Quote:
Originally Posted by Chad Rhodes
well i know it was set way low on purpose to avoid the AHFS, but 10.60 is a bit low. Maybe 10.75, or 10.80
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It was set at 10.90 when the class was formed to allow the cars to run a little harder before the trigger. Len Imbrogno called or emailed most of the people who were asking for the AA class to be formed and asked them what the index should be. Those of us who were contacted tried to reach everyone who was not contacted, but I'm sure some people were missed, unfortunately. For example, I did not have Craig's contact information at the time, whether anyone else asked him, I do not know. The general consensus of the majority was the 10.90 index, and Len gave us exactly what we asked for.
None of that was considered when they lowered the indexes and changes the triggers for the AHFS. At 10.90, you'd have had to run a 9.500 to get 3.25%, under the original indexes and AHFS. That was just about ideal, because the records were initially set in the 9.6-9.7 zone, before the new cars were introduced. We knew all along it would make it very hard to qualify at Indy, because most people couldn't run fast enough in 3500-4000 feet of air.
Then they arbitrarily lowered it to 10.60 when they lowered all the other indexes. Maybe they should have lowered it a little, to 10.80, but not 10.60 by any stretch.
They will not change the index though, because it gives the new cars so much more room to run. At 10.60, you need to run a 9.3500 to get 3.25%. That's probably why the AA index was lowered to begin with, although I can also see where whoever made the decision to lower the indexes either didn't look or didn't care.