[Billy Nees]

Art, It'll never fly! NHRA tried it and almost killed Stock.
Now if you want to try something different (and I don't, I'm just talking here) keep the index system as it is for a reference point. Each race starts out with the indexes as we know them, they don't change from race to race. After qualifing, the fastest run in a given class becomes the "index" for that race. In eliminations, a racer can dial up to 3 tenths SLOWER than the "index" or up to 1 tenth FASTER than the "index". Example, the SS/AH index is a 9.30, the fastest SS/AH car in qualifing goes an 8.50. The "index" for this race becomes an 8.50. All SS/AH racers at this race must dial between an 8.40 and an 8.80. All heads-up runs are still flat out. At the end of the day the "index" reverts back to the index. There would still have to be some kind of an AHFS in play or maybe a panel of racers and techs to factor and defactor out of line combos but maybe the triggers could be dialed back.
There ya go, the fast guys can "wag their d**ks" and the not so fast guys have to "work on their stuff" to stay within 3 tenths of the fast guys. Problem solved, now I'm gonna work on world peace.