New IHRA President

[Bret Kepner]

Originally Posted by Keith 944

To get the spectators back they need to bring back the fast door cars i.e. pro mods and mountain motor pro stock.

Ummm...since you obviously don't pay any attention to their program, you should probably be informed Pro Modified and Mountain Motor Pro Stock have both been back in IHRA's line-up for a while now.

[Keith 944]

Originally Posted by Bret Kepner

Ummm...since you obviously don't pay any attention to their program, you should probably be informed Pro Modified and Mountain Motor Pro Stock have both been back in IHRA's line-up for a while now.

You must not of been to a national lately, I would not call 2-3 pairs of cars a race!
And after the contingency money dropped to near laughable numbers, you are correct, I obviously didn't pay them any more attention!

[Ed Carpenter]

Originally Posted by Bret Kepner

Ummm...since you obviously don't pay any attention to their program, you should probably be informed Pro Modified and Mountain Motor Pro Stock have both been back in IHRA's line-up for a while now.

Several years ago in the Knoll gas era I went to a race in San Antonio. There were 43 pro mods for 16 spots. Its nothing like that now. That's where it needs to get back to. I hope Mike can do it.

[Bret Kepner]

Originally Posted by Keith 944

You must not of been to a national lately, I would not call 2-3 pairs of cars a race!

Originally Posted by deuces wild

Several years ago in the Knoll gas era I went to a race in San Antonio. There were 43 pro mods for 16 spots. Its nothing like that now.

I don't post opinions. I post facts. Just because somebody thinks the IHRA needs forty-three cars to have a race or the IHRA's current car count is less than what somebody "expects" doesn't mean the IHRA does not run Pro Modified or Pro Stock Eliminators. The classes are there. Take up your grievances with the association.

I'm willing to bet nobody replying to this thread realizes the IHRA PS and PM programs are "pay to play" in the same format as NHRA Pro Modified Eliminator. In fact, that’s the ONLY reason the classes returned to IHRA’s roster.

Originally Posted by ss3845

That's semantics Brett. Not sure if they still do it but the nitro teams were limited to 4 one day test sessions. Spun in a way that it will save all the teams money. Any run down any track on any day used up a test session. That may not prohibit them from attending an event but it would make it impossible to run both series. That was back in 2009/2010. Maybe it has changed. Jim McBean

In reference to the NHRA's short-lived fuel car "testing moratorium" of 2008, it was instituted because of a worldwide lack of nitromethane. The purpose was not to prevent racers from running other events. In fact, they were banned from testing only at NHRA facilities. The NHRA could hardly stop the racers from competing outside the NHRA's jurisdiction.

The 2008 season was also the final year the IHRA conducted qualified eight-car fields in Top Fuel and Funny Car Eliminators and the IHRA series included quite a few teams which raced with the NHRA. John Force and others continued to compete at Norwalk's "Night Under Fire" and Cordova's World Series of Drag Racing. Why? Because they were the only events outside the NHRA and IHRA National Event series which included those vehicles.

The NHRA maintained the testing ban in 2009. However, the IHRA was unaffected by it since they switched to a four-car, booked-in field of modern Top Fuel Dragsters for their feature attraction. Through 2008, the association lost so much money at every event due to the $185,000 fuel purses, (per race), for their open-qualified eight-car fields, they opted for a smaller, cheaper shows with the four TF teams along with their Pro Stock and Pro Modified Eliminators. Also in 2009, the IHRA dropped both Fuel and Alcohol Funny Car Eliminators from their schedule.

In 2010, the NHRA revised the testing ban to allow a maximum of four days at any track during the season, (not counting pre-season or post-season testing). This provision as adopted not as a measure to prevent racers from competing at other venues but to level the playing field for gathering information and to limit the expense of operation for all fuel teams. It had no effect on the IHRA whatsoever since the IHRA continued utilizing four booked-in Top Fuel teams while adding supercharged fuel Nostalgia Funny Cars and injected nitro dragsters to their line-up. At the end of 2010, the IHRA dropped modern Top Fuel dragsters entirely because they were still bleeding money.

Regardless, John Force and others continued to compete at Norwalk's "Night Under Fire" and Cordova's World Series of Drag Racing. Why? Because they were the only events outside the NHRA National Event series which included those vehicles.

The testing limitations were dropped at the end of 2012 because they had virtually no effect on the expense of racing in Top Fuel or Funny Car Eliminators.

These are facts. If you're looking for an argument, you're in the wrong place.

[j gardiner]

With all due respect Mr. Kepner but that is not exactly how I remember things were. I went back and looked at a few things, you might want to check some of your facts.

[Ed Carpenter]

I don't post opinions. I post facts. Just because somebody thinks the IHRA needs forty-three cars to have a race.


Bret no where in my post did I say IHRA has to have 43 cars to have a race. I was just pointing out how many participants they had at a race at one time. You need to lighten up dude. One time I posted a pic of a car my dad used to race. It was a Rambler. I said I was something else. You basically called me an idiot for not knowing what kind of car my dad had when I was 10 years old. Lighten up man...

[Bret Kepner]

Originally Posted by j gardiner

With all due respect Mr. Kepner but that is not exactly how I remember things were. I went back and looked at a few things, you might want to check some of your facts.

Pick any point you believe to be in error. I'll be more than happy to provide proof. These facts aren't "how I remember things". They're simply facts.

[j gardiner]

Go back to dragracecentral look at the races in 09, they were still 8 car qualified fields. Look up NHRA's testing ban it says that any runs made at any track regardless of sanction will count towards a test day. The reason they state was because of the poor economy, no mention of anything to do with a shortage of nitromethane.

[Bret Kepner]

Originally Posted by j gardiner

Go back to dragracecentral look at the races in 09, they were still 8 car qualified fields.

Well, you definitely nailed me to the wall on that point, Mr. Gardiner. Good job. Somehow, I got the 2009-2010 years swapped but that’s no excuse. I was wrong.

Originally Posted by j gardiner

Look up NHRA's testing ban it says that any runs made at any track regardless of sanction will count towards a test day. The reason they state was because of the poor economy, no mention of anything to do with a shortage of nitromethane.

This is correct for the 2009 season. However, the Testing Ban actually began in 2008, (as stated), because of the global shortage of Nitro:

http://www.dragracecentral.com/DRCSt...ilter=Year2008

http://competitionplus.com/drag-raci...d-on-nhra-tour

This was precipitated by the $100,000 fine imposed on Don Schumacher for violating the NHRA’s new rule banning teams from stockpiling nitro fromsources outside the NHRA official supplier:

http://www.dragracingonline.com/anal...umacher-1.html

Concerning the 2009 ban which limited testing to four days during the season, it’s important to remember the penalty from the NHRA for noncompliance was merely the forfeiture of NHRA Full Throttle points. There were no monetary fines nor declined entries; the NHRA had plenty of short fields in 2009 and 2010. Since the Full Throttle fund paid only the Top Ten finishers, this wasn’t a concern to teams outside the elite.

An interesting fact is, of the twenty-two different Top Fuel drivers who competed in the 2009 IHRA series, all but FIVE of them, (Mitch King, Rhonda Hartman-Smith, Smax Smith, Paul Lee and Fred Farndon), competed at NHRA events in the same season. In fact, nine drivers competed in more than eight NHRA races in 2009 while still competing in the IHRA tour.