Class last year?

[CBS]

I resent that comment...lol

Rock

[Bill Koski]

Was this change ever even mentioned to the drivers council?
Why not announce it last fall before people invested in their combination or a new one?

[FED 387]

I guarantee that NHRA knew/has known about this for a loooooong time just kept nursing it along hoping things either would get better or that the sponsors would forget about it and finally the **** hit the fan and the biggest sponsors(dollar wise) finally said enough is enough we're done and held a gun to NHRA's heads and said fix it now or it's all over. So they hastily thought up something. Guess what they came up with ,a plan that satifies the sponsor at the expense of the racer---- are you surprised??---comp

[art leong]

Originally Posted by Bill Koski

Was this change ever even mentioned to the drivers council?
Why not announce it last fall before people invested in their combination or a new one?

That was a suggestion I made that was ingnored. Those on here were more interested in the number of classes.
Why should thje masses know what they only want the chosen few to know.
I was complaing about the new ahfs at the PRI show and was told by someone I used to respect. That something like this weas in the works. He smiled when he said it.

[Alan Roehrich]

Originally Posted by CBS

I resent that comment...lol

Rock

LOL. There's this guy I know named Rock, I'm not sure he cares for the idea of being a box on top of........................................

[art leong]

Originally Posted by CBS

I resent that comment...lol

Rock

Unless you are packaged in a box I wouldn't worry. LOL

[Tim Kish]

I've paid as much to any given contingency posting manufacturer for parts on my car in an unpopular class as those in the larger classes - in some cases more since small block Chevy parts are most often far cheaper than the unique stuff. To say I'm not entitled to contingency money because there aren't multiple cars in my class is ridiculous. And since there has never been a focus on the factoring system to balance classes against each other how can you now lump them together as a run-off.

Also I can gaurantee that having 3-4 cars in a class (or even 10) versus a single does clearly demonstrate there is no marketing benefit to that type of car which had a single at a given event. Let take the Fox-body Mustangs as an example. How many of them are there in the world and how many have performance modifications? Its a huge market, has its own section in the Jegs catalog. So why is there only a handful that run in Stock or Superstock? Under the competition structure in most cases there are "better" combinations, but there are diehards that still compete with them due to brand loyalty. Are you saying they don't deserve to be fairly rewarded by the manufacturer for representing their products, that is the intent of the contingency program. If you lump everyone together for one payout you have the eliminator. Or just say you are paying qualifying money, and just skip class eliminations altogether.

[X-TECH MAN]

It is not the single car class runs that have driven the sponsors away BUT there are more single car classes because of way to many classes in both stock and S/S . To many classes equals way to many class winners for the sponsors to support with the advertising buget they have in todays economy. Simple math.....What do you guys not understand? Its time to reduce/combine/drop some or just race the way it is and forget about class win money. Theres always the eliminator to win. The sponsors are not posting class win $$$$ just to pay for your entry fees and fuel bills to get to and from the races.

[Rory McNeil]

Originally Posted by X-TECH MAN

It is not the single car class runs that have driven the sponsors away BUT there are more single car classes because of way to many classes in both stock and S/S . To many classes equals way to many class winners for the sponsors to support with the advertising buget they have in todays economy. Simple math.....What do you guys not understand? Its time to reduce/combine/drop some or just race the way it is and forget about class win money. Theres always the eliminator to win. The sponsors are not posting class win $$$$ just to pay for your entry fees and fuel bills to get to and from the races.

Terry, does IHRA have any class eliminations for Stock, with contingency payouts? Considering that you are always saying how great IHRA is, and that NHRA has too many classes, did you forget that with all the crate motor, pure stock, GT, truck FI etc divisions, that IHRA has over twice as many Stock classes as NHRA? Plus the car counts in Stock at an IHRA race are usually less than half of a NHRA national.
As for racing an "oddball" combo, I race a 85 5.0 Mustang in M/S, there may only be 5 or 6 other guys running this combination, thats not my fault. I`ll bet that Ford sold many times more 5.0 stick Mustangs in 85 than MoPar sold Max Wedges, or Hemis or Chevy sold 427 Camaros, the fact that many don`t want to run a relative slow car is possible, but considering how many 5.0 Mustangs I see at the local Street Legal races leads me to believe that a 5.0 Mustang is hardly an rare,obscure, oddball car, regardless of how few run them is Stock or S/S.

[X-TECH MAN]

Roy.....Where did I say ANYTHING about a 5.0 Mustang or the 14.0 lb class being odd ball in this post or any other I made in the past? I happen to like the 302 Mustangs. I even like the new ones but they are WAY under rated and THAT is what I dont like. You missed the whole point of the post. This is about NUMBERS of classes and single runs no matter the combo or class.. Yes IHRA sucks lately in the "Way to many classes dept". BIG TIME ! The only good thing is the IHRA has seen fit to seperate the new DP's and Mustangs away from the older carburated combos until the HP factors catch (if ever). I guess you dont have to worry about a new DP or a New Mustang blowing your doors off during a heads up run ! This is about class sponsor postings not a fight about Mustangs, Hemis, and Camaros and racing Associations. READ the post very slowly again and use your glasses . The postings are zip compared to what they used to be. It has just caught up with the NHRA guys finally this year. There are WAY to many classes in IHRA also and the sponsor postings show it over the last several years. It looks like the old AHRA. The economy is probably one reason for the poor payouts for class AND the eliminator in IHRA and the sponsors would go to NHRA for the exposure first. Besides there are very few class run off races in IHRA these days. Its more of a circus act today and NHRA is heading that way if they are not there already. Just step back and look at whats going on. I have a better grasp of what is happening since I gave up working about 10 years ago by being on the outside looking in and having good contacts for information in both associations. I made a lot of good friends in the 22+ plus years as a stock and S/S tech man. I even put in several years with the OLD NMCA when it was located in Memphis Tenn. before it was sold to Hot Rod Magazine. I learned things by watching and asking questions to the right person. I met all sorts of personallites. The common thread is we love cars and drag racing and want to see it last and be better for the racers. Todays NHRA and IHRA racing is diluted with so many classes and single runs. When did the class racers get scared of having to run someone heads up for class or during the eliminator ? IHRA's tech is piss poor also but its not because of the guys doing the job. They work hard, love drag racing, and they care but their hands are tied most of the time. Its because of a time factor for the run schedule and poor management. Management just dosent care anymore. All they want is an easy show with less overhead and the $$$$$. Before anyone thinks Im against any class or brand of car please think again and re read my post. About the only cars I dont like are the Fuelers and the Alky cars. THAT is a well known fact and all they are good for is to keep the track from rusting in my opinion.