Positive things happening.
 

10 years ago you almost never heard about combo stock and super stock races happening on a local or regional basis. Now it seems like they are everywhere in the country. This is really good news because it means racers have a lot more control over their own future. I would like to encourage everyone to come out and support your local combo races instead of driving 600 miles to a points race.

Re: Positive things happening.
 

Be thankful you live in an area that gives you a choice. The only combo on left side is a burger and fries. We call a points race 600 miles away local...............................

Re: Positive things happening.
 

Charlie,

That combo may "only" be a buger & fries..... but it's an In-N-Out burger & fries combo, and for that WE have to travel. :-)

See ya in Pomona!

Unk

Re: Positive things happening.
 

Greg,I hate to pee in your corn flakes but in reality the S/SS races are really no more than
a bracket race.They have nothing in common with traditional S/SS racing.
1-No serious class related tech
2-no heads up runs
3-no scales
4-no records to run for
4-See #4 so no tear down
This isn't to say they aren't fun and very competitive,but in a bracket race kind of way.
The guys that put them on do a lot of hard work to put them on and I'm sure spend a lot of time doing so.They deserve a lot of credit.
Now if NHRA did their work and:
1-Fixed the AHFS
2-Reigned in the run away combos aside from the CJs and Drag Packs
3-Worked on a way to get class money back
4-Increased the payouts to at least more than chump change
5-Got us air time on the Lucas Oil shows
6-Scale back some of the financial enhancements we've been hit with
7-Add anything I've missed
Then I would say there's been positive happenings.Until some or all of the above come to fruition we're just farting in the wind.We'll go to the races to be with old and new friends,having a great social time on Friday nights and maybe do a little racing

Re: Positive things happening.
 

Well put, Ed.....

Re: Positive things happening.
 

Ed,
Come race the ASRA. We tech the cars. They all get weighed, we have heads up. Now we can not set records, But the payout is great. There are 1 or 2 day races with 2 races on the 2 days. And the members are all great people. We have a awards banquet and a free 16 car shootout for the top 16 in the points after 5 races. All with cash prizes

Re: Positive things happening.
 

Ed, if the racers take more control they can change these things that they don't like. At Bowling Green we qualify, run off a ladder, have heads up runs and weigh if there is a heads up run. As racers we also self police. The last race of the year we had 61 cars. It's just as much fun as any other race.

Re: Positive things happening.
 

Self policing instead of tear down is probably just as good as some of the stuff I have seen NHRA let go thru tech in the last 25 years or so since the "enhanced heads and intakes" came on the sene......LOL. So whats the big deal? At least it better tan sitting home watching Obama re runs on the news ! You dont have to tow as far, pre enter months in advance, and I really think that 99% of the "GOOD" class racers would rather cut off their right arm than intentionally cheat. The old guys can tell if something is "Fishy" without even breaking a head bolt. You dont have very many heads up runs even at the Indy Nationals so lets race, have fun, and get off the couch. SUPPORT YOU LOCAL STOCK and S/S circuit. Records and a dime wont even buy a cup of coffee so why bother other than to stroke your ego? I doubt you will ever get NHRA pay more for a win and class is almost history with all of the different classes. Way to many seperate classes and yes that includes IHRA also. OK....Just my 3 1/2 cents.

Re: Positive things happening.
 

Well put also.

Re: Positive things happening.
 

Good point but most of us here in Division One can be at almost all of our Lucas Oil races in 2-3 hours ........And we still support our local Stock / SuperStock Association thanks to the efforts of Dave and Gloria Ley .

Re: Positive things happening.
 

Jack you guys are lucky. For me Ennis is over 4 1/2, Houston is close to 7, Memphis is 6+, No Problem is 12. Other than Tulsa, Noble is a little over 2. It would be nice to have them all that close. Lots of fast cars "out your way" too.

Re: Positive things happening.
 

Ed - I feel your pain ......but for me here in D1 it goes like this - Maple Grove 1 1/2 hr. , Englishtown - 2 1/4 hrs , Atco 2 1/2 hrs , Cecil County 2 1/2 hrs , the worst one is also the newest back on the D1 trail - New England Dragway about 7 hrs if my memory is correct and is the only one my wife volunteered to go along so she can fill up on ceeefoode and loobsteers as they say up there ...............

PS - Hopefully they won't put Toronto Raceway Park ( Cayuga ) back on the schedule as its a killer ride .

Re: Positive things happening.
 

Ed
I have it better then Jack...........Atco 45 mins so is Etown...........Maple Grove and Cecil are a little over 2hrs.

Re: Positive things happening.
 

Must be nice. :-)

Re: Positive things happening.
 

Ed Wright's post X-2...........John

Re: Positive things happening.
 

That's not true at the ASRA combos at LVD and NED!

Re: Positive things happening.
 

You guys will be glad there are no heads up runs when enough of the new Mustangs and DP's start showing up in all the various classes they can run in.

Re: Positive things happening.
 

You are all spoiled rotten! From here, not including time spent on pleasantries with the customs agents at the border our nearest division and national events are Brainerd and Denver at 11 1/2 hrs. and 15 hrs. Not complaining just sayin. Doug

Re: Positive things happening.
 

These combo races in Brainerd, Fargo and Marion do look attractive from here.

Re: Positive things happening.
 

Don't forget Pierre, SD.

Re: Positive things happening.
 

Everywhere but Texas. There hasn't been a S/SS race down here for sometime that I know of anyway.

Re: Positive things happening.
 

That sucks and I bitch about 4 hrs to Dallas!!

Re: Positive things happening.
 

I attended one S/SS combo at Abeline, TX about a year ago. It was IHRA. Even though it was 1/8th mile, James Lee and myself hauled down there to run it. Probably won't be another, very poor car count. There was nothing else going on that weekend, very pleasant weather.

Re: Positive things happening.
 

no combo races in our area. Our closest race is Atlanta and its 3hrs away....maybe if there was big thing for S/SS racing in our area, there would be a combo race down here, but its outlaw racing that takes reign around here..

Re: Positive things happening.
 

About a year or so ago I mentioned on this site that I had heard that NHRA was considering stock and super stock as one class, a big combo. Many viewers here give me the evil eye for mentioning that. Be cafeful what you wish for. A year later, maybe those viewers can now see how easily that could happen based on recent enhancements and changes.

Re: Positive things happening.
 

In the 70`s 80`s Cecil County had ss and stock combo every week.

Re: Positive things happening.
 

Especially in IHRA where the car count sucks so bad even without the NHRA enhancements. Remember what Billy Meyer did to IHRA when he owned it. NHRA seems to expermenting with the Div 2 races along the same direction with the index classes.

Re: Positive things happening.
 

We ran Stock SS combos as a track operator 5 or 6 times a year, our main rule was you had to run an NHRA or IHRA race in the past year. Pretty simple rule and the racers all knew each other so there was no problems. We never had one racer bixxh about anything. Our November race in 07 had over 50 cars and 1000 spectators with a quick 8 going on as well. It was a fun time and paid good money. We even ran a few on Thursday night in front of our Big Dog show which drew over 4000 spectators. To us we used Stock SS as a show of sorts, we didnt care if it didnt make $$ the fans came to see it and asses in the stands is what pays the bills.

Herb Jr

Re: Positive things happening.
 

Before I quit drag racing for several years there were special SS and Modified Eliminator (not combos) all the time. I drove to Memphis, Jacksom MS, Abaline, Anarillo, etc all the time to run them. I'd much prefer that to combos.

Re: Positive things happening.
 

Im with you Gary All stars are great and competitive races, nothing like a braket, its real s/ss

Re: Positive things happening.
 

True Gary,but the majority are more akin to a bracket race.

Re: Positive things happening.
 

Greg is right, at Bowling Green, our Combo is run just like it was back in the day at "The Hill". We have qualifying, a generated ladder, heads up races, and scales. I don't think you're going to get much by the group of racers that supports the Combo, either, they're easily smart enough to know if someone suddenly steps up to run an ET they shouldn't. The Bowling Green staff has done an excellent job of seeing to our needs as racers, and I can assure you they'd take any accusations of cheating or ringers extremely seriously. Even if you did get by with it once, people would know, and I don't think you'd be welcomed back by the racers or the track, and you're going to see the same racers when you go to a regular sanctioned event, I don't think they'll be any friendlier when they saw you there.

Re: Positive things happening.
 

About 98% of the time we are bracket racing. Combo is no different than any other sanctioned race in that regard.

Re: Positive things happening.
 

We do get to race heads up!

Re: Positive things happening.
 

We need somebody to step up and put together several Stock-S/S Combo races in the Michigan-Northern Ohio area. Tracks like Milan, Central. US 131 - and even the soon to open Onondaga Dragway. We had the Great Lakes Stock-S/S Association back in the 80's - but I'm too busy w/ the Circle Track stuff now to organize another program.

Can we have a volunteer please. Thanks

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Alan, What's the housing situation like around there ? Sounds like a good place to get stomach knots , butterflies and sweaty palms just from seeing another car in your class in the other lane, especially if you're only seperated by a couple hundredths. Have come out on the bottom far more times than on top but wouldn't change it for the world. Is there a schedule I can find somewhere? You never know. -------Danny

Re: Positive things happening.
 

Dan,
Bowling Green KY is a college town, and Beech Bend Raceway hosts a ton of events every year, including an LODRS race the weekend before Indy, a SportsNational Open on Memorial Day weekend (there'll be a $5K to win Combo sponsored by NitroPlate that Saturday), the Hot Rod Reunion, and the big Buick race. You'll find plenty of hotels, and plenty of good places to eat.

There's Sunoco fuel, and even a speed shop.

Here's a link to the website:

http://www.beechbend.com/dragstrip.htm

Sign up for their email blast, you'll get an updated schedule monthly via email.


Regulars at the Bowling Green combo range from a stout little V/SA Chevy II to nasty fast SS/A, SS/B, and SS/AA Corvettes. You'll find classes like A/SA, G/SA, G/S, AA/SA, and F/SA hotly contested on a weekly basis. I haven't seen a single "duck" in the field.

Come race with us, race with some legends in the sport, at a great facility, run by a friendly staff. I guarantee you'll have a good time, and if you can win one of the Bowling Green combos, you can win anywhere in the country.

Re: Positive things happening.
 

One thing positive about these combo races that was not mentioned :

attracting potential new class racers.

I know, because it happened to me last year after attending one of the combo races at Bowling Green.
For years what held me back from building a class car was that I thought there was only one divisional race locally every year that I could use that car in.
Now, with combo races at Beech Bend and Ohio Valley, I am building a stocker. :D

Now, if only Beech Bend would allow IHRA Crate Motor and Pure Stock racers.....

Re: Positive things happening.
 

Alan, Top of my bucket list. Now if I can get Craig to mellow out a little about the new cars I might talk him into coming with me and bringing the Vette. Maybe he can get a few AA/SA heads up and put the thrill back into it for him. Thanks-------Danny

Re: Positive things happening.
 

Oh, wait. You're gonna bring Danny DeVito with you? :eek: