Ihra Pro Mod Racers And Fans Check Out This Letter ! (1 Viewer)

[Larry]

http://www.promodsource.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3910
Thanks Nick for posting the letter as its important to a segment of racing that is hurting
IMO ADRL has most of the answer but I can't remember If they pair off the Winner of both the NOS and the Blower cars for a winner take all final event.
Jason Scruggs showed us that a blown 406 SBC can run with the best and beat them .
The NOS cars are in a place where all the Kings Horses and all The Kings Men won't be able to field a competitive car or put Humpty back together again.
It can be salvaged right now before everyone quits or changes horses '
Larry 00 in another life!

 

[brian]

ADRL does not pair off the winners. Pro Extreme & Pro Nitrous are 2 totally seperate eliminators. The gap is just too wide in outlaw trim.

That unfortunately is becoming the case in IHRA as well. While I love the ADRL, splitting the classes is not the answer for IHRA in my opinion. The purity of Pro Mod needs to be maintained over there...

Good luck to Mike Baker in accomplishing that feat.

 

[Larry]

Just kicking around Ideas and in outlaw trim you are exactly right.
Charles is against rules costing megabucks for either side and thats understandable.
That King of the Pro Mods pairing reminds me of 2002 I think at Lone Star Raceway where the winner of the quicker Outlaw fuel Altereds [ Mitch King ] ran the winner of the Pro Mods [ Frankie Taylor ] in a one race for bragging rights tip the can anything goes match and Mitch was way ahead of a napping Frankie at half track but Frankie woke up seeing Mitch's smoke and then Mitch got loose and had to lift and Frankie risking his paint shot by him for the win!
With all the racing that night the Pro Mod's and the Outlaw Fuel Altereds that final race is stuck in the old memory box as well as the exicement of the crowd.
I forgot to check with Teddy Bear Productions to see if they had that on video.

 

[brian]

I agree with you, ideas need to be thrown out there. I don't know what the solution is. I've heard lots of stuff, splitting qualifying only to insure 8 blown vs. 8 nos... Stuff like that... It's a tough situation...

 

[Zak]

How Far Off Are We?

With all due respect to Mr. Carpenter and those that know a hell of a lot more that me when it comes to racing - I wanted to offer this little bit of research I did.

Through 5 IHRA races blower cars hold a slight advantage, but I'm not sure it justifies some big over-haul.

Consider this:

5 races X 16 qualifying positions = 80 spots for eliminations.

Blower cars have held 47 of the 80 spots - 58.75%

Of the top 10 in points through 5 races - 7 are blower cars (70%)

So, based on those simple stats, blower cars have a slight advantage qualifying and a little better advantage on race day...

Can we ever expect a 50-50 split? In a perfect world it would never happen.

I think the more frustrating part for the Nitrous guys is that there are suddenly more blower cars with the cleaner IHRA - NHRA schedule and rules.

I didn't count up the number of Blower cars entered in the race - but it did seem that there were a higher number - which could also account for the better percentage in qualifying and points - just by sheer numbers...

 

[Mike]

Mr. Walczak,

I just double-checked your stats, and came up with these numbers:

Blower cars hold 8 out of the top 10 spots in the points = 80%

The only nitrous cars in the top 10 are Jim Halsey at #7 and Mike Castellana at #10.

Out of the 80 eliminations spots, blower cars have held 59 of them, not 47. That brings the percentage up to 74%.

The vast majority of those eliminations spots held by the blower cars are in the top half of the field.

If you used Drag Race Central as your source, I am willing to bet that a lot of your miscalculation came from the fact that they sometimes don't label the cars as a blower or nitrous car correctly.

 

[Zak]

Mr. Walczak,

I just double-checked your stats, and came up with these numbers:

Blower cars hold 8 out of the top 10 spots in the points = 80%

The only nitrous cars in the top 10 are Jim Halsey at #7 and Mike Castellana at #10.

Out of the 80 eliminations spots, blower cars have held 59 of them, not 47. That brings the percentage up to 74%.

The vast majority of those eliminations spots held by the blower cars are in the top half of the field.

If you used Drag Race Central as your source, I am willing to bet that a lot of your miscalculation came from the fact that they sometimes don't label the cars as a blower or nitrous car correctly.

Mike:

If your numbers are correct - I apologize. I did NOT intended to give out false info. My research was from IHRA.com "Live Results" which list Blower cars with an *.

I did find that Rowe was listed as a Nitrous car in San Antonio - so, i did correct my numbers for that instance. I did not double check the rest.

The only other stat in my mind would be to compare the percentage of blower cars attempting to quailify VS nitrous.

Your points were all well taken by the way. I was just trying to look at it from a statistical standpoint and it would appear that even the numbers I attempted would support your cause.

 

[Larry]

Not to forget the blower cars have more of everything to spare percent wise .
They are not being taxed too high yet !
Charles says NOS is paying a high percentage to the Aluminum Gods due to parts breakage from taxing engine components past what the underfunded racer can stand . That adds to the switching to blower effect or just getting out.
There are limits and NOS is close to it.
Then there are those terrible turbo's who deserve a spot and have to be reckoned with.
Hair dryers are becoming quite popular too.

 

[4g63rwd]

Thanks for noticing...................

Not to forget the blower cars have more of everything to spare percent wise .
They are not being taxed too high yet !
Charles says NOS is paying a high percentage to the Aluminum Gods due to parts breakage from taxing engine components past what the underfunded racer can stand . That adds to the switching to blower effect or just getting out.
There are limits and NOS is close to it.
Then there are those terrible turbo's who deserve a spot and have to be reckoned with.
Hair dryers are becoming quite popular too.

Thanks for noticing!!

 

[TD]

IHRA Pro Mod Rules

This is a really charged issue right now for both sides. As a N2O crew guy, I wish we could find another tenth or so to bring us up to the blown cars level without torching some aluminum. I'm sure it's out there, but we just don't know where yet. The IHRA seems to be leaning toward slowing the blown cars down, but I think that's a terrible solution, it stirs up a lot of hard feelings and is gonna cost somebody a bunch of money.
Right now the ADRL has the best thing going on. No rules except for safety and split classes so the blown cars compete against each other and the N2O cars against each other. It's exciting as hell too, 3.80's and .90's from the blown cars and side by side 4.0's and teens from the N2O cars and Kenny always has top-notch cars there. The fans can watch Friday's test and tune and Friday night qualifying for ten bucks and they love it!
Still, it's kinda sad that it's come to this, 'cause I think there's room under the Pro Mod banner for all the cars, but some are gonna be left out because of the rule changes or non-changes in the other sanctioning bodies. Somebody's gonna lose either way. It's a tough call and I'm glad I don't have to make it!

 

[brian]

I totally agree with Terry's statement. While I love the ADRL format, in fact that is my favorite series right now, I believe that IHRA is where the purity of pro mod began & where it should be maintained. How to accomplish that task is the $64,000 question...

Shannon Jenkins & other nos racers are meeting with IHRA officials this weekend at Toronto, we'll see how things shake out...

 

[ihradotcom]

Re: Adrl

I'm not trying to be smart here but does ADRL sell any tickets?

I know you pro mod guys love it...1/8th mile and splitting the classes up, but how are the events fanwise?

I'm trying to look at the bigger picture here. Why would fans want 2 pro mod classes?

Jeff

 

[brian]

I'm not trying to be smart here but does ADRL sell any tickets?

I know you pro mod guys love it...1/8th mile and splitting the classes up, but how are the events fanwise?

I'm trying to look at the bigger picture here. Why would fans want 2 pro mod classes?

Jeff

Decent... Tickets sales are usually really good at the smaller outlaw tracks, not so much at the bigger venues.

A couple things you have to keep in mind about the ADRL, it outlaw, & its 1/8 mile, which makes it very difficult for nos cars to be competitive. Thus the 2 classes is great. You get to see on average about 30-35 blown cars throwin down 4.00's & 3.90's... Then when you think it over, you get to see on average 20-25 nos cars throwin down 4.10's & 4.00's...

So if you are a fan of either class, you leave happy. I happen to love both combos & it make for a great day of racing. And you get to see an occasional Jason Scruggs 3.83 @ 197 moonshot!!

As Terry said, the events are a bargain. You can get a 2 day pass for 30 bucks, you get to see about 6 hours of testing & a nighttime qualifying session on Friday, then a jam packed 2 qualifying session & 16 car eliminations day on Saturday with 50-70 cars...

Another thing is, ADRL is born on outlaw roots, thus it needs to keep some races at the small tracks, while looking to expand it geographical reach & fanbase. Look for big things from the ADRL next year....

But again, having said all that, that is not a solution for IHRA...

 

[Mike]

Mike:

If your numbers are correct - I apologize. I did NOT intended to give out false info. My research was from IHRA.com "Live Results" which list Blower cars with an *.

I did find that Rowe was listed as a Nitrous car in San Antonio - so, i did correct my numbers for that instance. I did not double check the rest.

The only other stat in my mind would be to compare the percentage of blower cars attempting to quailify VS nitrous.

Your points were all well taken by the way. I was just trying to look at it from a statistical standpoint and it would appear that even the numbers I attempted would support your cause.

No problem. I appreciate your interest in the issue. As far as comparing the amount of blower cars and nitrous cars attending each race, I compiled an extensive list of stats and facts that can be found here.

 

[Zak]

No problem. I appreciate your interest in the issue. As far as comparing the amount of blower cars and nitrous cars attending each race, I compiled an extensive list of stats and facts that can be found here.

Great stats -

You listed 2005 averages:
• Average blower qualifying ET in 2005- 6.338

• Average nitrous qualifying ET in 2005- 6.340 2 thousandths separation

Did you have numbers for 2006?

 

[Mike]

I did, I guess I forgot to put it in there. The separation was about 3-4 hundredths this year. This number seeming so close is deceptive: it compares only qualified cars, which at most of the races this year spots 17-22 or so have been nitrous cars. Point being, the average for this year is comparing the average of about 12 or 13 blower cars versus the average of about 3 or 4 nitrous cars cars, which in my eyes is not a fair comparison.

 

[Joker]

I will say this about the ADRL. I went to Houston this year, first time I have ever went to one of there events, and all I can say is I wish they had 2 a year. I really enjoyed myself. The place was packed. Now with that being said, HMP isint the biggest piece of earth there is, but it was still packed. I thought they put on a heII of a show. Its well worth the admission. Ofcourse, after Funny car, Pro mod is my next favorite class. As for the 2 classes, I like them being seperated. If the ADRL could get some big time $$$ sponsors, I dont think anyone would run the IHRA races unless they just couldnt win in the ADRL or just wanted to take easy money from the lowly guys running IHRA anymore.

 

[Deby]

ADRL will be in Kennedale, TX this fall...hope you can make to that event, Justin. It's not a very big place either...but they sure put on one heck of a show there....I was at the event last year, and the one in Houston this spring...great shows both...

Even though I have come to love ADRL...I don't think seperating the class is what the IHRA fans want to see. I know I don't. I can't even begin to fathom what the answer to this is...I just hope that it can be worked out so that there is at least a happy medium for the racers and the fans.