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IHRA vs NHRA

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  • IHRA vs NHRA

    Here is a real can of worms to open but I feel I have to ;D This pertains to a predicament at our local track here in Saskatchewan, Canada. We have been an NHRA track since first opening in 1966 and have remained so... at least till now.
    We have been approached by the IHRA, as well as a number of region tracks (i'm talking Alberta, Manitoba, Montana and N. Dakota) to join them. They are offering to set us up with our own division and perks? that go with, you know divisionals etc.
    Now, some regional tracks are already IHRA and some not (almost 50/50) and we have the usual splits with racers, most longtime locals want nothing to do with IHRA, and others seeing that the NHRA has done absolutely NOTHING > for us as well as most all Canadian tracks,they want to switch.
    I don't want this to become ugly : but it probably will with everybody being different but no one knows what to think about this and I think asking the B.S faithfull will get me an honest view of both as the members her live far closer to the thick of both IHRA and NHRA turf.
    So how about it pro's and con's?

  • #2
    Re: IHRA vs NHRA

    Our local track uses the IHRA handbook and that seems to work well for people. The rules are all common sense and they seem to require reasonable amounts of safety equipment for whatever ET you may be running.

    I go to New England Dragway once a year or so and they are an IHRA track. The racing is always good there. I've heard that they are swapping over to NHRA though. This may be for better TV coverage and to pull greater attendance.

    At our local track, we have points racing and a seasonal championship, but it isn't regional. Truthfully, it gets boring. You go in the morning, see the same cars running time trials/test & tune/whatever, and by the time the racing starts, you're bored. The other thing that kind of sucks is the "group think" that you get when no outside influences are introduced. Everyone runs a big block Chevy with a 200hp shot of nitrous. I love Chevys and I love big blocks, but once, just once, I want to see a guy with a Gen III 5.3 with LS1 heads and a cam or a junkyard 6.0 and maybe, god forbid, even someone with that new thing called "fuel injection." Hell, I don't really care that much for Fords, but it would be cool to see something other than the three fox bodies that show up every week. Maybe a Fairmont or a Ranchero?

    It would be pretty neat to have three or four venues in our own division. It would probably draw larger crowds, more attention, more advertising dollars, cooler cars, etc.

    If the IHRA is offering up an opportunity, I would snatch it up.

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    • #3
      Re: IHRA vs NHRA

      I am not a racer, but here are my observations from reading several forums- especially Yellowbullet.com:

      NHRA from all appearances is not as racer friendly as it used to be. More and more racers are turning away from it. The costs for most things- chassis inspections, fees, membership, etc. has continued to rise regardless the economy. Basically, NHRA appears to be money hungry. Add to that the way the lower classes are treated at national events, and you get some of the existing backlash.

      IHRA is owned (from my understanding) by the same people that put on Monster Jam- they are show people. Their national events are designed to engage first time spectators. How that translates to the average driver, I don't know. I have read a lot of good comments about the IHRA. However, IHRA has changed ownership several times in the past.

      If IHRA is offering good things, I would consider the switch. People fear change, so it will take a little time for those used to the NHRA to get used to the new sanctioning body.

      If you want opinions from a lot of real racers, post your question on www.yellowbullet.com. If you are a newbie there, make sure you hit the newbie thread first- they don't take kindly to someone posting somewhere else as their first post. Oh- and be ready for some comments!

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      • #4
        Re: IHRA vs NHRA

        Since your track is not a national event facility this isn't a huge deal. For the racers they will see some reduced expenses on their part because there are some subtle differences in required safety equipment between the IHRA and NHRA at the ET levels most guys run.

        I'd say that IHRA is a better deal for smaller tracks because they have some programs that the NHRA doesn't have. One of the "perks" they are talking about may be a "Thunder Jam" event. This is a scaled down version of the "Nitro Jam" that IHRA puts on at their "National Event Tracks". The Thunder Jam events have been going for a couple years and were used as a testbed for the current Nitro Jam format. That was successful at smaller venues and thus far that has translated to larger tracks as well.

        IHRA and NHRA mirror themselves pretty closely when it comes to local sportsman drag racing. New England Dragway is swapping over to NHRA after nearly 20 years with IHRA. The reasons can be debated, and since it was/is a national event track for IHRA and will become a divisional track for NHRA, there is some risk involved. The track is going upgrade over the next few years in the hopes of becoming an NHRA tour national event track.

        My $.02 is that this change will be mostly imperceptable to local racers and the potential for a new divisional level series to become available is a good thing for the racers and tracks involved.

        Brian
        That which you manifest is before you.

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        • #5
          Re: IHRA vs NHRA

          go outlaw , like George Ray ......

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