[KRatcliff]

You have it pretty much all right, but there are some refinements. The first round of "Class" is factored in the Qualifying column if it is ran since that is technically the last round of Qualifying. Still, the quickest run applies for the Qualifying/1st Rd of Class.

Then all of the Elimination runs are counted. The Qualifying run and Eliminations runs are now calculated.

There is an "engine average" and a "Class average" that is also calculated. Take my combo for example. I am a natural "B/SA" car. There are a lot of my combos run around the country so moving the engine average is like turning a supertanker. Not real easy.

Thus we can have several triggers, but the engine average generally stays well below the .85 point of getting HP. Most of us run in C/SA (or D/SA for the Camaros). However, we could have someone get crazy in B/SA and put the average at .86 then we ALL get a HP gift.

The bottom line of the AHFS is that it looks for the most narrow of circumstances to raise the HP on combos. You can run yourself to death getting the average down in your combo in your class, but be aware of some fast car hitting it in another class.

Edited to add: I know some guys get all lathered up when a combo gets a trigger, but any good combo can get one. Take the combo that Ed Wright and Gary Emmons run in SS. The aluminum head LT1 is one of the more popular combos and most of them seem to run in SS/JA. Ed's car is pretty quick because he works hard on it. It matters not if he gets a look because you can count on that combo getting a look at every period. There are too many cars running in SS/JA including Stockers (running SS/JA) like mine that keep the average down. A look isn't the end of the world, pay attention to the average before you get upset.