if wally was'nt dead this woulda killed him

[Mike Pearson]

I dont know why everyone is so upset about this. The only race on the tout that allows more than 128 entry's is Indy. All of the other races it will not make any difference. Due to the economic conditions there might not be 128 cars there. NHRA might limit the entry's to 128 cars in the future. On the other hand it says all national events will have a 128 car field. I guess that means the will accept 128 entry's at all of the nationals? Indy is 1200 miles away for me so this ruling doesn't effect me. I couldnt win class anyway.I am one of the low budget guys that the fast guys want to get rid of anyway. Us slow guys love racing just as much as the guys with alot of money. We just have to live with in our means.

[Dick Butler]

Steve Polhill, "slow *** class winners?" I imagine some guys who race a car factored tightly by AHFS or really made in Detroit not on paper or without superceded parts could take offense a that statement. Are you against slow classes or ? just people who win with less that 1.0 under cars?
I believe Class Racing in S and SS is the true meaning of Sportsman racing. If you want to talk about Bye run winners or less than .5 under winners or classes created and only one car exists then thats different. Remember it is not a "fault" of the racer for being alone in class at an event. It is caused by the Vast number of classes created. The intent on one hand was to give people latitude but also attract entry paying racers to events to support the purse. Now with time that has shown to be a weakness and diluting Class racing. That should be corrected.Cut the numbers of classes to 1/4 or less. Then ALL classes should have competition and be even more entitled to be in the Eliminator.
Class Winners earn the right to be in Eliminator. If there are no races in too many classes then COMBINE classes. Fix the problem , dont create a way around it that removes the reward for class racing. Not everyone who enters can win Eliminator but with Class, many can gain recognition for their wins.

[Jack McCarthy]

let me clarify a few things

1. i'm not a slow *** class winner, i will QUALIFY for the show in this my farewell tour indy (as i have for many years) NO MATTER WHAT THE BUMP IS !!!

2. the politicians i refered to were 8 years ago when the republicans who were supposed to return us to the frugal, non entitlement government spending got elected and spent more than any congress in history... like the new advisory committee we asked for to protect us from idiot weekly rules changes.

3. YOUR sportsman advisory committee members voted on this as part of the .2 tenths off index fiasco

4. if Wally thought class wins were unimportant why did he base all sportsman racing on them ???

5. 1972 there were several classes of over 30+ entries... ill get my program out & count them. by the way only 36 classes o/sa was last automatic class, sticks went to w/s i think

captain jack

[Billy Nees]

If NHRA truly still considered S/SS "performance" based eliminators anymore and I don't believe that they do then we would still have; 1. Hardcore Tech Inspections and teardowns done by hardcore Techmen who would be allowed to do their jobs. 2. An AHFS that couldn't be manipulated. 3. Indexes that are about 1.0 lower (although I don't agree with that one). And 4. A class win and contingency program that isn't downright insulting.
I've been told by more "newbies" than I would care to count recently that "S/SS is "evolving" and if I don't want to "evolve" with it then maybe I should do something else". I am no longer going to be rewarded for being able to build a different car for a different class or for being able to read the Classfication Guide. Apparently I will from now on be chastized for not conforming and building a red big block Camaro.
Well we had ALL (me included) better watch just what we wish for because there are only three paths that can possibly be taken; 1. Do away with us, too expensive to enforce. 2. Turn us into a Bracket Eliminator, if it looks stock and has 9" tires on it it's OK. 3. Go back to a "performance" eliminator, fastest 64 cars with everyone torn down running off of National Records.
I really don't want to "evolve" anymore and I don't want go back to running off of records either so why can't we just put a stop to changing the rules every week, start acting like taking apart a couple of fast cars by tech is a bad thing, tweak the AHFS just a bit, make a Class Win worth SOMETHING and stop penalizing innovators.

[Dave Goob Cook]

It will stop some of the performers from having a duck that got in on a single car entry class "win" like last year.....or was that '06?

But, if it were truly a performance based race, there should be no shoe polish, and no breakouts.

I guess if it were easy, everyone would do it.

[Urraco]

As much as you would like to call Stock and SS a performance based class, as long as you have shoe polish on your windows, its a bracket race.

[Bruce Noland]

Jack,

I know you're having a good time, but farewell tour Indy? Where the hell are you going? Indy is the only national event that you ever attend - how is that part of a tour? And most of us do not think that the eventual lowering of the indexes a lousy .20 is a fiasco.

Wally was around for all of the enhancements by the current regime for ten years before he passed. Remember when we had some real class money to race for, remember when we got 4 qualifing runs at a national events, remember when we were included in all national event line-ups, remember when we had 128 car fields at all of these races, remember when we had ramdom drug tests at national events, remember when Bruce had enough staff to tear down a bunch of cars at a national event, remember when we had a fair race schedule at national events,etc???? Wally was around for all of these changes. Sure he had turned it over to the blokes who are running the show now but he still had the hammer if he wanted to use it.

[X-TECH MAN]

All of you should RE-READ Billy Nees post. He's closer to the truth than most care to admit. NHRA would love to be rid on the problems associated with Stock and S/S. Theres about a GAZILLION 90 class cars including 10.90 ready to take your places not to mention other "circus acts". Dont shoot the messenger.

[Casey Miles]

The problem that I see is that the 1+ under cars have not been factored correctly in the first place. I can remember when the 360 cu in mopars came out and all of them quailified at Indy. At that point in time I was carrying extra weight because of a JR. stocker by a guy name Tony Pissia (sorry if I don't have it spelled correctly) which made my combination played out but I owned the car. Also, that's when you bought a car that you could barely afford, never mind race. My point is that NHRA can even up the field by running weight to cubic inches, for get about the factor which we all know is crap since the difference with flywheel horsepower versus rear wheel horsepower was for the insurance companies which they fell for.
I can see NHRA saying that you run the number that you quailified with, no shoe polish.
By taking the class winners out of the picture, you are just having a quailified bracket race, all you need is alot of money and keep pushing for changes (parts like Schubeck lifters) that were never dreamed about in the day when stock was created. I know that some of you will say to change, but I like stock when the word meant "STOCK".
Casey Miles
248H E/S (because of 4 hp)

[Mark Yacavone]

Originally Posted by Dave Goob Cook

It will stop some of the performers from having a duck that got in on a single car entry class "win" like last year.....or was that '06?

But, if it were truly a performance based race, there should be no shoe polish, and no breakouts.

I guess if it were easy, everyone would do it.

Goob, You seem like a knowledgable guy , but you cross over the line when you you start to criticize certain CLASS cars on here.
Don't wear out your welcome.