If it looks like a Circus it must be a Circus...

What the heck is wrong with the IHRA!
They are dumping the most popular class they have, Nitro Funny Cars in 2009..

Do you think it may be time to hire some people with some ability to attract sponsors. It was quite obvious that Evan Knoll wanted to drop a bucket load of money into the IHRA so he did. God only knows what the heck they are going to do for sponsor ship for next year for every other class that EK sponsored, They have showed without a doubt that they can not attract a sponsor ( Alky funny cars come to mind, what a joke that was, tomorrow , next week next month, whatever ) and now they have a lousy economy to deal with. I no I sound little bitter but, they cant even say they will try to get funding for the Nitro cars, because they can't. On the bright side, IF they run Alchy cars next year you guys can possibly get off the grass and on the pavement!!

 

I will probably get slammed for this, don'y know who you are Mike, but have seen a few "anti-IHRA" post from ya. Yes, the "average" spectator like Nitro, promoters will tell ya they are what put butts in the seats. The Nitro cars have been TERRIBLE this year (at least IHRA) for putting oil on the track and delaying the show, heck I have seen more than one Nitro session take 3plus hours to complete! NOW ask the spectators what their favorite class is! IHRA AFC ROCKS! Next.....

 

Just a Wannabe

Has Mike Kirk ever drove anything?? Wasn't he the guy that was supposed to drive thee Konrods Nitro Car ? Then the Alky Car?? Where is he from? Never heard of him?

 

I am a fan, and fans pay for you guys to play, so I have a right to be Pi###ed off. As far as Konrodz, Spiro and his team are a first class operation and I had a great time being with them, but I have to feed my family so I cant race a full schedule, otherwise I would be still racing and having fun.

 

Gentelmen, if your going to use our name, PLEASE spell it right. Its KonRodz with a Z not with a S, and thank you Mike for the compliments. I have no comment on what's happening. Lately I have learned to take things one day at a time.
See you all in RockingHam.

 

Ihra Ranter

What is really depressing is this information has not been released yet to the potentially affected racers in that class , Mike continues to release the information that has been discussed in the boardroom like he intends to disturb the participants. Mike' rants are not that of a concerned "fan" they are from a guy who could not meet the previous challenges he faced in racing and this is his way to let us know he is still there . I can't blame Mike totally because I can't tell you he is smart enough to know better ..... BUT I did think he was ! I blame his track "owner" or Track personnel as the offender who gave him the news from the meetings last week .
What I would really like to know is, does Mike Kirk believe he has helped anyone here ?? does he believe when he releases these tidbits from his informant that he will be thanked for the heads up ?? How do you feel Mike Kirk ?? (start @ the beginning and maybe something will pop up where maybe we can help you ..... because we are all becoming your fans for what you are doing for the sport) Your time to shine !!! Ladies and Gentleman ....... Mike Kirk .
Maybe this was an Audition ..... for Barnum & Bailey ..... try on the foam nose and BIG shoes Mike !

 

When ever you lose a class it is a sad day, as it is three times harder to get it back! I can honestly say i thought this was coming, watching-listening to a couple events from the pits, their performance just seemed lacking, how many times would the #8 alky car been #5 if they ran in the nitro class?
I really hate to see them go, as the fans did love them when they ran good!

Sure hope the future brings 16 car fields back to the alky cars even if we have to park in the grass!!!

 

Les,

I'd say this is beyond the boardroom based on comments from President.

http://www.competitionplus.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=8093&Itemid=6

Bobby Bennett

 

I thought I was styling wearing those shoes !!!

And winter is coming, so my nose warmer works great.......

 

News of the World !

Bobby , I Saw your timely announcement about 3 hours after Mike had broke the news ..... here first, on Inside Top Alcohol. Either Mike's reveal initiated your release or you need to get into Mr. Kirk's network for information. I knew early last week that an announcement may be coming and I also knew it was not my place or Mike's to make such an announcement in advance. It may be your position to validate or discuss the probable news , my feeling is there was only 1 place that news should have been released and that is IHRA.com where the involved parties could hear it first hand and then those people that like / dislike the release can sound off in the forum of choice .

 

I vote for 16-car IHRA AFC!!!

 

Here here, I agree with Tim....

 

I'll third that!

 

4th, that would be good, and hopefully some asphalt

i wonder if some guys from NFC might switch to TF or AFC... that certainly would bring more cars into the field, potentially forcing the IHRA to make a larger field.

 

Doesn't matter how many cars show up, IHRA was intent on making the field smaller, so they did. By my count, when the 8 car fields were created, there were only 1 or 2 events that didn't have 16 cars. I bet if the decision were reversed, you would see those types of numbers again, maybe more. I have always maintained that the larger field are crucial to growing the class; if the little guy can't crack the tough 8 car field, he's not going to last long. If he qualifies for a 16 car field, gets a taste of running on Sunday and gets his gas money back, he'll be back for more and will learn how to run quicker in the process.

 

Ken, that is EXACTLY why I switched to AFC a few years ago, didn't have a prayer at winning a race, but we could qualify. That gave us a chance to get some seat/track time on a quality track with good safety personnel (I'm all about safety). To just jump in the class now is TOUGH and I know of more than one car on the sidelines cuz they say they can't qualify. But if they could get some laps on that 6.0 car, it will someday run 5.90, etc.. THE CLASS AND QUALITY OF CARS GROW! I think that is healthy for any business??

 

Will does make some good points in his above post . Curious to see how long until the new owners make their plans known to the racers of every class in the IHRA .

 

Sorry, but I didn't even notice Mike's post except when I stumbled across it. I knew the talk was going around as early as Martin, but chose to hold off to allow the story to develop more. Well, in the real world of news reporting, I'm glad entities like USA Today don't wait for the government to make announcements before bringing the factual news to light. Same here, we hunt down the stories and report factually with the parties involved.

 

My name is Andy Kelley and I really appreciate any information regarding Nitro Funnycar in IHRA for 09 and beyond. It's just this simple. Not knowing what is going to happen next year with IHRA is affecting everyone, not just NFC. Nothing has been said exept the decision will be made after Rockingham. Well, how long after Rockingham? Now is the time to be searching for Sponsorship for next year. Sponsors are very hard to get to run a competitive car and waiting until the end of the year to get funding is very unlikely to happen. How do you approach potential sponsors now? We need money to run next year, but don't really know if IHRA will be racing next year? I think Competitionplus.com should do a poll on each Pro class. Ask the people who purchase tickets which class they could do without, not the sanctioning body and if it would really make a difference in buying a ticket. I thought I read somewhere that the attendance has been better since the Nitro FC's have been back. It's a shame it has came to this. Each class is great and we all deserve a great place to race. Thanks for the space and Congratulations to Laurie Cannister on her IHRA Championship. See you in Rockingham!