Thread: NHRA points system

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Originally Posted by Geezer2

Unfortunately, while the new rules and the way the game is played may not be fun for everyone.......something had to be done if the sport is to continue to grow.

I have heard this argument a thousand times ......... and I'm sorry, I don't buy it ............ I don't think the sport has really grown ............. when I went to Indy in '69 there were 57 top fuel teams competing for 32 positions ......... now you have less than two dozen teams in the country ............. 868 stock cars were at Indy in '69 .......... today you're lucky if you can get 200 ............ all across the boards the number of cars competing is down (with the exception of the new import classes) ............. the number of drag strips in this country continues to decline ............. IMO the sport has not grown ......... only become more "respectable", commercialized, and televised

Originally Posted by Geezer2

Of course it's about $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$, isn't evrything?

Yes it is, in all sports ........... that's what is wrong with "sports" today ......... and that's why we have so many sports related problems and attitudes

Originally Posted by Geezer2

If you're like me, unfortunately no matter how slanted things get...you still love the sport.

Yes, I do too ................ but I'm really sad to see what has happened to it .......... I'm a firm believer in Don Ewald's classic statement ...... "We did it for love"

Originally Posted by Geezer2

Hell, I can't leave a stoplight without being the first to move on the green!!!

I'm with you there 100% ............ we may have to grow old, but we can refuse to grow up

Originally Posted by Geezer2

Hell, I can't leave a stoplight without being the first to move on the green!!!

me either

All good stuff Jerry, but it all went away when the big bucks came into racing. So many considerations for sponsors, etc. A sponsor doesn't want his car out of the points chase with 5 shows left.... Sure, it's a sell out. Unfortunately it's all about money these days.

Friend of mine was up for lunch today, talk around the table was "the good old days" when a couple of regular guys with decent jobs could build a car and be competitive.... Not so anymore... We were talking about sprint cars, but the same holds true for drag racing. If you wanna race big time, you have to have sponsors---if you have sponsors, you have to make concessions to them. Same is true with NHRA having to cater to the sponsors. Keeping them all happy, and running a program that is at least half fair to the competitors is a thankless and impossible job.....

the other fun thing was to see someone jump when they picked up something heavy ( Very hot )

I think the catering to the multimillion dollar sponsers has went over the edge and it is impossible not to have conflicts( team orders?????)
Nascar has a better grip on the sponsership thingy.

How about Torco??? ON how many cars??

we felt lucky to get tires and oil for the tow truck---now Shoe has more rigs than Werner freight lines

Jerry

I also dont see the good in four car teams as far as the sport is concerned. When one team can cover 25% of the starting field that cant be good especially for the scrapper teams.

Originally Posted by Mike in Motown

I also dont see the good in four car teams as far as the sport is concerned. When one team can cover 25% of the starting field that cant be good especially for the scrapper teams.

Again, it would depend on which team you're on, the well sponsored or the not so well sponsored.... How or why would you want to put the brakes on Schumaker, Force, or Prudhomme teams after they have accomplished so much in drag racing and without a doubt paid their dues along the way???? They've earned every advantage that the multi-car teams give them.... But at the same time the amount of data they can obtain from their multiple cars puts the single car teams at a distinct disadvantage.... But do you penalize the guys who are good when all they're trying to do is get better? That's not really fair, either.... No easy solution, but for sure the little guy is being pushed farther and farther away from becoming a major player in the Pro ranks... or maybe that's why they're called the pro ranks? The best teams attract the biggest money and get better. Isn't that what competition is all about, trying to get better regardless of what level of performance you're at now????

Really tough decisions coming, glad they're not mine to make!!!!!!!

The point at which I gave up "the dream" of being a pro racer, was when I realized that 2-3 motivated guys were no longer enough to field a pro car. That would have been in the early seventies. I am glad that I had another "passion" to follow, but I am still sad about the decision that I was not going to be able to race those fabulous cars. (That's why you have never heard of me.) LOL! :-)

Today, I am also disenchanted with "cookie cutter" racecars. I miss the competition between different brand engines, and bodies. I don't like cars that look like a bottle or box of product, and I could list a few more gripes.

The one thing that has kept me interested at all, is the fact that television coverage has helped us come to know the competitors. I love to see the underdog win, and I literally cheer when certain spoiled, whiney, and egotistic personalities get "skunked".

I know that nothing ever stays the same, and I truely am happy that the sport I fell in love with is doing quite well...even if it is becoming inhabited by 4 cylinders with nitrous and a hairdryer. (Buddy Ingersoll is smiling somewhere.) :-)

i`m anti gm in any motor sport .. the only thing that perks any interest in pro stock drag racing is what little success dodge has now and then.. now ihra is a dif matter but it`s never on the tube .. ahhh .. the bob glidden era .. perhaps a spending cap on teams .. 3 million per year -per team ..

Originally Posted by HOSS429

perhaps a spending cap on teams .. 3 million per year -per team ..

I can't agree with you there Hoss, the classes are called PRO for a reason. They are the top of the heap. One of the great things about drag racing is there are levels you can be competitive in at any budget level.

Pat

this is drag racing, not nascar , i really do not like the new points system, it is unfair , the points are built up over the whole season, so if a team has the championship locked up with 5 races to go ....... well that team was very good that year , i know they want to find a better system, look at the big picture, this is drag racing and the whole season should be counted for all because we all know anything can happen at any time ....... be safe all ....

It sure is something when the points battles are sorted out within a team--

I'm sorry ---team sports need a ball

Drag cars have one seat for a reason

I n a true race everybody runs to the end

It'll be interesting without Torco this year

I would agree to 4 car teams if they ran 8 at a time

Jerry