If you really want to see how receptive the racers are to this idea, run a single non-sanctioned race with the lower indexes and see how that works out. I can tell you EXACTLY how it will work out:
Super Comp
- Lower the index to 8.00
- All the drivers that can't go at least 8.00 won't show up - dragsters will have no place else to race except ET classes
- A good portion of the field will be on the stop for about 1 second, and will immediately realize that they're now the slowest cars in the field, and that it COMPLETELY SUCKS to be chased on every single run
- The cars that can run 6.80 to 7.30 will pretty much dominate, and the slower cars will go away saying, "I either need to spend a bunch of money to speed my car up, or I'm not coming to one of these races again."
Super Gas
- Lower the index to 9.00
- All the drivers that can't go at least 9.00 won't show up - most of the door cars couldn't make the 2600 lb. or 2800 lb. weight limit in S/St
- A good portion of the field will be on the stop for about 1 second, and will immediately realize that they're now the slowest cars in the field, and that it COMPLETELY SUCKS to be chased on every single run
- The cars that can run 7.80 to 8.30 will pretty much dominate, and the slower cars will go away saying, "I either need to spend a bunch of money to speed my car up, or I'm not coming to one of these races again."
Super Street
- Lower the index to 10.00
- All the drivers that can't go at least 10.00 won't show up - they won't have any other place to race except ET classes
- If you institute no weight limit for S/St, more former S/G competitors would drop down to S/St, but many existing S/St drivers would drop out completely because of what they would feel would be an unfair advantage to lighter cars
- A good portion of the field will be on the stop for about 1 second, and will immediately realize that they're now the slowest cars in the field, and that it COMPLETELY SUCKS to be chased on every single run
- The cars that can run 8.80 to 9.30 will pretty much dominate, and the slower cars will go away saying, "I either need to spend a bunch of money to speed my car up, or I'm not coming to one of these races again."
So, by lowering the indexes I see that you will accomplish 2 things:
1. Drive competitors away
2. Force competitors that stay to spend more money if they want to be competitive
Sounds like a GREAT idea!
OR, you could leave S/C, S/G, and S/St alone, create a new 7.90 category, and the racers that WANT to go faster can CHOOSE to go race in that new class (rather than forcing every .90 driver in the country to change). Alternatively, you can say screw the new 7.90 class...if somebody wants to go faster, they can spend THEIR money to go faster in T/S, T/D, or Comp Eliminator.
And my opinion is NOT self-serving. My Corvette goes 9.30's at 2600 lbs., so I could easily run 10-flat S/St if that's what it came down to. The new dragster I'm building should go 7.20's, so I wouldn't have any problem running 8-flat S/C either (at least initially, until the arms race started again). I just don't see the benefits to lowering the indexes, and driving existing (mostly low-budget) competitors out of the sport.