If an advocate could be found - what would you say?

[1320racer]

Dan, I would be interested in your take on the complaints mentioned in this and the other threads and call for a sportsman advocate. If not wanting to state your position here, feel free to PM me, your comments will remain private.

[wagonboy]

so if it is about time and space- I think it would be a good idea to let more cars in another class if another does not fill up. Super stock is sometimes light. Why not open S/C or S/G for the amount of cars that another is low.

Same pit space, same track time.

I'm sure there could be a system put in place to do that, and it would be appreciated by racers who are trying to get in.

[HR9121]

Ed I'm going to go out on a limb here and suggest some of what I would think would be Dan's concerns. From the point of view from someone that made their living as a professional sportsman racer I would think the fact that he can't earn half of what he did 20 years ago for winning a race would be the top of the list!

[1320racer]

With all due respect, I'm only interested in hearing from Dan directly. There are several others who's opinion of NHRA Sportsman Racing I'd be interested in hearing as well. David Rampy for example.

[HR9121]

I have no problem with that Ed I would be interested as well but I bet I'm right lol. For me I'm not on the sky is falling side but there are some things I think could be improved for everyone's benefit.

[1320racer]

as I stated in one of these threads, NOTHING is perfect except for my wife. I'm sure if you polled every NHRA Sportsman Racer in the lanes at every event as to things they'd like to see changed, you'd get 100s of suggestions if not more and the responses would vary depending on the class they compete in. I agree with Dan's comment below, as my son was not allowed to enter the MG National event on Tuesday morning despite 9 withdrawals IIRC due to the weather on Tuesday that didn't show on Monday when he tried to get in.

I'm pretty sure most would like to race for more $ but they don't want to pay more to enter but raise the quotas to accommodate those not willing to put the time, expense and work in at divisional events to accumulate the necessary grade points to run in the Pro's show, I say NO!!

What would I like see changed?...I'd like to see the NHRA lower the index of throttle stop classes by 1 second. A high 8 second dragster was fast in the early 90s but in 2019, almost unheard of and most are killing at least 1 second and many far more in a class that is dominated by 7 second dragsters. Same can be said for SG and S/ST, most there too are killing at least 1 second.

I'm interested in somebody listing their opinion on the improvements that would be beneficial to EVERY NHRA Sportsman Racer.

[Julie Jordan]

Originally Posted by 1320racer

as I stated in one of these threads, NOTHING is perfect except for my wife. I'm sure if you polled every NHRA Sportsman Racer in the lanes at every event as to things they'd like to see changed, you'd get 100s of suggestions if not more and the responses would vary depending on the class they compete in. I agree with Dan's comment below, as my son was not allowed to enter the MG National event on Tuesday morning despite 9 withdrawals IIRC due to the weather on Tuesday that didn't show on Monday when he tried to get in.

I'm pretty sure most would like to race for more $ but they don't want to pay more to enter but raise the quotas to accommodate those not willing to put the time, expense and work in at divisional events to accumulate the necessary grade points to run in the Pro's show, I say NO!!

What would I like see changed?...I'd like to see the NHRA lower the index of throttle stop classes by 1 second. A high 8 second dragster was fast in the early 90s but in 2019, almost unheard of and most are killing at least 1 second and many far more in a class that is dominated by 7 second dragsters. Same can be said for SG and S/ST, most there too are killing at least 1 second.

I'm interested in somebody listing their opinion on the improvements that would be beneficial to EVERY NHRA Sportsman Racer.

Many of us do put in the time and expense to get grade points. We drove over 6000 miles last year to get 5 grade points and probably for nothing as the quota for the Vegas national was filled at 6. Some divisions have less tracks/more geography than others. Reducing the quotas the way they have has been a real deterrent to many racers in the larger geographical areas. I'm self-employed and, except for tax season, have a lot of flexibility in my schedule. My son is an attorney with the Public Defender's office. He races using his vacation time. The more travel days we have the less days he gets to allocate to race. I would like to see the quotas raised again and/or give priority to racers in the division the national event is being held.

[Lenny5160]

Originally Posted by 1320racer

I'd like to see the NHRA lower the index of throttle stop classes by 1 second. A high 8 second dragster was fast in the early 90s but in 2019, almost unheard of and most are killing at least 1 second and many far more in a class that is dominated by 7 second dragsters. Same can be said for SG and S/ST, most there too are killing at least 1 second.

I'm interested in somebody listing their opinion on the improvements that would be beneficial to EVERY NHRA Sportsman Racer.

Not that I've agreed with everything else you have said, but I definitely do not agree with this. That is just needlessly pushing out the racers, however few they are, that can't run 1 second quicker than the current indexes.

I can't think of a single benefit from doing it. It wouldn't be any more fun for me in the cockpit to go 7.90, and spectators aren't a concern nor would they be able to tell the difference.

I definitely don't go NHRA racing for the money, but a round 5 semi-final loss at a LODRS race not breaking even on the entry fee is pretty ridiculous. There's a balance somewhere.

I actually kind of like the idea of having to qualify for your spot on the ladder in the Super classes. That would be fun! (Until I failed to qualify, of course)

[Mike Pearson]

Originally Posted by 1320racer

as I stated in one of these threads, NOTHING is perfect except for my wife. I'm sure if you polled every NHRA Sportsman Racer in the lanes at every event as to things they'd like to see changed, you'd get 100s of suggestions if not more and the responses would vary depending on the class they compete in. I agree with Dan's comment below, as my son was not allowed to enter the MG National event on Tuesday morning despite 9 withdrawals IIRC due to the weather on Tuesday that didn't show on Monday when he tried to get in.

I'm pretty sure most would like to race for more $ but they don't want to pay more to enter but raise the quotas to accommodate those not willing to put the time, expense and work in at divisional events to accumulate the necessary grade points to run in the Pro's show, I say NO!!

What would I like see changed?...I'd like to see the NHRA lower the index of throttle stop classes by 1 second. A high 8 second dragster was fast in the early 90s but in 2019, almost unheard of and most are killing at least 1 second and many far more in a class that is dominated by 7 second dragsters. Same can be said for SG and S/ST, most there too are killing at least 1 second.

I'm interested in somebody listing their opinion on the improvements that would be beneficial to EVERY NHRA Sportsman Racer.

I agree that the .90 indexes should be lowered. Maybe not a full second but at least .50. that would put them on the stop for less time and the big bog at the starting line would not be so noticeable and seem like more of a heads up class. The ship has sailed on those classes as far as being a heads up category in the present format.
One thing that would be beneficial to all sportsman racers that want to attend some national events would be to give some preferential treatment to the home division racers. I too traveled plenty of miles and burned a lot of diesel to get 6 grade points and could not get in the Gators that is less than 200 miles from the house. It just does not make sense to have racers traveling thousands of miles to take the place of racers that are in the home division and have run every divisional race that is offered in their home division. You can only claim points from a limited amount of national events any way. Another thing is the provisional spots should never be counted toward the quota. we would all like to see the quota raised to allow more racers to participate and also there would be more heads up runs and more cars for class eliminations at the races that they do run class.