in the world could they allow this to happen? Maybe it's just me but I would much rather watch them and topstock than these retro smetro crap that's running now. Start the petition to bring them back, they can even keep the other crap if they want.

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i would love to see p/s and p/m back . they can ditch the the nitro track oilers and then we could finish the races even earlier.

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Its called mis-management ! Larry Carrier and Bill Bader knew how to run a drag racing association. There is a lot I could mention about the current management and what has happened behind the sene but I wont. Most wouldnt believe me anyway. The tech guys left really care but even some of them are throwing in the towel. The only way to save IHRA is for someone with the $$$$$ to buy it and put long time racers/workers/car people who are not currently involved with a team or car run it without interference. Even Top Stock turned into a freak show towards the end.

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In my opinion when Larry Carrier sold to Billy Meyer is when the trouble began it never has been back to what it was when Larry Carrier had it,I think it was probaly pretty close with Bader.
Have you read article on Carrier in new drag review,it said Carrier thought selling to Meyer would take IHRA to the next level not realizing he( Carrier ) had already took it there
I agree with that comment.
I love racing IHRA always have and hope to get to into the future.
Mike Taylor 3601

Re: IHRA the good ol days
 

Man good times, hanging out with the pro stock racers was the best. We could literally ride into almst any pro pits, start a conversation, next thing you know we're having drinks and dinner. Those most definitely were the good old days. IHRA has changed as has many things, still think there's alot of good people involed in the organization. Hope to run a few races with them this year. Joe

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I wholeheartedly agree with Paul Cambria about the Pro Stockers and Top Stock. This to me is akin to eliminating "Baseball,hot dogs, apple pie, and Chevrolet" and introducing "Soccer, sushi, crem 'd le crem, and Lexus. If IHRA wants to increase their fan base and participant base, it would seem to me to be a "slam dunk" to bring back these two catagories, and park the "Grave Digger" and other "circus acts" for real performance oriented pursuits. Bring on the petition for my signature.

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I agree...Its to bad that the same guy who owns the Grave Digger also owns IHRA now. He dosent have a clue.

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I think Pro Stock left because of the lack of payout for,for the investment made in these cars.Correct me if I'm wrong.
Dennis Anderson owns IHRA?
Which brings up a question in my mind.Is IHRA a for profit organization as opposed to NHRA being a so called not for profit?

Re: IHRA the good ol days
 

I think you're right Ed, they MMPS didnt agree with the new format, no qualifying, no traditional points chase, lack of sponsorship and payout. Its like an invite only Chicago style runoff, a one night show with the winner getting an Ironman.
The MMPSA has their own race series now. Those cars are cool.

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I meant Field entertainment. Dont they run the monster truck shows?

Re: IHRA the good ol days
 

How's pop doing?

Re: IHRA the good ol days
 

Hes doing great thanks, he says hello. The season cant come fast enough, we are all tired of the snow.

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Yes, IHRA is a standard for-profit organization (as is NASCAR, and IRL, and I believe every other auto racing sanctioning body in the U.S. except for NHRA).

As for IHRA, IMHO their heyday was in the early to mid-90s. The Pro Mod craze was in full swing, and Norwalk was regularly pulling 1,000 cars every fall the weekend before Indy. Those were indeed great times...Saturday night EVERYBODY wanted to be in the stands to watch the Pros run along with the T/S shootout.

I thought Top Stock was kinda cool, but I have to say that I didn't know much about it other than at the end there definitely seemed to be a whole bunch of whining and crying going on among the competitors. Again, I don't know the specifics, but I think it was akin to the Mustang / DP Challenger argument of today.

Anybody on here want to buy IHRA and restore it to it's previous grand state? Honestly, at this point I think the only way that can happen is if IHRA and ADRL were to merge...

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As a media reporter for several different magazines the last being Inside Motorsports I can tell you that the end of IHRA came when Billy Meyer bought it. That said Bill Bader sold out to Clear Channel so he could head to greener pastures NHRA and he left his two best people running the show . You have to remember that Bill is responsible for both the IDIOTS that run it now, they were hand picked for their assignments. Also I was a writer For Drag Review in the late 80's, I also wrote for Billy Meyer's Drag Racing Today. So I think that there is plenty of blame to go around as to why IHRA is what it is today. Bill always said We are not a racing orginaztion we are in the entertainment buisness. Jimmy Manuel

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I miss the Empire State Nationals. Great race w 3 deep on the fence. Went every year from 1990 to 2001. Great race even with all the rain it attracted.

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I won Hot Rod class there in 91.. Loved going there too.Specially across the street in the camping area for the parties..Man them was the good ole days...

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I think if you take a good look around, the soccer, sushi, and lexus is making far more inroads that it should be across the country. Even in West By God Virginia!
I have said this before, but if I want to see monster trucks, I sure don't want it to be on an asphalt drag strip. How can any "fan, racer or promoter" think that is more exciting than Mountain Motor Prostock? Don't get me wrong, Monster trucks certainly have their place in the motorsports world, but it is not on a drag strip unless the strip is sand or mud, or even a hill climb!

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Not trying to start trouble I love those tech guys at IHRA but wow something has to happen soon.I can see the wizzard behind the curtin and OZ this is not.Need to reach out get the old formula back those guys loved racing there too when it was all racers and no amusement acts.Feld is a circus man for sure but this ain't no circus.

Re: IHRA the good ol days
 

Gonna miss you all....

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Danny.....your not going anywhere.....They wont let you !

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Big danny is going to mars who is x tech man?

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I think someone (like owners of race tracks Rock, MIR, Darlington, Piedmont, An Ohio Track, VMP, etc. ) is missing out on a golden opportunity of starting a new racing association (Like the old IHRA). I have been running IHRA since 1982. Back then
they mainly raced in NC, VA, TN, SC, OH, etc. It was a southeast based association.I think we have to get back to basics. Also I agree Pro Stock and Pro Mod has to come back to bring fans back. Just my opinion

Re: IHRA the good ol days
 

I really miss watching Top Stock. The crate motors were the demise of top stock. When it was a,b, and c cars running at 8.25 wt. break it was awesome and it could be again.

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Just a little insight, We have kept stock/superstock alive and making a format almost perfect for the sportsman competitors....(sportsman schedule ,way better )
(1) We kept the FI cars seperate from the traditional classes
(2) We also made a class of their own for the new Mustangs and Drag Pack cars
(3) Top Stock ,well that just got out of hand (sorry )
(4) And just maybe Pro-Stock ain't exactly gone , If you look at the 2010 rule book you will notice they are still in it...........Hmmmmmmmmmm.....Don't give up, You may could see a lot of changes if you guys would just come to the races and show some support.....

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Danny,you talk about support. Only 2 races have been run this year and both of them are 600 miles 1 way from me. I dont know about the other racers but with things as tight as they are with myself and Frank we are going to have to pick and chose the races that we can come to this year. It is bad to have 3 race cars and cant afford to race them on a full time schedule,but other racers probably have that same problem.


Allen Lambert

Re: IHRA the good ol days
 

I understand what you are saying .You will be more than welcome to the ones that you can go to....Any kind of support is better than no support . Hope to see you both this year somewhere on the trail.

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Hey Allen, try to run some of the CCRA races this year. The schedule is pretty diverse from the western part of NC to the eastern part of NC. Hope to see ya there.

Lets go Racing!!!!

Scott Tilley