Classes at Events (2 Viewers)

[NYNitro86]

I noticed that all the races will have Super Stock, Stock Super Comp and Super Gas, and the cycle of one class omitted a year has been discontinued. I see E-town will have EVERYTHING except top dragster and Top Sportsman, some other tracks as well.

2011 Sportsman Class Schedule

 

[Reese]

Went up on entry fees so need more cars to make up the difference since car count will be down. Suprise it was not done years ago when we were "enhanced"

 

[crewcheif gt/aa]

went up in entry fees yes but amount of cars allotted for each race went down....so we will see what the car counts end up being!!!! I know my car owners/drivers are not real happy with NHRA...(No Happy Racers Aloud)

 

[SundayNiagara]

It's too bad we aren't getting Top Dragster/Sportsman at all the events, instead of..................................

 

[JB3]

I noticed that all the races will have Super Stock, Stock Super Comp and Super Gas, and the cycle of one class omitted a year has been discontinued. I see E-town will have EVERYTHING except top dragster and Top Sportsman, some other tracks as well.

Well, others may lose out. Comp and Alcohol are not contested at 6 events including Phoenix, Sonoma and Bristol which won't have any of those 3 classes in 2011. Whether you like the schedule or not will kind of depend on what you like to watch as a fan and as a racer it will depend on how you like to schedule the events you race at. My guess is, some will love it and others will hate it.

 

[Jer]

to bad they dont dissolve Super gas or any delay box category,they are by far not fun to watch and new people go to the drags are like why are they letting off lol.

 

[SundayNiagara]

to bad they dont dissolve Super gas or any delay box category,they are by far not fun to watch and new people go to the drags are like why are they letting off lol.

Post of the century!

 

[clwill]

to bad they dont dissolve Super gas or any delay box category,they are by far not fun to watch and new people go to the drags are like why are they letting off lol.

It's not "delay boxes" you're seemingly upset about, it's throttle stops. For example Top Dragster, Top Sportsman, Super Pro, etc. all use delay boxes, but not throttle stops. And just because you don't understand it, and/or don't like to watch it, is no reason to "dissolve" it.

For your reference, there are more racers in the "Super" Classes than in all the other classes of drag racing combined. About twice as many. So sure, let's kill the most popular forms of drag racing.

 

[vegasnitro]

to bad they dont dissolve Super gas or any delay box category,they are by far not fun to watch and new people go to the drags are like why are they letting off lol.

Simple ... have you seen how many of these cars are at National Events? Now do the math for entry fees and crew passes. These classes pay for themselves and then some, so it is not really germaine whether or not fans are in the stands when they run.

 

[SundayNiagara]

It's not "delay boxes" you're seemingly upset about, it's throttle stops. For example Top Dragster, Top Sportsman, Super Pro, etc. all use delay boxes, but not throttle stops. And just because you don't understand it, and/or don't like to watch it, is no reason to "dissolve" it.

For your reference, there are more racers in the "Super" Classes than in all the other classes of drag racing combined. About twice as many. So sure, let's kill the most popular forms of drag racing.

It's not "drag racing!"

 

[Joker]

While I wish they would drop SC and SG for TD and TS I dont think it will happen. And the sportsman guys aint going anywhere at national events. Do the math:

500 cars at $305 a piece equals $152,500. Total payout is nothing. Contingency if you can get the companies to pay is where the racers make their money. And we arent even counting atleast 2 crew members at $100 for the weekend. And most teams have 4 or 5.

 

[Jer]

It's not "delay boxes" you're seemingly upset about, it's throttle stops. For example Top Dragster, Top Sportsman, Super Pro, etc. all use delay boxes, but not throttle stops. And just because you don't understand it, and/or don't like to watch it, is no reason to "dissolve" it.

For your reference, there are more racers in the "Super" Classes than in all the other classes of drag racing combined. About twice as many. So sure, let's kill the most popular forms of drag racing.

well whatever they are using,they still are boring. I have no problem watching stock and super stock as do alot of others. Get rid of the boring classes and they will move to another class lol. Im sure they could find a filler,as far as im concerned id rather watch teh Geico guys than super gas.

 

[mick]

stock and super stock only compete for class 9x each; 4 events holding
both......topeka, denver, indy and vegas 2.........no class @ BIR
(love watching class - great heads up bragging rites)

 

[Tumbleweed]

Do the math:

500 cars at $305 a piece equals $152,500. Total payout is nothing. Contingency if you can get the companies to pay is where the racers make their money. And we arent even counting atleast 2 crew members at $100 for the weekend. And most teams have 4 or 5.

Lets look at the Jegs Sports Nationals, 1600 Entries for all Sportsmen classes, $488,000.00 just for car and driver, and Yet again: WOWZERS!!! (oh, and before anyone falsely accuses me of anything, this is JUST INFORMATION ONLY that makes you think hmmmmm, I think the Jegs Nationals is a GOOD Competition Event)

Most of my friends that travel to race in the S/C, S/G, etc......Usually have 1 extra guy, so lets say that it's $75 per weekend (I don't know what the crew guy price is right now, but using $75 as a round number) you can add another $120,000 to the 488,000 for a total of: 608 K per event, now times the 3 Jegs races: $1,824,000.00 in entry fees and this is before 1 car goes down the track.

I don't know what the payout is, but I sure wonder what the P&L Statement says at the end of the weekend.

The only reason I post this is because the US has been supposedly in a Financial Bind for the last couple of years, these numbers, IMHO, doesn't seem to comply with the media.

As for our team, does this or will this increase keep US from racing 2011? NOPE Still gonna go, still gonna race, just changing up the thinking a little and going to go more strategically than what we did in the past, oh, and adding to the program a little

Hope everyone has a VERY SAFE & HAPPY NEW YEARS!!! See you in 2011

 

[Randy]

Hey Nancy:

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, etc. In our house we have a bunch of December Birthdays so we add that to the list of greetings, too.

I was sitting in the spectator side grandstands Sunday at the Finals in Pomona next to (another) old timer. We were talking about the days when the Super categories actually started. In the early 1980's in an ettempt to keep from running bracket one against faster dragsters the Pro Gas association was started. They ran on a 9.80 index. Then the econo dragsters (SCEDA) started their deal on an 8.90 index or so, so they wouldn't be left out.

Back then it was the best drivers duking it out with no delay boxes or electronics to adjust their launch reaction times and et on the time slips. It was just a good 'ol fashioned drag race with a break out. NHRA saw the numbers of cars and started super gas on a 9.90 and super comp on an 8.90 index.

Then the electronics came and, according to the spectator I was talking to, it ruined the classes by dumbing down the drivers and making the classes boring to watch. Several people got involved in the conversation and most of them felt the electronics need to go from a spectator standpoint.

The people who undertsand how the electronics work think that a different batch of winners would come out on top if it were 100% a driver's race instead of a match race of delay boxes and electronics with cars launching off a chip and then taking a big dump at the 60' clocks.

I have no horse in the race so it really doesn't matter to me. All I know is I used to dial in 8.20's to 8.30's 30 years ago and when we got on our time slips all we got were et and speed, and no reaction time. At the finish line the driver did whatever they could do to run near his or her dial in. There were no electronic tweaks to do it for me. Made it a lot harder to win and a lot less predictable which created more interest in the racing. And in my opinion, a lot more fun to watch.

One reason I race the class I race now is because of what my dad said when I got my butt handed to me at a bracket one race at OCIR one night.

"Did you win?"

"No."

"What happened?"

"I went to quick."

"What?"

"I went to quick."

"How do you lose by going too quick in a race car? I thought that was the point...to go quick?"

"Got about an hour...I'll explain it to you."

"That's crazy."

True story.

Cheers!

RG

 

[Bob]

I'm glad to see Stock, Super Stock, Super Gas and Super Comp back on the schedule at every national event. I would like to see Comp (my favorite class) put back at every event.

As to the .90 classes being boring for spectators, I guess I was lucky in that at my very first drag race as a spectator, I was with a friend who was very knowledgeable about the sport. I wondered why the cars sorta stalled after leaving the line (and why cars in some other classes could lose when they crossed the finish line ahead of their competition). My friend explained all of the classes and the reasons behind fixed indexes and shoe polish dial-in racing. We went to the end of the spectator-side grandstands at Bandimere (close to the finish line) to watch those classes race. Seeing how tight those races were at the finish line made it real easy for me to appreciate those racers and the skills needed to win rounds in those classes.

Contrary to what some people might think. Sportsman class racing IS drag racing. It is much, MUCH more affordable than Pro drag racing. That means more people are actually racing, which means more tracks are still open and available to provide a venue for the sport. Also, the Sportsman classes supplement the Pro purses at national events. Without the Sportsman classes, there wouldn't be Pro racing, national events or drag strips in many places.

 

[Bill]

It's not "delay boxes" you're seemingly upset about, it's throttle stops. For example Top Dragster, Top Sportsman, Super Pro, etc. all use delay boxes, but not throttle stops. And just because you don't understand it, and/or don't like to watch it, is no reason to "dissolve" it.

For your reference, there are more racers in the "Super" Classes than in all the other classes of drag racing combined. About twice as many. So sure, let's kill the most popular forms of drag racing.

Thing being, it's only "popular" with the people who do it.

Fans for this sort of thing are hard to find.

 

[Bill]

It's not "drag racing!"

X2...

 

[clwill]

Thing being, it's only "popular" with the people who do it.

Fans for this sort of thing are hard to find.

What's your point? There are thousands of people who love to do it, they pay good money to do it. Let them do it. You don't have to watch.

 

[Bob]

It's not "drag racing!"

X2...

Belated Happy Birthday wishes my friend!

I was wondering what you'd call your own quarter-mile trips down a drag strip with someone in the other lane and a dial in on your window, if it's not "drag racing"?