Flame away at this idea

[Eric Merryfield]

Originally Posted by Greg Gay

The original idea behind dial ins was so that two different performance level cars could race wide open. It didn’t take long for someone to figure out that all they had to do was beat the other car by the minimum margin, and they could win a lot of races. That is why I am proposing that NHRA run Stock and Super Stock 4 wide at the spring Charlotte race. With 4 cars, who do you sandbag? The second fastest car may be breaking out, too. The car that you are trying to “drive the stripe” against could be 3 lanes away from you. The race becomes more of a best package wins; dial your car close but honest, cut a light, and don’t let off.

This could be an exhibition, non-points race (so it doesn’t affect the national championship), but with full national event payout. 64 cars in each class only take 3 rounds to complete. Friday could be 2 time trials, Saturday would be 4 wide Class eliminations, and Sunday would be a round of 64 cars, a round of 16 cars, and a final with 4 cars. Imagine 4 Super Stock cars, all leaving the line at different times, wheels in the air, and converging on the finish line at virtually the same time. Seems like a good show to me.

Not a bad idea at all Greg, here are a few suggestions, that might make me go to that track again:

#1 Stock and Superstock HAVE to be pitted on the same side of the track, ie the paved side. Being told to drive across the back of the burnout box(while cars were competing by the way) and find my competitor for pairing is still entertaining to me yet troubling to me a couple years later! In retrospect, I should have done a top sportsman burnout all the way across in the gremlin.

#2 Lower letters get the outside lanes, higher letters get the two inside lanes. I think it would be a better visual for the fans to see the turtles in the middle, and the hares on the outside closing in for the kill.

#3 Since its a exhibition, might as well pair up all the world champs you can, I'd watch Fletcher verus Biondo versus Zane versus Worner.

Assuming the software and hardware can handle 4 dial ins, etc.

I'm liking it more and more. Lets face it, who honestly likes national events more than national opens and divisionals?

Eric