New Mater big enough for Sportsman talk?? (1 Viewer)

[MoparBilly]

The Mater has always been about Nitro racers, and thier fans...and that's great, as I am a serious fan; but I'm also an NHRA Sportsman racer and fan as well...and I really hope the new board can encompass that as well.

I've been living on DRC all weekend, and the action on the Mountain has been great, but there's also 2 divisionals to watch as well, and there's plenty of interesting storylines coming out of Chicago and Virginia!!

Here's a few tidbits for the Maters that don't want to sift though all the info flowing out of DRC right now....

Comp Eliminator
Between the 3 Venues, 107 Comp cars are in service this weekend! Only 30 made the trek to Virginia, but following Jerrod's quality over quantity decree, the div1 field featured Frank Aragona, David Rampy, Lee Zane, Tony Stephenson, and Sal biondo...Ouch!! Rampy, Suprisingly went down to tire shake in round 1!
Bo Butner's Cavalier anchored the #1 Spot in Chi-town, running .61 under in Comps new AA/SM class.
Denver was awesome though, with Vinnie Deceglie's Vette running 6.97 on Snyder's Mountain while Tom could only muster a 12th best 7.06 in his infamous 23 T, in the struggle for A/A supremacy. The tables turned quickly in 1st round however, as Vinnie went red to a revived Todd Paterson, and Tom won the "Family Fued " with brother Lucky. What's up with B/AA's and Denver?? Lou Ficco Jr. led the charge as 6 Bad/ Altered Automatics made the 32 Car field.

Alcohol
With no alky cars in Denver, the Chicago fields were really stout, featuring 18 diggers, and 17 funnys, Virginia nearly matched the Funny Car field with 16, but had only 8 diggers.
The biggest suprise so far...#1 qualifier Frank Manzo went down in round 1 to a combination of tire shake and a hard running alternate!!

Stock/SuperStock
205 Stockers, and 142 SS cars are going for it this weekend, despite no SS on the Mountain...lot's of great run's already, but my imagination was captured by the the letter's DQ beside John Baughman's 68 Dart entry all weekend in Virginia, also the car was listed as SS/AA, as opposed to SS/AH??? So I'm wondering, was the car broke, and unable to make a run??, was it unable to pass tech?? What happened?? Enquiring minds want to know..I love that car!!

The Super Classes
These guys are just getting under way, but I'm happy to see my Phoenix buddies Tim Landis, and Sheldon Gecker are still in SG at Denver, as well as Dwight Downing, moving up from S/ST to battle the fast cars. My Dad and Brother have both made 4 time runs in Chi-Town and are ready for first round in the morning.

Hope ya don't find my ramblings too boring!!!

 

[topdigger]

Sportsman racing is the most important kind of racing out there IMO!Who do you think pays the bills?:..lol

 

[squid]

Thanks for the Info

 

[Larry]

Sportsman racing is what makes Drag Racing the largest grassroots automotive racing entity . I associate Drag Racing and classic muscle cars and street rods and customs in the same vein as they complement each other.
Larry 00 in another life !

 

[speedster]

i live on DRC also!
i try and follow all the tad and tafc stuff and comp and top comp i also like the stock super stock stuff too!
i used to be a huge fan of the .90 index classes too but just way way way too much delay box for me?

 

[scubasteve]

dude bring it , those guys in sportsman pits are hardcore racers , i hang with fuqua and the cummings , happy harrington etc etc those guys are the nicest , most down to earth people u will find. slate won milan last week and ran a 890 with a zero in last session at joliet , i think the heat index was 105. i love the pro classes as well ( i love drag racing period) but there a tons of great people/family in sportsman pits that just make drag racing that much better. glad to see palmer made it in be it on the bump or not at denver, gotta get the nitroplate gcc car some airtime , but dont look good with dougie first round , but u dont run them on paper so you never know . gotta see connie in them shorts again , connie is one cool mofo.

 

[StockersRock]

I know it's NITROmater.com and not SPORTSMANmater.com, but I wish there was a Sportsman section on the Mater. I love the Pro stuff too, don't get me wrong, but I'm a Sportsman guy all the way! For that stuff though, I've been lurking classracer.com lately.

 

[Demon]

I'm a sportsman guy too, I race brackets and am getting my car ready to run S/St in '07.No delay box for me though!!

 

[BlueStangGT]

I thought Butner's AA/SM was sidelined, I wonder if they still had his old entry info on file?

 

[Nitrohaulic]

I remember on the old mater when someone would post something sportsman related in the NHRA section and get complaints because it wasn't nitro. Since it's still drag racing, you shouldn't have to post it in the lounge. A sportsman section sounds like a good idea to me.

 

[d'kid]

Ron, I really don't look at the Alky classes as Sportsman, or ProMod. And I really can't hold an informed conversation about all the rest, stuff like delay boxes, 2-steps, 3-steps, dumping... just goes against everything I believe in.
but that's just me...

 

[Mr. Jean]

Gets my vote. What could it hurt, to give it a try? We tried the Nostalgia Forum and it seems to be doing alright.

 

[Nitrohaulic]

Ron, I really don't look at the Alky classes as Sportsman, or ProMod. And I really can't hold an informed conversation about all the rest, stuff like delay boxes, 2-steps, 3-steps, dumping... just goes against everything I believe in.
but that's just me...

Just like not everyone entered into a "pro" class makes their living at it during the week when they're not racing, as in it's not their source of income (touche', LOL). LOL, there's definitely some murky waters between "pro" and "sportsman" classes.

Of course, even as expensive as the top levels of sportsman are, who can you really say is making a full time living at it? Yeah, we have a hard time calling a several hundred thousand dollar a year racing operation a "hobby" but, that IS usually what it technically is, isn't it? I'll bet we have more racers in pro classes who could technically be called "sportsmen" than we have sportsman racers who we could correctly call "pro."

 

[d'kid]

Good point Ron Maybe just by lurking on sportsman treads, I could get "edumatcated" like why in the heck launch, then hit the throttle stop... but, I'm open minded for an old fart... just ask my kids...

 

[speedster]

karl i must be old too?
i didnt mind it a few years back when the cars would leave hard and some where down track delay for a .10th of a second or something but it has gotten (imho) crazy with these guys launch and then sit there for 1/2 a second and then run 185mph thru the clocks.
i guess thats why i like stock/superstock with the wheels up launch cause it feels like good old hardcore racing and not a computer game?
i went to a oldies but goodies drags a couple weeks ago and guess i got spoiled again? that was super fun and everyone was running HARD and on the edge and it was exciting ya got to love seeing cars running 7second passes hazing the tires thru the traps

 

[downtime]

I am a bracket racer. I am not certian this is the appropriate messgae board for sportsman stuff. Maybe it is? Maybe it isn't? I have no clue...

I think the answer is ultimately in the goals and objectives of the owners of this board. There is really no dispute that the backbone/feeder system/ minor leagues/ or whatever we choose to call it, is inherently mission critical to the success of drag racing inntrems of knowledge and skills. How that relates to this boards target audience, sponsors, core base of professionals and fans is an entirely different matter, in my opinion.

Sportsman racers, despite being the "minor leagues", are often just as professional and knowledgeable as the full time pros. Maybe even more so in some ways, taking into account the large number of vaiables affecting their exact performances...

I would simply suggest that the newness of Nitromater settle in before selecting avenues of potential expansion.

 

[Bob]

Wonder if anybody heard....

Did anyone hear why Neal Rhodes (#1 qualifier in his E/SA) was DQ'd after class elims? DRC just said he was DQ'd after teardown. He's won the Mile Highs twice, and he's a very good person. I'm about 1100 miles from Morrison this year, so I won't have a chance to ask him myself. Any info would be awesome.

Bob

 

[Joker]

I think we need a Sportsman section. I would post. I enjoy all drag racing and Sportsman especially since thats what we participate in.

 

[Jamie]

I thought Butner's AA/SM was sidelined, I wonder if they still had his old entry info on file?

They probably got the car updated to 25.1E or 25.2 specs.....

 

[Toejam]

I think we need a Sportsman section. I would post. I enjoy all drag racing and Sportsman especially since thats what we participate in.

Justin, Sportsman topics have been on here Many times! I think to many Sportsman racers assume that this is strictly a Pro site. I remember I started a thread about a SG Camaro that had a violent crash/Fire at Vegas a couple of years back. It got over 100 Posts, so there are More Sportsman racers who lurk than people think.