yes they should open it to everyone and run sportsman qualifing on wednesday and one or to rounds thrusday the rest on friday and saturday finals on sunday. would up car count and bring in more money hopefully.
John,
I have to chime in on your post. As an avid D1 sportsman racer I read the rules set forth by NHRA. They require me to have a certain number of races under my belt before I can run i nthe BIG SHOW! I took a whole season and travelled, spending thousands of dollars and accumulating said grade points. A lot of blood, sweat and tears go into these points and they shouldn't be taken lightly or misunderstood. As it is now, most NHRA events start parking on Wednesday, 2 TT's on Thursday, RD1 Fri, Rd's 2&3 Saturday Night and finals on Sunday night. That is a LONG time to be at the track and quite frankly, most people cannot do it unless they are independantly wealthy or their respective situation allows it.
Sportsman racers earn their right to compete at National Events, however in a case like Kurt Busch, I agree with the proponents on this one, however I believe they should simply add an entry for S/G. So if they were capped at 80, make it 81 to allow him in. This way, a deserving SG racer won't be shut out.