Index Change

[Toby Lang]

Originally Posted by Greg Hill

Mickey, all the combinations like the 396's the LT1's the LS1's have high hp ratings while the newer combos will never get hit. I don't really have a problem with the new rules if the combinations are fairly factored. The way it is now is a joke. I can't even run fast enough in my car to get looked at now,and I've got a decent car.

Greg,

It says in the very first paragraph of the announcement that they consulted with the Sportsman Racer Advisory Council before coming up with this change. Are you still a member of the council and is this what you advised them to do?

If I remember correctly the indexes were raised 2 tenths in the early 90s to increase participation. With this latest change it looks like they must have too much participation now and are looking to reduce it.


-Toby

[The Hawk]

Good point Toby. Something else that a lot of racers may not remember from back then though is that there were a few classes that only received .15 due to the performance of the cars in the classes at the time. I know T/SA and V/SA and one other missed out on the other .05 from back then. Does it matter now,not one bit? It`s all irrellevent,NHRA doesn`t care,they`ll do what they feel they need to to screw the "hobby" class racer. In a way I`m happy they did it.

[Stock 608]

This is a huge blow to my program. I was about a -30 player before and ok with that. Now i will most likely not be able to even run the index. I don't have the money to make up the difference. So my car will not see much nhra action in 2010, just bracket racing. I may end up still going to pomona since i had planed on it, but thats about it. I understand why it was done, but its a hard deal for racers on a tight budget and who's cars are not fast enough anymore...

[Chris "drooze" Wertman]

I am curious what car, combo etc, are you running ? Cant you move down as it were ? Why is this such a blow , Im being honest in my inquiry Id like to know, if its not to much.

Cheers

Chris

Originally Posted by Stock 608

This is a huge blow to my program. I was about a -30 player before and ok with that. Now i will most likely not be able to even run the index. I don't have the money to make up the difference. So my car will not see much nhra action in 2010, just bracket racing. I may end up still going to pomona since i had planed on it, but thats about it. I understand why it was done, but its a hard deal for racers on a tight budget and who's cars are not fast enough anymore...

[GarysZ24]

Originally Posted by drooze

I am curious what car, combo etc, are you running ? Cant you move down as it were ? Why is this such a blow , Im being honest in my inquiry Id like to know, if its not to much.

Cheers

Chris

I agree with Stock 608 even though my car won't be affected quite as hard as his will (except between June & August). I just checked qualifying best times for my car (best ever was -.898 under at Tucson in March '08, and worst ever was -.395 @ Jegs Pacific Sportsnats off of old indexes), and as long as I don't race a so-called sea leveled track (such as Firebird Intl. Raceway, or Fontana, which are both over 1100ft), I should at least be able to run a few hundreth's under...but I can surely kiss winning class out of the window.

I don't know what combo he has, but some combos such as Lane Webers V6 Skyhawk, or my V6 Cavalier don't have the luxury of a class we can drop down to...the next classes down for down for both of our cars are exclusively for 4cyl engines, so Ed. F. this should answer one of the questions you had for "The Hawk"...I can deal with it, but this sucks!!!

More reason why I wish either I.H.R.A., or the re-birth of the A.H.R.A. will make their way out west too!!!

[Bob Gullett]

Originally Posted by GarysZ24

More reason why I wish either I.H.R.A., or the re-birth of the A.H.R.A. will make their way out west too!!!

Not to change or high jack the thread, but the AHRA rules are posted. From what I read, stock fuel tanks and street equipment must be retained in stock. Looks like both stock and super stock rules are different.
http://www.ahradragracing.com/STOCK.html
http://www.ahradragracing.com/RULES.html

[GarysZ24]

Originally Posted by Bob Gullett

Not to change or high jack the thread, but the AHRA rules are posted. From what I read, stock fuel tanks and street equipment must be retained in stock.
http://www.ahradragracing.com/STOCK.html
http://www.ahradragracing.com/RULES.html

Ok, well at least IHRA isn't like that....yet???

[Stock 608]

If they are going to do this. Why not make the announcement in summer of 09. That way people like myself (the low buck slow stocker) can try and get something figured out. saying effective in 2010. So come time for pomona we would actually be under the index. I have planned on going to the 50th winters for almost a year. Saved, time off, entered, and now this with only about a month before... Someone mentioned earlier about not having enough young stk and ss racers, well i am a young stock racer who can barely afford to race, but i am out doing what i love. But what i love just became a lot harder now. Santa all i want is 2 tents for Christmas!

[GarysZ24]

Originally Posted by Bob Gullett

Not to change or high jack the thread, but the AHRA rules are posted. From what I read, stock fuel tanks and street equipment must be retained in stock. Looks like both stock and super stock rules are different.
http://www.ahradragracing.com/STOCK.html
http://www.ahradragracing.com/RULES.html

Bob, the stock fuel tank deal won't bother me, because that's what I use anyway. However, after re-checking the NHRA rules, I'm feeling that AHRA just said that to abreviate the more spread out description that NHRA used for it's version of Street Equipment, and thus I expect them to be similar on that rule. If I'm wrong someone correct me, but all of the "HRA's" for the most part seem to be similar on the rules affecting our classes, with IHRA's acceptance of Crate motors being different?

[55 Chevy]

I had a chance to attend the divisional in Las Vegas from Nov 4th to the eighth. As an outside observer I noticed that many of the drivers when I last ran my car seventeen years ago were still doing it but not a whole lot of young S/SS racers. This was from a field of 127 stockers & 120 super stockers.
Hard to believe many of these same veterans will still be class racing even ten years from now.
With NHRA now making it more difficult for the newcomer to compete in these ranks look for a slow but increasingly steady decline of class racing.

With this latest move most likely we will soon see the "descendants" of the modified eliminator categories followed by S/SS once again parading down that return road for the last time.

Oh well, something else to watch on You Tube from the Old Folks Home.