Parts Breaker,
To borrow from an old saying; the only dumb question is one not asked.
I never raced IHRA until last month either, but it was great to run more than .5 under my index again w/o having to break my bank acount to do so (not that I even have the funds to do so anyway). The experience was so enjoyable (last month in San Antonio), that I'm looking forward to next month in Salt Lake City...their race will have altitude correction factors implied due to Salt Lake City's over 4000ft elevation....thus with some ideal air conditions, I could go .6 to .8 under the index there, and I'm looking forward to trying to do just that!
Oh, and one more thing, your bank account will thank you for giving IHRA a try, because (national event entry fee wise), you'll have $105 bucks extra to spend on something else. I don't know if that matters to you, but it sure does to me!!!
Good Luck to you, and have fun out there....
