[Jason Oldfield]

If there are one or two that are close to me and I'm bored that weekend, I might attend. Otherwise, this new structure has pretty much sealed the deal for me to NOT attend IHRA division events. Why should I? Unless I am planning on going to 5 to 8 of them to try to come in 1st or 2nd in the division, its pretty much a waste of my time & money. They cost just as much to attend, yet the payout is a quarter of what national event payout is, winning one doesn't buy me anything from a national championship standpoint, I don't have to attend them in order to have the privledge of attending a national event (i.e. NHRA grade point), and last but not least, media coverage is basically non-existent at these races so it brings little value to my sponsors to attend these races.

But, even if I was I don't believe the person that's 2nd in points in their division should be invited to Rockingham for a chance to win the WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP. Again, if that person wasn't good enough to win the division after a whole year's worth of racing, why should one race (Rockingham) crown that person the WORLD CHAMP??? Doesn't make sense.

And supporting the new system 100% means just that - supporting it ONE HUNDRED PERCENT! If you are saying that the system needs some tweaking, then that means you're not behind it 100%. You may still generally like the new format, maybe 80% or 90%, but not 100%. 100% implies no changes are necessary.

That said, I realize you will support the new structure Damien. You're a racer. You would support it if there was no world championship points structure, just like there isn't in NHRA for S/St. We race because we love to.

Again, this new format does nothing but benefit me, but I still don't feel like somebody that goes out and wins two races, maybe the ONLY IHRA races they attend that year, should be crowned WORLD CHAMP. Make Rockingham the "Race of Champions" by invitation only with national event and division winners. But, crown the WORLD CHAMP the person that has somewhat supported the sanctioning body and put together a body of work, not just one race. It's the same reason why I don't like NHRA's and NASCAR's countdown formats, but at least those are over a SERIES of races, not just one race.

But, hopefully they'll leave it as is so that I don't have to attend any IHRA division events, and can have a legitimate chance at proudly displaying the world championship trophy in my house, even though chances are that if that ever happens, there will probably be somebody else out there more deserving of being called "IHRA World Champ".