If the idea of a delay box doesn’t sit well with you, I understand that. There are hundreds of S/Stock and Comp racers that just race in class. They do not really dedicate themselves to winning; they are just interested in building the fastest and quickest car they can under the rules of the class they choose. Can you say SS/AH! That isn’t a bad thing, it is just their choice to have the car, build it the best they can and run a class they enjoy. The problem is there just aren’t many of those guys left and as a result the consistent winners in Stock, Super Stock and even Comp has been reduced to a small handful of traveling professional sportsman racers.
Now that the “professional sportsman” term is on the table I will make it my last subject for this article. The racers who are making a living racing in the sportsman classes are great racers, no doubt about it. They are dedicated, but racing isn’t their hobby it is their job. Personally, I think those racers are destroying what the sportsman classes were supposed to be. By dragging in $400,000 worth of equipment to a national event in their semi’s with multiple cars and spares inside they look and act like they should be in the pro pits not the sportsman pits, and I think they are preying on the sportsman hobby racer who is still trying to enjoy the sport he is so dedicated to.
There is one rule change that would end the problem of the touring professional sportsman racer: One driver/one class. No driver would be allowed to enter more than one sportsman class at any NHRA divisional or national event. If these guys didn’t have two, three or even four chances to bring home the prize money at every event I think they would stay closer to home, like the one-car teams they beating up on.
I don’t have personal vendettas against these teams. They have found a way to take one or two trailer loads of cars to an event, like an NHRA national event, run a six- or seven-round race and pocket $15,000 to $20,000 after contingencies. They are good at what they do, they prepare professionally, they have the best equipment and most of all they are SMART.
With multiple-car teams you get a lot of information that, if you are smart, will help all of your cars. They get more seat time -- invaluable in winning close races -- and most of all they get multiple opportunities to secure a win. I feel these teams are succeeding at the expense of the true sportsman racer with his one S/Stock, S/Gas or S/Comp car. Can the little guy win? Sure. Can he consistently beat the professional sportsman team? I doubt it. If you look back over the last five years in the national points and winner circle photos of NHRA and IHRA national events, there are a lot of familiar names. How many events did those guys win when they only brought one car?
I hope NHRA and IHRA consider a few rules changes to preserve and help sportsman racing continue to be the grassroots of the sport. How many memberships do the professional sportsman racers buy? How many do the one-car race team owners buy? Here are some of my suggestions to put the sport back in NHRA sportsman racing:
-
Fix the delay device problem in S/Stock and Comp. (They have a great start on that with their poll, kudos to them!)
-
Limit sportsman racers to driving in only one class at divisional and national events. (They can bring additional cars but they need a driver for each one.)
-
Take Stock Eliminator back to where is should be, Stock. No 2-steps, no buttons, footbrake it and see who does it the best. Trash the wheelie bars too; if they run that fast find a class in S/Stock for them.
-
Have class eliminations at EVERY national event. Let the guys who bust their ass on the details get a Wally for their efforts.
-
When two cars in the same class meet in eliminations, just use their dial-in as long as it is below the Index. Example: Why give a certain G/SA combination a .4 of a second advantage just because he found an under-rated engine H.P. combination? Let them run class heads-up but NOT in eliminations; let’s see which one of them can drive.
-
S/Stock: Get rid of the cars with the funky Comp Eliminator hood scoops, sheet metal intakes and 90% tube chassis. Put them in Comp; that’s where they belong. Look no further that the SS/AH cars to see what fans love about S/Stock. They want them to look like STOCK cars.
-
To NHRA/IHRA: Get some racers involved in your rules making and interpretation so you don’t get “behind” again. Tech inspections should happen at random in the staging lanes. Pull the car over, push the trans brake button in, and there had better be NO DELAY between your finger and the click of the solenoid. Plug an MSD tester into Digital 7 ignitions; make sure it isn’t the 7531 with slew-rate control. Do it randomly, shock a few people and they will become self-policing.
-
Do the one class/one driver for all sportsman classes. Do you really need semi trucks and trailers bringing in sportsman cars?
I know I have probably ruffled a few feathers, but I feel the sport is one that everyone can enjoy. I don’t mean to pick on the “super teams” in sportsman classes but then again, they need to be picked on. Let’s keep the sportsman classes for the sportsman and not just the wealthy sportsman racers.
This is just one racer’s opinion, if you have a different one please let us know. You are always welcome to send you thoughts to DRO’s mailbag or to me personally.
