new A/FX CLASS

[J.R. Haddad]

There will always be controversy when a new class is added. Some will
love it, some will hate it. I don't know that there will ever be enough
F/X cars to have their own class. I think they will become a mainstay of
Comp. Eliminator. However, if that high-winding manually shifted car,
didn't get your juices flowing, seek immediate health care. Does it make
sense financially? Of course not. Let me know what class does.
To hear Stephen Bell say yesterday that he is building a Tribute Bob
Glidden A/FX car to match race with Greg Stanfield at different Mid-
West tracks was good news. Maybe at some points races to enhance
spectator attendance. I thought it was all good news, and isn't going
to affect S/SS in the least. If people do nothing, we already know the
results. If people try new things, who knows what might happen.

J.R.

[JGrossijr]

I think the class is awesome and I enjoy watching the Stanfields race anything. In my opinion this class is what drag racing is all about. A/FX will bring one hell of a lot more entertainment value to the show than throttle stop cars.

[Carguy49]

When this new class was first brought up I was interested in it.

With the Camaro and Challenger going away, what cars will be used. If any cars that have been available in the last few years then it just might work. Yes, I have changed my thoughts about this.

Doing tribute cars, like the Rod Shop car this past weekend, could bring some fans back. The thought of 2 to 8 of these cars match racing at various events just might work. A way to draw more spectators to events.

Imagine - Rod Shop, Bob Glidden, Don Nicholson, Ronnie Sox, Bill Jenkins and others - very cool.

[Billy Nees]

I have liked the premise from the start. BUT, the initial premise was new Factory Stock car bodies/engines in tube chassis. Right now, THAT's a dead player unless NHRA wants to get into some kind of a Nostalgia deal where they allow ANY YEAR bodies with a MODERN (not current year) engine. NHRA always (at least since the '60s) seems to be about a decade behind Detroit.

[Dan Bennett]

I look at this a bit differently since it is my hope that it will grow to replace the gas funny cars they now call Pro Stock.

As for affecting quotas, I can see the concern but I think it's a separate issue where the suits made a terrible decision years ago and will never admit they made a mistake that needs to change. They add classes in hopes of a better gate take - and sportsman quotas, if they even are on the list, are at the bottom.

A third thing is that there is absolutely no doubt that sportman racing is why the NHRA came to be and is its background. But the mbas in Glendora never think about that. Sportsmen pay way too much money and don't get what's fair in return. And they cost money to provide services for. Yes, all of you provide the money for NHRA to make theirs.

The classes that have been added are some finance geek's wet dream as to how to increase revenue (spectators) while not spending another cent. If any of the manufacturers are still involved, that's more free income.

Is it right or is it fair? Not by any stretch. But no one should be surprised that some overpaid execs forgot about you (but not the money you're charged) long ago. We allowed our voice to be silenced decades ago. It's painful, but the best (only?) strategy right now is to make the best of what we can.


I don't expect this post to be very popular, but having been involved since the early 1960's, it seems very clear to me.

[Mark Yacavone]

My take is it's a great class in and of itself, but I don't see where it fits in, in the grand scheme of things.
They jumped right up and changed the rules to let the factory ringers in..anywhere they could .
They dominate qualifying in Stock, for the most part.
They are all over S/S too.
They brought them into Comp to pump that up.
The showdown cars were supposed to be the answer for fans who only want to watch heads up, flat out racing.
Now we've got a few F/X cars, so far (back in a minute)

As someone called it, Camaro Stock got out of control with the body mods and all the same power plants.
Are they going to phase it out in a few years? Do they want to? Do they like getting sued? Those guys aren't going to want to slow back down and run F/X.

Showdown cars are just a slower version of F/X, with automatics, to the guys in the stands. Do they want to phase them back out too? Without new cars to participate, might as well..They can get in on the lawsuit too.
Some of those guys are getting a little long in the tooth, you might say and are not going to want to move up to a Comp type stick shift class.

So where is this all going, except maybe to the lawyers?
Remember Pro/Stock Truck !

[Dan Bennett]

Interesting you mentioned PST. I was thinking of that situation the entire time I was writing my post.


I've stayed silent for a long time about how I felt about the class. Life is strange. I got assigned to write an intro article about them for Super Stock and the next thing I knew I was doing color commentary on them in the tower.

So, spilling the beans, I always thought it was the answer to a question the racers never asked. Not once did I ever hear it brought up.

It was the start, or at least a major jump, in the "money gets you anything" programs we've seen rise up through the years. Truck sales were getting hot, and the factories were on board and willing to throw some money at them. NASCAR had already done the same and back then it was monkey see, monkey do with NHRA brass following and adopting their programs as quickly as they could.

But other than the piles of money from the various makes, a tremendous amount of lobbying was being done by nonracers in the industry. Chassis builders led the pack, followed closely by anyone who made parts that would go on the things. I can't count the number of racers who made plans due to being told "It's a cheaper way to go Pro Stock/It's small block Pro Stock/you'll be racing in prime time/lots of sponsors wanting to jump in."

So people bought into that, most of the sales pitches didn't pan out, and it wasn't long before the stands would empty when the sessions started.

I think that situation is 180 degrees away from the new A/FX. I'm pretty sure people will once again like seeing production cars that they can buy (yes, in some cases it will have to be used for now) using highly developed production engines that will take an immense amount of talent to drive well.

[SSDiv6]

When the class was initially created, it did not require the current investment.

Then, the big chassis builders got involved and demanded changes to the chassis and body to fit their agendas such as one-piece front ends, carbon brakes, and more. One of my close friends who is a well-known chassis builder started to build the first COPO for the class and worked directly with Lonnie on making sure the build and design of the car met the rulebook.

However, due to the pressure exerted by the big-name shops, every other week was a new change to the cars by NHRA. Eventually, he had to go back and start changing stuff on his new car, including going from bolt-on fenders to the new one-piece front end. Not only wasted money and time but also increased the cost of building the car by a large amount.

[MR DERBY CITY]

Sorry guys but I just don’t share your enthusiasm. The FS cars should never have been allowed in STOCK eliminator, PERIOD …As fas as the new A/FX class, I really don’t care one way or another what the millionaires do with their $$ ….

[GUMP]

Originally Posted by MR DERBY CITY

The FS cars should never have been allowed in STOCK eliminator, PERIOD

How about sharing which rules were changed that allowed the FS cars into Stock Eliminator?