I'm confused about IHRA's Sportsman friendliness

[Michael Beard]

Originally Posted by Hagen Gary

How is everyone missing the point? Lets say 16 cars show up in T/S, and 16 in SS. The track pays out $7900 to T/S and $2,300 to SS.

NHRA pays a ton of money to TA/D and TA/FC, too. What's that have to do with S/SS? They are different classes. They have different payouts. Promoters have to make decisions about what they think the show is. If they see no return on investment, then obviously they will change things. While the disparity is not as great, SS and QR also get paid more than Stock, SR, and HR. They are different classes. They have different payouts.

Question is, if there was no T/S, T/D, TA/D, or TA/FC to compare to, would we even be having this discussion? S/SS payouts are not too crazy out of whack in and of themselves. (IHRA actually ends up paying back a higher percentage of the gate than NHRA). Yes, some classes have issues and don't enjoy the support they once did, and the sanctioning bodies have been trying to find the answer to that, if there is one, but just because one doesn't understand the history, why's, and wherefore's of a class and its particulars doesn't mean that it has any bearing on another class. Flip it around. Pay everybody like T/S, and see how long promoters can keep the doors open. It's not about paying SS more, it's about, "can they afford to continue paying TS like they are?"

Kinda glad I'm not in Bradenton. They started eliminations yesterday, and after 4PM today, they're STILL only in Rnd 3 of S/G. Ridiculous.

No Baton Rouge for me, and probably no Gainesville, either. Inundated with work. Skipping Bradenton allowed me to knock a big hole in my workload, but I need one more good week like that to get back to where I can afford to take the *time* to go. 1st Quarter is always my busiest time of year.