For me personally, I just think it's time to move on. And when I say that, I don't necessarily mean to imply that "moving on" means get rid of the current Pro Stock class altogether. Like I said, if the class can support itself through sponsorship, fan interest and what I should've added earlier (enough brazillionaires) then let them. The class showcases a tremendous amount of innovation and savvy when you consider what they do.
FSS, like it or not, is the new Pro Stock, whether it's branded as such or not. I believe you move forward with this platform, brand it Pro Stock and usher in a new era. There will be many that will say that these guys, like the Pro Mod guys can't or won't run that many events, but that's okay! Giving the class Pro status doesn't necessarily mean they should just have to be a part of all the races by default. It's time to learn something. And what we've learned over the past year or two is more and more teams are citing the operational and travel costs as being the major factors in the balance sheet issues year-to-year. If that's the case, then cut back on the races..............for all classes. If that's what's needed to inject a little life and health back into the sport, then again, let's learn something and do it. But as for FSS, they need to be elevated to the highest status possible to not only give the manufacturers an arena to showcase their stuff, but to remain interested in our sport. Then, as has been discussed before, the onus will be on the NHRA to keep what has happened to the current Pro Stock platform from happening to FSS. KEEP them running factory combinations and bodies. KEEP them on a small tire. This class absolutely DOES NOT NEED to evolve to mid 6-second, 210 Mph machines to remain interesting. Especially on a small tire. They're never going to be "affordable" to run for the average joe, but there's no reason for them to evolve to a class where the aforementioned brazillioinaires are the select few able to run them. Especially if they're mandating the competitors run factory offered combinations, which literally change seemingly as much as one changes socks. There's certainly some middle ground in there somewhere.
Just my .02
Sean D
