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

[Jeff Lee]

123

[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...

[JRyan]

Let me start this by saying my verdict is still out if I'm for or against the index change. On one hand it benefits my superstocker as it allows me a little more breathing room and on the other hand it makes it a little tougher on my low budget stocker I've been putting together. So with that being said.

I love it whenever the AHFS gets discussed with altitude corrections and the lack of understanding most have with how the altitude correction actually works. By the way we've said for the last ten years the altitude correction factors are probably off about 10% because you can somewhat cheat the car into going faster by making changes to compensate. When we used to run at Denver alot we'd change camshafts, converter, rear gear, transmission, tires, and jetting to run fast. So everyone that thinks it's so easy to just go to the mountain and go fast I'd invite you to load up in July and give it a shot.

Someone mentioned 1.25 under at altitude is the same as sea level. This statement is absolutely false. I'll give you an example. Oahe Speedway in Pierre SD is 1700' above sea level in SS/NA I get .24 correction. So my index there is now a 12.39 with my old index being a 12.69. This year at the National Open I went an actual 11.238. Under the new system this would be 1.152 that would equate to a 10.998. However, this is not what it factors to. That run is actually an 11.023. This is how records get figured at altitude. At Denver you lose close to a .10 at this speed. So lets say next year I run an 11.14 and reset the record. This would be 1.25 under should I automatically get HP even though the record is only going to be 1.23 under? So is 1.25 under at altitude still 1.25 under at sea level? According to NHRA's policy for setting records NO!

Also you can't use corrected altitude to figure factoring either. 1500' at Atco and 1500' in Pierre SD as an example are two completely different things. At one place you might get that air and it's cool and dense and the other it may be a little warmer and drier. The car isn't going to run the same nor is it necessarily going to take the same tune to run at either place.

My .02
Rick Ryan

[partsbob67]

dang. now i have to go out in the garage and work on my slow mobile because i was only 3.0 under on my best day. see you guys at the track next year!

[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.

[SS Engine Guy]

Well, that little "rule of the week" change just cost me some money. Had three customers call today to cancel their appointments for freshen/update. Two were guys that hit 8-10 divisionals and 4-5 nationals a year. Talk was about going heads up fastest street car competition. Good luck with the slick talk, letters, underfactored crap, etc. Think I'll just do up a little project for the winter to see just how quick the GT/?A, ?A and ?A records/ratings/indexes can go.

Hope that isn't correct on the srac members recommending an index drop without specifying a 1.00 under hit. If you guys didn't have that stipulation in writing you fine folks got screwed right along with the majority of racers who DID NOT want this hit.

[Tom Moock]

Does new index`s mean .35 under to win class on single run and .35 under to set records that are min. Because you have to run .35 under or faster to count in the average`s in the AFHS? Tom