In my immediate area, none of the IHRA tracks are currently running this "new" eliminator, so I haven't seen it run. There just isn't enough participation by non delay box cars/drivers to warrant dividing up a purse to accommodate another eliminator. But I have heard of it working in other areas. How is it doing there? Are there a lot of folks entering two eliminators because of it? Has it helped with overall car counts? Have any folks who were turned off by "no-box" vs. true footbrake been turned on by this? Has it helped attract some more of the slower entries and/or street driven entries? Here, more and more tracks are instituting a maximum ET cutoff (9.99, 10.99, etc. in the 1/8 mile) so those entries have absolutely nowhere to fit in. Sportsman would seem to be a natural here, but so far it isn't. Take care. Tom Worthington
If it seems that bracket racing has gotten too expensive for you, maybe you are just doing it wrong.
Some tracks around here were smart enough to start it right away. They have been pleasantly surprised at the participation. Low entry and 100% payback and it's a class contested at bracket finals. A friend won the championship driving his mother's diesel pickup. Another friend uses his Smart Car for that class which is also his golf cart. See a lot of parents of racers running their street cars instead of just spectating. Then some tracks that think delay box racing is all there is didn't even have that class and probably lost a lot of entries.
Posts: 1573 | Location: E TN | Registered: February 13, 2009
Thanks Eman. Sounds as though Sportsman has been a win-win in your case. Overall bracket participation has increased and the purse for the non-delay box eliminator has not been negatively impacted. I am assuming it has not caused any hardship or additional work onto the track operator and/or track workers?
Do some folks enter both Modified and Sportsman, or is that not allowed? Is there an ET cutoff for Modified where you run? Take care. Tom Worthington
If it seems that bracket racing has gotten too expensive for you, maybe you are just doing it wrong.
http://www.knoxvilledragstrip.com/ This is the closest track to me that runs Sportsman. My closest track didn't bother. I've run against the same cars/trucks in no box as run Sportsman so no et cut in Mod. I can't remember any track locally having an et cutoff in mod. Honestly I think it's a great class. Some think it's a beginner class but it's not. It's just a low buck class with great back to basics racing. I really haven't seen a drawback to the track because of the class.
Posts: 1573 | Location: E TN | Registered: February 13, 2009
Outstanding. And thank you for the link. It makes it easier to see how Sportsman is doing at Knoxville. I certainly agree. It's a low buck alternative. And I am all about low buck alternatives. LOL! Take care. Tom Worthington
If it seems that bracket racing has gotten too expensive for you, maybe you are just doing it wrong.
It's going good at other tracks like London,KY and Greer,SC. If you watched the IHRA world finals you saw some great racing in Sportsman. I bought an S10 roller that ran in Sportsman last year that I'm putting together and I'd like to run it this coming year in Sportsman.
Posts: 1573 | Location: E TN | Registered: February 13, 2009
I love watching the sportsman class at home. Its a great class and alot of the jr racers have made the switch when they have been old enough before moving to a faster car.
Posts: 25 | Location: K-Town | Registered: June 22, 2015
Originally posted by Kole Pritchett: I love watching the sportsman class at home. Its a great class and alot of the jr racers have made the switch when they have been old enough before moving to a faster car.
When you watched it, was it the IHRA World Finals or something else? Take care. Tom Worthington
If it seems that bracket racing has gotten too expensive for you, maybe you are just doing it wrong.
As with most everything else, it is all about location. Different things just fit better in different places. The fact that Sportsman is doing well in some places feels pretty encouraging to me, though. Take care. Tom Worthington
If it seems that bracket racing has gotten too expensive for you, maybe you are just doing it wrong.
PBIR runs it...participation is a average to low...they run it at 1/4 mile versus 1/8 for no box...pretty much the same folks who run no box double up in sportsman...it is not attracting new racers to speak of those racers made the final at Memphis last season, fwiw...dedicated race cars are perfectly fine in that class as long as they stay within the ET break...this makes no sense to me...
A buddy of mine lost this past weekend because he forgot what class he was running...he was .002 on the tree and parked it at the 1/8 mile stripe forgetting it was 1/4...oops....lol...
As mentioned above, my home track of Greer has the Sportsman class. They actually had a street class before it became the official Sportsman class in IHRA. Greer kept the same rules from when it was the street class in that if you’re gonna run that class then that’s the only class you can run. This was in an effort to “grow” or attract new racers and give them a class to run and keeps the more “experienced” racers out of the class. Now it’s transformed a little since then but I still like the way it’s setup. Sure some would argue if their car fits the rules then they should be allowed to run both Sportsman and Footbrake. But not sure you gain more cars doing that way versus keeping it the way it’s setup now?? I’m always for a class to bring in new “customers” for the sport and letting the “slower” cars feel competitive in their own class. Wish a class like this was around when I started
Posts: 115 | Location: 2008 IHRA SSS No Box WC | Registered: June 23, 2004
I like that idea Chad. You won’t keep a new racer long if he has his but beat by someone with 20 years experience every week. Up in Div 1 the mod racers flock to Street every week then wonder why the new guys quit. I talked to a track operator yesterday that said it’s all old guys now and they will be mostly be gone in 10 years then what? Most won’t last as long as I have
Posts: 6278 | Location: everywhere | Registered: March 15, 2007
Originally posted by LIZZARD: As mentioned above, my home track of Greer has the Sportsman class. They actually had a street class before it became the official Sportsman class in IHRA. Greer kept the same rules from when it was the street class in that if you’re gonna run that class then that’s the only class you can run. This was in an effort to “grow” or attract new racers and give them a class to run and keeps the more “experienced” racers out of the class. Now it’s transformed a little since then but I still like the way it’s setup. Sure some would argue if their car fits the rules then they should be allowed to run both Sportsman and Footbrake. But not sure you gain more cars doing that way versus keeping it the way it’s setup now?? I’m always for a class to bring in new “customers” for the sport and letting the “slower” cars feel competitive in their own class. Wish a class like this was around when I started
Did Greer bring Sportsman racers to the Bracket Finals, and was there a separate eliminator for them? Take care. Tom Worthington
If it seems that bracket racing has gotten too expensive for you, maybe you are just doing it wrong.
After selling my SC dragster I discovered this eliminator. I have begun a build for this eliminator with the expectation of having fun for a change. No big high dollar equipment, little electronic gadgets just plain fun racing. This could be an eliminator with a tremendous following. Easy to get into, not particularly complicated, relatively inexpensive with out the hassles I was accustomed to in SC. Guess I'm just getting old.
Posts: 701 | Location: At the beach | Registered: August 05, 2003
Originally posted by maliciousintent: After selling my SC dragster I discovered this eliminator. I have begun a build for this eliminator with the expectation of having fun for a change. No big high dollar equipment, little electronic gadgets just plain fun racing. This could be an eliminator with a tremendous following. Easy to get into, not particularly complicated, relatively inexpensive with out the hassles I was accustomed to in SC. Guess I'm just getting old.
Older and wiser. Take care. Tom Worthington
If it seems that bracket racing has gotten too expensive for you, maybe you are just doing it wrong.
Take care. Tom Worthington
Take care. Tom Worthington
