|
I
have been hearing stories about the IHRA coming to court
various tracks here in the west. A little change now and
then can be good, but we have to be very careful. NHRA is
very frustrating and expensive at times, and they seem to
have lost touch with the average racer, but they are the
leaders with respect to keeping everyone safe at the race
track. Without them, I'm not sure that the other sanctioning
bodies would have the resources to continue to develop good
safety practices, or the commitment to enforce them.
NHRA is obviously over the top on a lot of safety issues
(the annual certification of most of our safety equipment
comes to mind), but it is better than not having these in
place at all. Another issue that would be difficult to deal
with if IHRA moved in is the difference in classes. I'm
not sure how our various NHRA classes (the Super classes,
Top Comp, Pro, Sportsman, etc) would fit into their format,
but I do know that there is no legitimate blown alcohol
dragster class. I'm sure that Bud Park would still book
us in occasionally, but if IHRA had a major event, we wouldn't
be included. Most of the alky funny cars would have a bit
of a problem too; they have spent a lot of time and money
developing their screw supercharger combinations, which
are not allowed in IHRA. Whether they would be willing to
switch over, or to keep a spare roots blower combination
on the shelf for just a few events, remains to be seen.
Problem is, it is not only the blower that would have to
be changed, but also the transmission and rear end gear
ratios, compression ratio, and fuel delivery system. The
alcohol racer is always in a continuous learning mode, and
even though he gathers a lot of hard data, running the same
combination for an extended time gives him that extra "feel"
that makes the difference between winning and losing. Switching
back and forth would result in not running well with either
combination.
Negatives aside, the changes that IHRA
would necessitate may be a breath of fresh air for the sport
in this area. I enjoy the competition at an NHRA event,
but truth be told, our bank machines can't spit out money
fast enough to enable us to compete at the top of the class.
A lot of racers don't travel down to Spokane for their yearly
"AHRA World Finals" event, supposedly due to perceived
bad facilities, or perhaps because the event just isn't
prestigious enough. The thing I like about the event is
that it is a throwback to years gone by; the track and the
way it is run is the same as it was 20 years ago. The big
horsepower cars won't come because there is no concrete
launch pad, so the track surface will not produce record
times. The appeal for me is that the driver and crew chief
become a factor again; the e.t. slip is not just a foregone
conclusion generated by the race car's data recorder. It's
"seat of the pants" racing; you pull back the
reins on the horsepower enough to get down the track, and
have some fun. Although I have never been to an IHRA race,
I get the impression that it is somewhat the same. We don't
have to change sanctioning bodies to achieve this ourselves,
but if the transformation were made, it would sure shake
things up around here.
Note: Ken Sitko and Serge Dion campaign
a Federal Mogul Dragster out of Edmonton, Alberta. Their
profile can be seen in the dragracecanada "Media Profiles".
|
