$$$$$$$$

[Alan Roehrich]

Terry,
The point was, as obviously proven out in that thread, and others like it, is that class racers will not band together and stick to it, to promote their own best interests. That thread, by itself, of course, ignores the issues of payouts, tear downs, pits, entry fees, contingency awards, and most other issues.

[X-TECH MAN]

I agree with you 100%.....Most (not all) have thier own agendas. Its been that way even before the use of home computers and this racers site. The U.S. CLASS NATIONALS that Alex put on will sadly most likely be a one time happening. With the economy the way it is there will be less and less money going back to the racers. Only the rich with large egos will survive.

[SS Engine Guy]

US Class Nationals: Best race I ever attended also. Was greeted and thanked for coming as I entered the gate and again thanked for attending when leaving. Hot as hell and sandy pits made me think that there would be marginal traction. Wrong! Redman kept the starting line hooking all through qualifying and elims. If a car turned a tire, racing was shut down and the starting line prepped. Rans were within .002 on 60 thru qualifying, class, quick 32 and elims on 6 customers cars. Air was terrible as temps were over 100 degrees thru the whole weekend. On Thursday the head of tech came to trailers and did a very thorough tech inspection for those who arrived early. Down time was practically non existant as cars were going down the track from opening to curfew. Spectators were there in good numbers Fri.Sat.Sun. blankets and picnic lunches spread out all over the hillside on the far side of the track. Payouts were good and logical (as in parts that S/SS racers actually use). Most contingency sponsors had at least one rep there. The several I spoke with were more than pleased at the success of the event. Racers I spoke with over the weekend were pleased and surprised by the attendance. The lanes and pairing was accomplished in a logical and timely fashion because people that had actually raced were handling those duties. I was surprised at the lack of attendance of the traveling pros considering the payout, but maybe there was another race somewhere? I was surprised that some tech officials that were asked to participate were told by their bosses to decline. I was surprised that all time runs and elims started according to schedule due to the number of cars entered and being a first time for the US Class Nationals. Apparantly people that have actally raced in competition know how to run a race and conduct business. I'm sure that everything behind the scenes wasn't perfect and I'm sure that everyone was not 100% satisfied but the majority seemed to be having a great time and seemed to be in a racing frame of mind.

[X-TECH MAN]

Originally Posted by SS Engine Guy

US Class Nationals: Best race I ever attended also. On Thursday the head of tech came to trailers and did a very thorough tech inspection for those who arrived early..

UH.....that was me.....I thought I was going to die from the heat but we wanted to make sure everyone had the chance to get in every time run as possable instead of waiting in a long tech line.

[Stick Racing]

I'm not understanding why everyone says '...NHRA should do this or IHRA should do that...'.
Why hasn't someone thought '...Gee, why can't we do that..'. Why does a US Class Nationals or Class Nationals or some form of, have to be an NHRA event? Get a promoter and some sponsors and make it happen. Maybe some of the Srac members like Woodro and a couple good tech guys like yourself, Terry, (not that I'm volunteering you guys.lol) could tech and supervise teardown.

Class runoffs, NHRA rules. Heck, the Hemi cars are a show in themselves. A/stick was a hit at Indy.
Throw in a Top Stock or Top SS and you would have quite a show. It's not like there aren't enough class cars out there to make a great field.

Am I the only one to see what Ron Christianson did with a bunch of bracket cars?

______________________

Andy Stone 1102 B/S 1112 SS/C

[Dick Butler]

Alan,
You are right about the banding together. Most racers have a selfish agenda and they might not even be able to admit it.They own a car they know.
Agenda: They have a car worth money and are afraid someone will change the overall rules just enough to put them at a disadvantage or make them change their class of competition or make a change which changes the importance of their beliefs about Drag Racing in the sportsman group.(arent the rules moving all the time anyway)
1)Manufacturers money or postings : as number of classes goes up (or stays HIGH like now) Too much $ to post for all class winners on a product if cars only buy a product one time and make it last for several seasons.Most want it to go to a racer not NHRA so with large posting some is lost to the NHRA pool.
2) As long as the racer gets to have a massive number of class choices and combinations this will not change.BYE runs still get contingency. If not the racers would move to a contested class on their own.
3) With no draw for a crowd of spectators ,stands are empty for bracket racing of CLASS cars at points meets and Nationals. No exposure of product names for advertising. Less important use of money than Dragster ad or magazines.
4) Sportsman racing has gone from racing a smaller number of classes with Names for the winners (Because of publicity and spectator knowledge) to dilution of the racing which decrease some class win importance or publicity since it is rarely done or minimally seen.
5) Due to the results of trying to get more entrants and pay less advertising NHRA has convinced themselves Sportsman racing is a Participant sport. Make a class for everything it is only Dial in anyway.The more classes accepted in the gate the more entry money. Result not many in a class so limit class racing at the event. ( the viscious circle)
That pools the cash and limits the people who deserve to split the pot of money into one elimination.
5)Fix it? it can be done but uncomfortable and unpopular to think of the things needed.
I doubt over 10-20 guys on this site would accept the changes even if they thought it would work.Agendas!

[442OLDS]

Originally Posted by Dick Butler

Alan,
You are right about the banding together. Most racers have a selfish agenda and they might not even be able to admit it.They own a car they know.
Agenda: They have a car worth money and are afraid someone will change the overall rules just enough to put them at a disadvantage or make them change their class of competition or make a change which changes the importance of their beliefs about Drag Racing in the sportsman group.(arent the rules moving all the time anyway)
1)Manufacturers money or postings : as number of classes goes up (or stays HIGH like now) Too much $ to post for all class winners on a product if cars only buy a product one time and make it last for several seasons.Most want it to go to a racer not NHRA so with large posting some is lost to the NHRA pool.
2) As long as the racer gets to have a massive number of class choices and combinations this will not change.BYE runs still get contingency. If not the racers would move to a contested class on their own.
3) With no draw for a crowd of spectators ,stands are empty for bracket racing of CLASS cars at points meets and Nationals. No exposure of product names for advertising. Less important use of money than Dragster ad or magazines.
4) Sportsman racing has gone from racing a smaller number of classes with Names for the winners (Because of publicity and spectator knowledge) to dilution of the racing which decrease some class win importance or publicity since it is rarely done or minimally seen.
5) Due to the results of trying to get more entrants and pay less advertising NHRA has convinced themselves Sportsman racing is a Participant sport. Make a class for everything it is only Dial in anyway.The more classes accepted in the gate the more entry money. Result not many in a class so limit class racing at the event. ( the viscious circle)
That pools the cash and limits the people who deserve to split the pot of money into one elimination.
5)Fix it? it can be done but uncomfortable and unpopular to think of the things needed.
I doubt over 10-20 guys on this site would accept the changes even if they thought it would work.Agendas!

Dick,
I'm not so sure a lot needs to change so much in Stock and Super Stock.If anything,they need to raise the event quotas.This is the current entry list stats for Pomona.

02/05/2009 - 02/08/2009 - Kragen O'Reilly NHRA Winternationals

Category Quota Entries % Full
Top Fuel Dragster 24 7 29.2%

Fuel Funny Car 24 11 45.8%

Pro Stock 26 17 65.4%

Top Alcohol Dragster 24 19 79.2%

Top Alcohol Funny Car 24 24 100.0%

Competition Eliminator 50 15 30.0%

Super Stock 80 80 100.0%

Stock Eliminator 80 82 102.5%

Super Gas 130 112 86.2%

Event Total 462 367 79.4%

[X-TECH MAN]

Originally Posted by Stick Racing

I'm not understanding why everyone says '...NHRA should do this or IHRA should do that...'.
Why hasn't someone thought '...Gee, why can't we do that..'. Why does a US Class Nationals or Class Nationals or some form of, have to be an NHRA event? Get a promoter and some sponsors and make it happen. Maybe some of the Srac members like Woodro and a couple good tech guys like yourself, Terry, (not that I'm volunteering you guys.lol) could tech and supervise teardown.

Class runoffs, NHRA rules. Heck, the Hemi cars are a show in themselves. A/stick was a hit at Indy.
Throw in a Top Stock or Top SS and you would have quite a show. It's not like there aren't enough class cars out there to make a great field.._____________________

Andy Stone 1102 B/S 1112 SS/C

Andy....it was done several years ago by Alex Denysenko and NOT by NHRA or IHRA. It was a killer race. Maybe it could happen again....who knows?

[Jim Woods]

I agree, I think the time is right for another class nat'ls. nhra rules would eliminate the ihra class cars, who in my opinion should be included , after all they would have some different classes and therefor be entitled to class runoffs as well. This could be accomplished with more action and less speculation. I would be willing to help out , anyone else?

[442OLDS]

Originally Posted by THE ORIGINAL TANKER

I agree, I think the time is right for another class nat'ls. nhra rules would eliminate the ihra class cars, who in my opinion should be included , after all they would have some different classes and therefor be entitled to class runoffs as well. This could be accomplished with more action and less speculation. I would be willing to help out , anyone else?

You are correct.A BIG SS/S race that combines NHRA/IHRA cars could probably draw huge fields if the payouts were good and it was an all run field.The U.S.Class Nationals had 187 Stockers for the first round.A ladder was still created.