HP Adjustments on NHRA.com

[Dwight Southerland]

Originally Posted by RJ Sledge

I'm at a loss......

RJ

Is that new??
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So many of the factoring decisions are political at best. It goes like this . . . . . Some person in NHRA's chain of command gets inundated by complaints from some racer they like, or think is okay, and that racer makes good, valid arguments why this or that change is necessary to "make things fair". That NHRA person then has his way of thinking twisted to align with the racer and every time the unfair situation becomes a topic of conversation, his point of view has already been set. Now we know that these NHRA people are not that technical, so their ability to do a rational analysis is limited. And, they will not often research the issue to gain more evidence, they will just talk about it more. When they hear about this issue from more racers, they talk more (from the same point of view). Finally, a critical mass is reached and the tipping point results in policy change, index changes, hp factors, new rules etc. Often they don't even go back and review the results of their decisions, they just go through more cycles like described above.

The points to learn are 1) be liked by your NHRA people; 2) talk a lot (don't gripe, whine and argue); and 3) do more of 1) and 2).

Example in fact: Years ago, a friend of mine got his little combination factored, way before the AHFS. To keep the effect of this story as civil as possible, let's call my friend Ricky Mac. Ricky Mac was not a braggard or rude or unlikeable. He didn't talk much to many people, but worked on his car a lot with his head, not his pocket book. Also, he rarely raced out of Div 4 and was not a contender for a national title or such. Many other cars similar to his were being raced across the country using the same engine but not at the same performance level. However, some **st coast whiners who ran the same classes began a campaign of talking and complaining, and after a stellar performance by Ricky Mac one weekend under mineshaft coastal conditions, the whines got traction and the pencil was put to paper for Ricky. There was a little problem, however. There were people that were liked more than Ricky Mac, let's called them Friends of Glendale or FOG for short, who ran the same engine in other body styles, and the pencil would have put the hurt to them. So, the solution came with a factor placed only on the particular engine and body combination that Ricky Mac raced. So, you could race that particular engine in dozens of other body styles at 10 hp less (aerodynamics be damned!) . Talk about micro, micro factoring!

And that difference stayed in the class guide until this year when, under the guise of the AHFS, another stellar performance by two of such cars raced by Ricky Mac and his friend Tommy Joe in a heads-up race triggered another round of factoring. However, this time the increase was applied across the board to all other makes using this engine, except a few body styles that were passed by. And you guessed it, in the group of body styles that missed the machete of factoring included the body styles used by FOG.

Whether or not all that has been intentional or not, I do not know. But the evidence is mighty curious. The lessons to learn are that you need to follow points 1), 2) and 3) above, there is not a lot of technical consideration given to decisions, and work on your car like FJ said.

(Disclaimer: The facts given are true. The names have been changed to protect all. Such behavior is based on past history and in no way is a predictor of future performance.)