Why Limit Pros to 16 ?? (3 Viewers)

[Shaggy]

Eric, which of the less funded teams are out of test days? I think all that would do is give the big teams that can afford to test, more of an advantage. There are a few of the big teams testing here in Commerce Ga this morning, but right now it is raining. There are about 4 smaller budget teams still on the property and none of them are testing, and it is not because of the lack of test days, it's because of the lack of money.

I wasnt saying anyone is out of test days. But being limited on them, makes the team make a decision on when and where they use them. I have a problem with these guys having to use test days to race IHRA or even a match race to make a little extra money. And like Paul said, its FREE ADVERTISING. The higher budget teams are gonna do what they have to (build extra cars, hire drivers) if they run out of test days. Lower budget teams just have to deal with it.

 

[clwill]

yeah but when you go through the rounds and you suddenly end up with 3 cars what are you going to do have one car run a single and the others duke it out then the winner and the single car run for the final? Yes bye runs are a part of drag racing but thats a really odd setup doing it that way. The amount of people you would have crying foul over one car getting a single.

Bye runs are generally for breakage or if someone couldn't return for the round or got shutoff.

Wow, that's some silly stuff right there. Non-power of two numbers have been around forever, and happen every weekend at every track around the country.

I'm not sure I've BEEN to a race in the last five years that magically had a power of two (8, 16, 32, 64, ...) number of cars. In fact the NHRA limits many of the sportsman fields at national events to all kinds of unusual numbers such as 80, 100, 75, etc. It's about space, time, etc., not bye runs. In fact, racing for the bye next round adds a little extra pressure and interest to a round.

 

[Bigfishtools dot com]

They get to see all the cars make two runs Friday ands Saturday now, don't they? Then the best 16 come back and run on Sunday. If you weren't fast enough to make the field what makes you think they would upset somebody anyway.

What's next? All the baseball teams make the playoffs? How about everybody gets a trophy?

You earn your spot in the starting field. If you're not good enough to do that you don't race on Sunday.

And one more thing, if everybody gets to race on Sunday, the lower budget teams wouldn't run Friday and Saturday at all. Why waste the time and money making the runs if you don't have to qualify? That wouldn't make much of a show.

Alan

Alan,

Are you a sponsor on this site also? Getting to post in that big red font.

 

[Mooseman]

Wow, that's some silly stuff right there. Non-power of two numbers have been around forever, and happen every weekend at every track around the country.

I'm not sure I've BEEN to a race in the last five years that magically had a power of two (8, 16, 32, 64, ...) number of cars. In fact the NHRA limits many of the sportsman fields at national events to all kinds of unusual numbers such as 80, 100, 75, etc. It's about space, time, etc., not bye runs. In fact, racing for the bye next round adds a little extra pressure and interest to a round.

I was worried I would sound crazy as I really wasn't sure how to explain it. I just meant that no matter how many cars you have, you still have to have 2 for the final.

 

[Huge]

I wasnt saying anyone is out of test days. But being limited on them, makes the team make a decision on when and where they use them. I have a problem with these guys having to use test days to race IHRA or even a match race to make a little extra money. And like Paul said, its FREE ADVERTISING. The higher budget teams are gonna do what they have to (build extra cars, hire drivers) if they run out of test days. Lower budget teams just have to deal with it.

I understand and agree with what you are saying. The only point I was trying to make is that most of the small teams don't test due to lack of funds anyway and that the testing rule probably helps them more then it hurts them. But like I said in post 40, I do not have a problem with unlimited testing. They added 2 more days this year, so maybe next year they will add some more. I enjoy watching cars test on Mondays. I can sit anywhere I want, no one blocks my view, and it's free. The only downside is that the Traxxas girls have all left the property.

 

[none]

If you think that match racing has dried up because of testing restrictions you are WAY out of touch.

The two biggest factors are time and money. The guys are on the road enough as it is. And they try to get home between races as often as they can sometimes even for just one day if there are events back to back. Why do you think so many of them built shops in Indy? Except for the Pomona races and the western swing, you are never more than a day's drive from the shop.

Then there's the cost. Back in the day it didn't cost near as much to run the cars as it does now. They didn't tear them all the way down, in many cases it was drop the pan, check the bearings, do a leakdown and send it again. If you want to go way back they didn't even do that much. You could book a guy to make three runs for 3K and an extra grand for the winner. Today that 3K would barely cover the diesel fuel and hotel room for a big team. Add the cost of running the car and I wouldn't think most would even look at it for less than 10 grand. If you booked four cars for a Chicago style event how many tickets would you have to sell just to break even? If somebody like Terry Haddock or Dale Creasy wanted to match race they would face no penalty as they aren't running the NHRA for points so why don't they match race every week? Because the opportunity isn't there.

Who besides Bill Bader even tries to book in FC match races anymore? And he makes it work by selling more tickets than most smaller tracks could dream of selling.

Anybody besides me remember when Evan Knoll offered to put up $100,000.00 to book a match race between his IHRA Champion (Millican) and ours (Dixon) And Snake said it wasn't worth it. Or the race where they offer the big money (I think that was 100 grand too) and none of the NHRA cars showed up?

I don't think there's an owner out there that is upset about the testing restriction, if I'm wrong then I'm sure Don will correct me. The only thing I have heard is that some of the teams would like it to be a certain number of runs instead of a number of days. If you have a new car and just want to make a couple of half track squirts you have to use a test day. And they would rather just count the runs.

Alan

P.S. Does IHRA even have a FC class anymore?

 

[Nunz]

Alan I believe the IHRA runs Nostalgia FCs, they call it Prostalgia. And, they run some AA/FAs. Entirely different kind of show, but they seem to be pulling great crowds. Which is good, I'd like every drag racing venue to be successful.

 

[my friends call me Zappy]

[
Who besides Bill Bader even tries to book in FC match races anymore?

Alan



the World Series of dragracing at Cordova, is one track that comes to mind.
I respectfully disagree, I think the teams would gladly race 50 weekends a year if they could. But faced with the loss of points, the teams going for the championship are almost forced to test the Monday after, and who sees that, nobody.

If on the other hand there was no testing restriction, then the big-name teams could book in at tracks close to home. 1) it would keep costs lower, and 2) it would expose potential new fans.

 

[Lisa]

the World Series of dragracing at Cordova, is one track that comes to mind.
I respectfully disagree, I think the teams would gladly race 50 weekends a year if they could. But faced with the loss of points, the teams going for the championship are almost forced to test the Monday after, and who sees that, nobody.

If on the other hand there was no testing restriction, then the big-name teams could book in at tracks close to home. 1) it would keep costs lower, and 2) it would expose potential new fans.

And I must respectfully disagree. My husband works on a fuel car and I can say with 100% confidence that he would NOT want to race 50 weekends a year. And I am sure at least 80% of the teams would feel that way. These guys love racing but they also love their families as well....and getting to sleep in their own beds every once in a while.

 

[clwill]

I was worried I would sound crazy as I really wasn't sure how to explain it. I just meant that no matter how many cars you have, you still have to have 2 for the final.

And you always do. If you have 3 in the semis, you have one bye making for two in the finals. Again they've been doing this for decades, you can make an interesting race from any number greater than one

 

[Shaggy]

Lets see, Cordova, Eddyville, Cedar Falls just to name a few tracks that still try and book Big Show Funny Cars. I mentioned IHRA being a place to race for the guys, but never once said it was for Funny Cars. IHRA does still book in Top Fuelers at some races.

Oh and I know of more than a few teams that have turned down match race dates because they had to use a test date to do it. Then you have a couple others that specifically put certain match races on the schedule in leiu of a test day or two. (World Series, Norwalk)

You were right however in saying that the costs are the biggest factor in not having many match races. Most tracks cant afford to book in Big Show cars. Thats why the Nostalgia cars are doing so good with match races.

 

[z28]

This question came up inside another thread. There were good points made both for and against, so I thought I would give it its own thread so more would see it and give their opinion. ( Perhaps a Mod would start a poll.)

The question is: Should we limit Pro classes to only 16, or let ALL run??

In the interest of growing the sport I'ld like to see them let ALL run. We would see new faces/cars, and sponsors. Also it would open the door for up-sets.

What say you gang??

they run 16 cause they can't find 32 competitive cars. they make them run on friday and saturday to qualify so they can increase the gate. If you did not have to qualify Friday and Saturday wouldn't mean much of anything

 

[Dragracer]

If what you are looking for is a good show why not go back to a rule that both the AHRA & UDRA used to use. It was called the 'BREAK RULE". If the car that won the race broke and couldn't make the next round then the car that lost would take it's place and go onto the next round. That rule made sure that every race had two cars and there were no bye runs.

 

[my friends call me Zappy]

Sure it does, when we only have 16 or less, most evetry car runs all 4 Q's.