Could it be time for IHRA to look at transitioning to the screw?

Good idea

If the IHRA would allow Screws, that would give many teams (especially east of Miss) some more regional options. In addition, it would help the marketability of the entire TAFC class with sponsors. Good idea. Is there a way to bridge the gap between governing bodies and have someone propose this?

 

I read the Aron P. article over at DRO and it does not sound like he is interested in going back to 16 car fields or helping out the little guys . I would like to see the 16 car fields come back but I will be suprised to see any alky funnies in 2007 in IHRA . I cannot see them having 2 pro f/c classes and if the alky guys get demoted to a sportsman class how long will they last then .

 

have you ever been to an IHRA race? a lot of the people that race that series, dont want screw blowers, and i think before an assoc. changes a rule that will cost racers even more money maybe they should find out what that rule change might actually do to entries, by actually TALKING to the racers themselves. There are alot of div. and nat NHRA races all across the country, and if any of those racers that wanted to could put on a screw blower and race those races, why mess with something that works so well already, do you actually think that using screw blowers in IHRA would make it stronger? go to a race first, and then make that comment.

If it aint broke, dont fix it!

 

your loyalty to AFC in IHRA series has now got you down to a 8 car feild. with IHRA bringing in nitro funnys in 2006 and the cancellation of the ams series in NHRA.the alcohol racing in general may be in trouble.something new to the series as in psi blowers might be a good thing,but who knows? we race down here in texas and would love to race at the san antonio ihra national event,but you would not see us on the east coast much if any.I love alcohol racing in general and care very much about the future of the class but do not proclaim to have the right answers to these types of questions about the future direction of this series.

 

I think IHRA is going to let the AFC class die on the vine. Then when (if) the funding for the fuel funny cars dries up they will "revamp" the AFC class by allowing screw blowers.

 

Aaron P and Skooter Peco don't care about race cars....they want title sponsor money and fans in the seats. What ever sells will be what they run. The reponse WE got when we talked to Skooter about the little guy, was the little guy is not the one that runs their whole series. Ww need to step up and run the 8 car field...all season. That's what they want! More big names and big budgets. Something they can market. SO...go spend a fortune and make yourself a household name and run their races and you'll get exposier.


Shoot! I guess if your going to spend that much money you could be a big name in any league!!!

 

Snappy is correct, They don't really care about the little guy or TAFC period from all info I have. But having the screw blower in the series would help car count in my opinion. There is a lot of money being spent on blowers for sure in the IHRA for the top teams. They all have two or three.

I feel the nitro coupes will make the class obsolete in two more seasons though, so it my be a mute point.

But the best idea is to directly ask the top dogs if they would like a screw blower.
Les Mellows, (or Rob), Jimmy Rector, Tom Anderson, Terry McMillen, what do you have to say on this subject?


Dean Murdoch

 

mute?.....

 

Time for a Change ??

I gave my two cents (1.77 cents CDN) in a prior post .
Change .... Good or Bad ?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Maybe Bruce is Right ?? after all he is A dedicated and committed member of NHRA and although he didn't say anything different than he has before. Possibly it is time for a screw / roots war for parity .(I am not that Optimistic that this rule would change the car count even 10 %. NHRA it doesn't so that tells me the rules are not close enough to allow for close competiton ?)
Maybe the Screw car @ 40-48 over and 2300 lbs. would run closer to the roots cars @ up to 70 over and 2200 lbs. ?? Who knows it may be good for a while or the better funded teams may start to show up with 2 differing set ups for differing weather conditions . It is very hard to estimate the potential problems for 2 different combinations ( see BAD/AFD banter ),but I guess at this point anything positive that was introduced with all the questions answered should get a reply of some sort from IHRA.
This in no way will help the current situation for the learning curve for the new blood in the class , costs and returns cannot run this far apart for the young teams , there has to be a way to reward the participants that go home (early/dnq)or they will just stop coming !! more cars won't improve the class there will still be shortfalls and more of them .

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
If NHRA wanted more TAFC racers they would have changed their rules for running divisionals and getting grading points prior to racing at national events and scheduling on conflicting weekends, They don't seem to have the interest enough to make any changes .
I don't believe Transient racers will improve the class in the eyes of the sanctioning bodies , they will see blips of improvement on the attendance depending on the market they are in. They (both-NHRA/IHRA) are looking for the dedicated/committed teams that will take in 7-12 races with a professional image that can be marketed to the fans (for how long ?? who knows).
IHRA does not want or care if the cars run 5.50's in fact they probably desire the proximity of ets be farther apart from the Nitro F/C times.
Any suggestion that prolongs,improves Alcohol Funny Car racing Is a positive step and I am 100 % supportive.
Like Mark Tigges said Ride the wave till we get beached , 130 days till surfs up !

 

A differant point of view

Here is a differant take on the alky cars, and nhra, and ihra now that they are going to run nitro funny cars,they are a burden on the espn time coverage and the time frame the tracks can run, say like E-Town has to be done by say 6 or 7 pm, the nitro cars have points to lose if they oil the track, the alky cars don`t and more often than not, the alky cars oil the track more than the nitro cars do, so now they have more down time and have to rush to get the track prepped if they run out of time, then the spectator gets screwed out of seeing a final round. and the tv audience gets the same thing, don`t get me wrong i love the alky cars, but the older i get the more i see racing is a big business, and they got to do what they got to do to keep the fans and tv audience happy. and it looks like they don`t care about the alky cars.

 

Riders on the storm!

 

yaaawwwnnn. sorry, but this seems to be the same arguements as always. best thing to do is just leave everything alone. everybody has different ideas, but it is a shame the rules don't allow any and every combo to run both sanctioning bodies. if ihra kills the alky cars, then some people will have to buy a screw blower, if nhra goes to regionals some will end up going back to a roots. until then run what and where you want.