Is IHRA Going Under?

[larrylomascolo]

And who would have thought at one time ihra was so close in the same strength as nhra ,,When this nitro jam bull crap was the demise of the format and tourn. of champ,,when ihra had the same format as nhra,it seemed the strongest,and i thought like others M.Dunn was the savior of sac. body ,he was there to pull the plug,This is sad for motorsports if this does happen .

[Tracy Robbins]

Originally Posted by larrylomascolo

And who would have thought at one time ihra was so close in the same strength as nhra ,,When this nitro jam bull crap was the demise of the format and tourn. of champ,,when ihra had the same format as nhra,it seemed the strongest,and i thought like others M.Dunn was the savior of sac. body ,he was there to pull the plug,This is sad for motorsports if this does happen .

I think this is when you saw Bill Bader exit then Polburn and Scooter Peaco took over...that's when things began going down hill. Peaco tried to tell everyone that they were sportsman friendly and you could talk to him anytime. You could talk to him but it was like talking to a brick wall and they were dead set on changing what Bader had built! What a shame to see it go away, we have had a lot of great years racing and meeting new friends from all over the country but it will never be like it once was. That said, I don't think it is all Mike Dunn's fault, the ground work was laid by the previous regime.

[Jim Wahl]

Originally Posted by Tracy Robbins

I think this is when you saw Bill Bader exit then Polburn and Scooter Peaco took over...that's when things began going down hill. Peaco tried to tell everyone that they were sportsman friendly and you could talk to him anytime. You could talk to him but it was like talking to a brick wall and they were dead set on changing what Bader had built! What a shame to see it go away, we have had a lot of great years racing and meeting new friends from all over the country but it will never be like it once was. That said, I don't think it is all Mike Dunn's fault, the ground work was laid by the previous regime.

I think you have to remember that IHRA has been bought and sold twice in the last 10 years. They are currently owned by IRG, an insurance company. You have to know that whatever happens, good or bad, it is not without approval of the "mother" company. It IS possible that Dunn was brought in to slice and dice IHRA into an all "Pro" Nitro WWF style show. After all money is the root of all evil, right? Jim

BTW - I have a call in to Scooter and Mike.


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[Dave Ribeiro]

Jim, Tracy is right-on about this not being Mike Dunn' fault .. Back about 4-5 years ago when IHRA left VMP and went to Memphis... Tracy was right , it was after Bader had left that things got much worse !!! I don't think any one at Corporate cares about Sportsman Racers .... All we do is get increasing entry fee's & less prize money than 30 years ago ????
Let's hope IHRA can get their Act Together , because we Racer's need
to have options on where to Race ? Remember, the worst thing that can happen to us , Is to have only one place to Race your car ... When you don't have Choice's, you are Stuck !!!!

[Pinballer]

My hope is that IHRA is simply going through a reorganization and probably needs some time to sort out everything. If this isn't the case, and they intend to go nitro and not much else, they'll die out for sure. All that you need to verify this is a look over at the other outfit.

The sportsman racer-- liked or not by either sanctioning body, is the true backbone of competitive drag racing. It's the first step on the ladder to moving up to the professional classes. The one thing class racing has over regular bracket racing is a heapin' helpin' of "class". The class cars all look great, they run absolutely fantastic once you understand what they're doing and how stringent their rules are, and the racer's pride in their car's performance and their dedication to the craft is second to none. In fact, more is probably asked of this guy or gal than anyone else in racing. When was the last time your regular weekend bracket racer was demanded to tear their engine down for inspection?

The sanctioning bodies would do well to keep featuring sportsman racing, not throw it away. If it ends up that they ARE that dumb and kick it to the curb, hopefully somebody else will step up and create a league for it. The racers will attend, there's plenty of us, and all that's asked by them is a safe and fairly prepared place to do it and a payout that is reasonable for the entry fee demanded.

[AJ Laferty]

I drag race occasionally, post infrequently.

I would offer that NHRA/IHRA issues are not new. Further, since they are for profit corporations, they have to chase the money which usually means putting on a show for fans. Mostly, I’m an autocrosser with the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) or local clubs but it is all “class racing.” It isn’t about making money, it’s about covering the costs of running. Autocross is pretty boring to watch, so no spectators are going to pay to watch (kinda like most current sportsman and bracket races) No purse, but a local autocross is usually $35 for three or four runs-best run counts. While there are plenty of issues within SCCA, it is a club that exists for the members, not shareholders. There is a rule making process, not a rule declaration process. I won’t go into the details, but it MAY be a model for consideration in the future. I’m not advocating abandoning drag racing for autocross.

Some time back, there was a string about cost to build a stocker. If memory serves, it went something like $20K after the body price. I cannot imagine anyone spending that kind of money to autocross. Sure, some people show up with new Porsches and Corvettes, but most of them are late model pony cars or economy cars. Under the index for under a grand type builds are normal. See Grassroots Motorsports Magazine 2016 Challenge for details. (build your car for $2016 and drag, autocross and show it for points).

Give some thought to comparing Stock NHRA/IHRA to “Street” class (no longer called stock) in SCCA. Street is more like IHRA pure stock and keeps costs under control. This is racing your commuter car. The rulebook is online at http://www.scca.com/pages/solo-cars-and-rules (unlike NHRA where you have to buy a rulebook).

Tire rules have changed driving the cost of tires for most from $1000 a set, lasting usually a year of autocross only to about $600 a set and you can commute with them and they last about a year. An SCCA “Street Prepared” class car (comparable to an NHRA Stocker but without the internal engine work including cams) will run about $5000 in modifications and are usually trailered because the suspensions are so stiff. Street Prepared use DOT slicks at about $1000 a set. Cars are classified based on level of modification and performance potential. From running a stock economy car to running a formula car, there is a place for just about everything (not necessarily a competitive place, but that is class racing). If you like to build cars, there are builder classes.

Basically street class means 200 treadwear tires, double adjustable shocks and sway bar substitutions. No headers, must have pollution controls and stock SIZE wheels. Most cars that means Koni shocks/struts at about $1K, and a $200 sway bar. I don’t run konis, I run the stock shock. (what you drive isn’t going to get the win, nor will mods. It’s HOW you drive that will get the win.) As with stock drag racing, there is plenty to “adjust” in the suspension that will make an enormous difference.

Now, those of you that are heavily invested both financially and emotionally in the current drag race model will refute considering a change in the way drag racing is run and I respect that. Those of you that see that the current race model has problems may want to consider a different way of doing business. Look around, there are plenty of organizations to observe. On the other hand, bracket racing has been a successful model too.

All the best,
Jeff Laferty

[Jim Wahl]

After a two hour phone conversation with Scooter Peaco I feel that IHRA will do all they can to continue the Sportsman and Class Racing program for 2017. With that said there are many concerns. One concern, and probably the biggest is car count. If the car counts continue the downward spiral then it becomes harder and harder to sell the Pro Am program to track managers.No track owner or manager wants to lose money. They cant stay in business that way. If they can't make a profit they can't justify the payouts. IHRA and NHRA payouts are the same.IHRA is cheaper to race with than NHRA. The overheads are pretty close to the same, so if IHRA doesn't take in as much or more through race fees at their races it's harder for them to continue. Lets face it, no longer does spectator gate fees pay for anything! When was the last time you saw more than a few "butts in the seat" at any race, IHRA or NHRA. Most are family or crew. So the number of racers that show up is even more important. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure this out.

I'd be only speculating if I told you why IRG hired Mike Dunn to head the IHRA. Was it to draw more Pro racers? Was it because of his organizational skills? I don't know. Only Mike and IGA knows what the deal was there. I am convinced now that it wasn't to gut the Association. There is no doubt IHRA has fallen on tough times. We ALL have! But like most of us everybody has a boss. He must follow the wishes of the mother company or hit the road as been done before. This brings up the question of the Drag Review Magazine. IRG has told Dunn that they do not think it is a necessary expense. So it is gone. Neither Peaco or Dunn are happy about it and told me they fought it. They lost! We lost! And no you will not get a refund. Period. It is possible it could come back in digital form only. I said possible. It's a maybe at best. This is wrong! We all know it. Peaco and Dunn agree with that! IRG said NO!

Now, about next season. As things stand today, the season will go forward as planned. Scooter is starting to work on gathering the tracks together to plan races and dates. But as I stated earlier, everything depends on which tracks want to continue with the Pro Am format. That depends on if he can sell them that program with the low car counts we have been experiencing. Will they take the chance on us? We must show them we want to race! Don't fool yourself. This is no different than NHRA! You want a place to race? You have to show the track owners by showing up! You make your own destiny. If you don't get out and race, you can't sit at home and bitch about it! This goes for IHRA,NHRA and your local S/SS Associations!

The rest of the IHRA season will go on as planned for sure. The people at Summit have a contract to to see to that! Thank you Summit! Hopefully they will be back next year. The World Finals will go on as planned also. Once again Summit will be sure of that.

With all of that said, if you have more questions about IHRA, Scooter has said to feel free to call or email him. (ihra.com)(contact us). He said he will do his best to answer you. If you don't feel comfortable doing that (you shouldn't) feel free to contact me and I will try to help.
Once again, if you don't make an effort to get out and race, you can't bitch! Jim


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[Dave1695]

Pinballer had some valid points, most first time spectators do not grasp the handicap start system, much less the 90 classes with their throttle stops etc. I often thought that the announcers could help in that area, by explaining briefly, the differences between classes or class racing and bracket racing. I'm a poor drag race spectator, mostly because I have been a race for many years. BUT If we can make the sport more understandable for the fans to watch, and they fill the stands every week end as they did years ago, perhaps the current problems at IHRA would not exist! Just my two cents on the subject!

[MikeMoller]

I think the sanctioning bodies and the track operators need to do more to get butts in the seats. I knew a dirt track operator up north who ADVERTISED the races locally - radio and TV - and ran promotions for discounted tickets. The ticket prices charged to see a NHRA/IHRA divisional are way to high, not family friendly. I'd rather have 100 spectators at 5 bucks a head than 10 at 20. How about 25 bucks a carload? As the dirt track operator told me, you can't sell a hot dog to an empty seat.
The NHRA Divisional at Charlotte was not advertised at all, not even on their website. The Charlotte track had no information on schedules, run times or ticket prices.And there were only a few food truck vendors there, no track operated vendors at all.

[jwsamuel]

Originally Posted by Dave1695

Pinballer had some valid points, most first time spectators do not grasp the handicap start system, much less the 90 classes with their throttle stops etc.

Try explaining to a first-time spectator how a driver left the starting line first and got to the finish line first ended up losing the race.