2007 Ihra Rules

**FROM IHRA.COM**

2007 IHRA COMPETITION AND PROCEDURAL UPDATES

The information below is an overview of the major changes in the class requirements and competition standards in the 2007 IHRA rulebook.

All Professional Classes and Jet Exhibition Vehicles
HEAD AND NECK RESTRAINT: SFI 38.1 mandatory.

TOP FUEL
Delete all references to non Supercharged combinations. Injected nitro combinations will not be included in the Top Fuel program in 2007.

NITRO FUNNY CAR
FIREWALL / DASH: Metal unit shielding the driver compartment mandatory. It must form a seal between the frame rails and rear motorplate or clutch cover and extend beyond the base of the steering wheel.

PRO MODIFIED
BODY: All body, front end and wing designs must be accepted by IHRA prior to competition.

WEIGHT MINIMUMS:
Nitrous Oxide Entries: 2,425 lbs. Supercharged Entries: 2,700 lbs.
Accepted Nostalgia body styles may deduct 25 lbs. from minimum weight. Example: ‘53 Studebaker, ’55 or ‘57 Chevy and Buick. ‘38 Chevy and ‘41 Willys may deduct 50 lbs. from minimum weight.
Late model entries add 25 lbs. to minimum weight. Example: Cavalier, Cobalt, Stratus, GTO, Mustang, etc.

CUBIC INCH LIMIT: Nitrous Oxide Entries – If 5-inch bore center combination is utilized then the cubic inch maximum is 820 cid OR if larger than 5-inch bore center combination is selected then the cubic inch maximum is 800 cid.

BELLYPAN: Permitted. Must extend beyond leading edge of engine and accessories and incorporate a 1-inch lip on the front edge of all units.

REAR-END RATIO: Supercharged Entries: 4.30 to 1 rear end ratio (final drive) maximum.

SUPERCHARGER CASE: OEM manufacturer’s case mandatory. Billet cases prohibited. The top opening may not be exceed ten (10) inches in length.

ELECTRONICS / DATA ACQUISITION: No sensors may be used to monitor track position, track or tire temperature or ride height other than shock travel. Sensors are prohibited from use on wheels or wheelie bars or on any other moving part other than the drive shaft.

STARTING LINE CONTROL DEVICES: Electronic Starting line RPM limiters (2-step) are prohibited on supercharged entries.

ALCOHOL FUNNY CAR
IGNITION: MSD 8971 and 8973 permitted.

ELECTRONICS / DATA ACQUISITION: No sensors may be used to monitor track position, track or tire temperature or ride height other than shock travel. Sensors are prohibited from use on wheels or wheelie bars or on any other moving part other than the drive shaft.

PRO STOCK
BELLYPAN: Permitted. Must extend beyond leading edge of engine and accessories and incorporate a 1-inch lip on the front edge of all units.

ELECTRONICS / DATA ACQUISITION: No sensors may be used to monitor track position, track or tire temperature or ride height other than shock travel. Sensors are prohibited from use on wheels or wheelie bars or on any other moving part other than the drive shaft.

TRANSMISSION: All pneumatic shifter lines act independently and not a result of or activate other air or electric systems on the entry.

TOP SPORTSMAN
Medical physical records mandatory (effective 1/1/07)

TOP DRAGSTER
Medical physical records mandatory (effective 1/1/07)

GENERAL RACE REGULATION: 2007 CHANGES

In an ongoing effort to review and refine policy for all IHRA National, Pro-Am and Team Finals events, the following changes to the General Race Regulations will be made for the 2007 season:

Alternates – If an alternate is seeded into the ladder in place of a qualified car, the alternate will have the ability to win the first round money (no points) if he wins the round. Should the alternate lose first round, the first round money will go to the qualified car that was unable to race. The qualified car will continue to receive first round points.

Antifreeze – The use of antifreeze is prohibited in all classes participating at a National, Pro-Am or Team Finals event.

National Event Insurance Surcharge – Both “on-track” incidents and pit vehicle related accidents/fatalities have driven the cost of national event insurance up over 50% in the last three years and 80% over the last 6 years. Several years ago an insurance surcharge became the industry standard at NHRA national events to combat this problem, while IHRA events remained unchanged during that same time period. During the last several years, IHRA has invested in an on-site motorsports trauma doctor, additional track rescue personnel, as well as additional firefighting equipment. This has been an ongoing effort to help reduce the risk associated with competing at a national event and enhance IHRA’s ability to respond to major incidents. While the service level has dramatically improved, all of these items, in conjunction with the increase in national event incidents, have driven the costs to a level that cannot be maintained.

IHRA must now adopt the insurance surcharge in an effort to keep the coverage and associated staff in place at the current levels. A $40 insurance surcharge will be paid in addition to the national event entry fee for any person competing in any class at an IHRA national event. This surcharge will not apply to Pro-Am or Team Finals events.

In addition, IHRA member tracks will increase their efforts to help reduce risk and major incidents by a new requirement mandating enhanced fire/rescue equipment and SFI-certified personnel at IHRA member track weekly points races and Pro-Am events. The implementation date for these enhancements will be mid-2007.

This national event insurance surcharge will also enable IHRA to cover the gap that exists in most competitor’s primary health care coverage and the excess medical coverage where it relates to paying the cost of air transportation. The cost of air transportation is not covered on most primary insurance policies and is not covered on the excess policy. This charge has been $6,000 to $7,000 when IHRA racers have had to have this method of transportation used. Beginning in 2007, should a competitor be involved in an “on-track” incident that requires they be air-lifted to the hospital, the basic air transportation expense will be covered by the event where the incident occurs if this fee is not covered by a competitor’s primary insurance. This will only apply to competitors (not crew) when the incident happens as the result of qualifying/competition on the track.

Pit Vehicles – To help reduce the incident risk and subsequent insurance claim, the practice of not allowing pit vehicles that enter the event in separate trailers or in other trucks (currently not permitted) will be enforced vigorously in 2007. The requirement of displaying vehicle competition number and class on pit vehicles (an existing rule) will also be vigorously enforced in 2007. Golf carts , ATVs and pit bikes not specifically designed to carry more than two people will not be permitted to transport more than two people. A crewmember failing to comply with the pit vehicle rules may result in the competitor being disqualified from the event. All IHRA and host track Officials will be permitted to enforce this rule. The Pit Vehicle policy will be continually reviewed by both IHRA and the National Event Track Operators and further action or rules may be put in place to control the abuse of the pit vehicle privilege.

National Event Bonus Points For Sportsman Classes – To help reduce the amount of travel expense and time off of work for sportsman competitors, the practice of awarding bonus points for entering six (6) national events will be eliminated. This will eliminate the possibility of a strong national score being knocked out of contention at the end of the season simply because a competitor was unable to afford to spend money traveling to additional races for the bonus points.

National Event Sportsman Claims – In an effort to reduce sportsman travel and time off, the amount of National event “World Championship” claims for sportsman will be reduced by one event to now score the best three (3) finishes of the first six (6) national events attended.

Pro-Am Points System – The 2007 Pro-Am points system has been adjusted to reward those racers winning rounds at Pro-Am events at a greater rate than at National events. In addition to gaining extra points for winning in your “home” division, each round won at the Pro-Am level will be worth ten (10) additional points compared to a National event and will now score the best five (5) of first eight (8) Pro-Am events attended.

Night Of Fire “Clean Run” Bonus Points for Professional Classes – Eliminated for 2007

Rained Out/Cancelled Qualifying Session – If a qualifying session is rained out or cancelled, any runs that were made-up to that point will stand, even if that session happens to be the final qualifying session run prior to eliminations. The session will no longer have to be completed the following morning in order to count as a complete session.

If only one qualifying session is completed prior to eliminations for a qualified category, the field will be set on that session only. If only one qualifying attempt is available for a qualified category and it is not completed, then the qualified field will be set based on the current point standings.

 

Part# 8971 for AFC be nice if we new there was a class or not! how do you plan for 07?

 

Hmm... so where does this leave Verenka? Guess we won't be seeing him at the Rockies next year unless the rumour I heard about him building/buying a TF is true. Probably for the best since IHRA's Top Fuel class seems to be getting better and stronger and very few injected cars showed up anyway. There was also a rumour about IHRA trying to bring in a TAD exhibition class at one or more of their Canadian races. Maybe by getting A/FD's out of Top Fuel they're making this a possibility.