Why Class racing dies slowly

[Jack Matyas]

Originally Posted by Dick Butler

Roberte, Thanks for reading but try it again. If you truly run Class to win Class you will understand the post better. I have raced Stk and SS for 35 years and tried three cars in one class and was continually trumped by the latest and greatest discovery found new in the tech book. Some call that evolution or progress. When its purely related to bad factoring it is disappointing and costly. I am not whining, just commenting on why class racing has deteriorated to More and More expense and less satisfaction unless you have the latest trick car in the class.

Dick - what you are saying is that you don't want change and want to stay in the past .Should we not allow cars built after 1969 to race in Stock? Sounds to me like you should build a nostalgia S/S car .But wait....even that is based on a bracket format .Not many people know that I really like old cars - but you must realize time marches on and nothing stays the same .

Your thirty - five years didn't teach you that newer ideas come along and you have to go with the flow or stay on the porch ............

[treessavoy]

Originally Posted by Jack Matyas

Dick - what you are saying is that you don't want change and want to stay in the past .Should we not allow cars built after 1969 to race in Stock? Sounds to me like you should build a nostalgia S/S car .But wait....even that is based on a bracket format .Not many people know that I really like old cars - but you must realize time marches on and nothing stays the same .

Your thirty - five years didn't teach you that newer ideas come along and you have to go with the flow or stay on the porch ............

FYI NSS is run on a index system, there are no dial downs as in Stock racing.

JimR

[Dick Butler]

Originally Posted by Jack Matyas

Dick - what you are saying is that you don't want change and want to stay in the past .Should we not allow cars built after 1969 to race in Stock? Sounds to me like you should build a nostalgia S/S car .But wait....even that is based on a bracket format .Not many people know that I really like old cars - but you must realize time marches on and nothing stays the same .

Your thirty - five years didn't teach you that newer ideas come along and you have to go with the flow or stay on the porch ............

Jack, what 35 years taught me is that every year there is a new crop of weak factors to contend with in class if you like to win heads up class. It takes quite a few people complaining before new injected classes were established, New car classes, This issue affects ALL racers in Stk and SS. Building a new weaker factored car is expensive if that's the definition of going with the flow. In regard to "nothing staying the same, I do agree. The uneven factoring just continues get worse to affect who CAN win a class. I give you credit for building a new class car and wish you the best. Hope the cars become closely factored to increase the fun.
Dial in can be won by even the heaviest factored old cars if they qualify. As long as Class is LB per "factored HP" mainly the factoring affects who can win the most in classes.

[Rich67stang]

IMO, I think there are more races held now, between Sanctioning bodies, Associations and individual events, there are only so many races that can be attended by a Class racer with the expenses stated previously. Racers choose according to Distance and payout. When does class racing become too diluted with races to sustain large car counts?

[Dwight Southerland]

Rich -
You have pointed out a very valid point of analysis. The "scaling" that was attractive and an incentive in earlier days is not much of a factor now. There is surely a homeostasis that has become a major factor in analyzing attendance.

[Randall Klein]

One factor not mentioned is the old fun meter. The addition of classes, not to mention draggin bagger!!,snow mobiles, TS TD, makes a looong day for class racers, usually a time trial mid morning, then a second at 6 or 7 if lucky.

Get an oildown or rain and we have been at the track at times from 7AM to 11PM, hard to invite friends and have them sit around 10+ hours

When Topeka first opened, I remember SS TT on Sunday mornings!, kinda felt like part of the event. 3-4 TimeTrials, Class, Teardown, spread over 4 days, now one can be loaded up and on the way home Friday mornings for those weekend "honey-do" projects one was trying to avoid.

For me, gas between 2 &3.85, and race gas costs, motel bills are not keeping my 100K+ operation at home

[Jeff Teuton]

Randall, I always value your opinion and most others as well. I know Pure Stock has been tossed around a while, maybe? These cars in Stock and Super Stock are so far out from where we started, maybe we need to start again? Cost to race is not for the light hearted. Maybe that is why all the old guys. I think they call it 'prime earning years'. Today I think the popular is 'long easy payments' and '11 second dead stock cars'. I miss the old days of winning class to run the eliminator. Love that wagon.

[Bobby Fazio]

It won't die, it will grow if you sign and share this:

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/n...rtsmancoverage

[Billy Nees]

Originally Posted by Jeff Teuton

These cars in Stock and Super Stock are so far out from where we started, maybe we need to start again?

Well, that's not going to happen without the NHRA rebuilding it's Tech Dept.! It would be nice to be able to just hit the "reset button" though.

[Michael Beard]

Originally Posted by Jeff Teuton

Randall, I always value your opinion and most others as well. I know Pure Stock has been tossed around a while, maybe? These cars in Stock and Super Stock are so far out from where we started, maybe we need to start again?

IHRA already has Pure Stock, and they can run at the Auto Meter Northern Class Nationals. (As warned prior to last year's event, don't assume that you can show up with a traditional Stocker and put Pure Stock on the window. We DQ'd a driver last year.)