Quote:
Originally Posted by Henry S
I understand your opinion and agree that S/St should be contested at all events. In checking the NHRA points for S/ST for div 1 and div 5 here is the breakdown:
2005: Div 1 146, Div 5 177 point earning drivers
2006: Div 1 153, Div 5 170
2007: Div 1 140, Div 5 167
look like div 5 has more drivers than div 1, and the fact that in div 5, quite a few racers travel more than 1,000 miles each way to three in division races. As for this thread I agree with the recomendations for oil down penalties, having S/St at all events, payouts could be better, ( as suggested to be payed out at event).
Here is a question? Since everyone has to preregister for National events, and the tracks know how many cars they can handle, could there be a way to have reserved spots online, that could eliminate some of the problems during parking at those events.
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Well, those numbers don't lie. I also went back and looked at the number of competitors in S/St at each of the division races for Division 1 and 5 in 2007:
Division 5
1 - Grand Bend, KS - 70
2 - Brainerd, MN - 44
3 - Morrison, CO - 60
4 - Cordova, IL - 50
5 - Topeka, KS - 60
6 - Earlville, IA - 70
Division 1
1 - Virginia - 30
2 - Maple Grove, PA - 70
3 - Atco, NH - 66
4 - Lebanon Valley, NY - 66
5 - Cecil County, MD - 54
6 - Englishtown, NJ - 62
7 - Atco, NH - 68
Throwing out the low and the high in each, and averaging the rest, Division 5 averaged 60 S/St cars per division event in 2007, and Division 1 averaged 63 cars. So, they're basically identical in division race attendance.
I don't know though...I still have a hard time believing that there's more competitors in S/St in states like South Dakota, Kansas, Wyoming, Minnesota, and Iowa than there are in states like NY, NJ, Mass., CT, and PA. I base that SOLELY on the population base. Maybe we're too busy up here in the Northeast attending the opera and drinking fine wine though.
What I DO know is that there was only ONE national event where the field was completely full, and that was Englishtown. I think a one or two people got in last year with a grade of 4, but if you want to guarantee yourself a spot over the past few years, you basically had to have a grade of 6 to get in. Here are the attendance stats for S/St for 2007 national events:
Phoenix - 58
Atlanta - 48
Chicago - 56
Englishtown - 60
Denver - 56
Seattle - 54
Houston / Dallas Debacle - 34, but I don't know how many were in Houston in the spring, but given that Houston is this weekend and the only class that's full is TA/D, I highly doubt Houston was full in S/St last year (especially considering how the weather looked going into that race).