Going into 2005, the NHRA has made moves to address the grassroots side of the drag racing spectrum. While the big Pro classes are all about leading edge performance, as they should be, this great technological race has left some competitors behind the curve. The NHRA first addressed this problem with the introduction of the Sport FWD and Sport RWD classes. Building on the success of these two classes, the sanctioning body has announced the formation of three new classes designed to make the transition from fan to participant much easier and ensure that anyone with a fast car and the nerve to push it can come to a Summit Sport Compact event and compete.
The three new classes: Street Stock, Quick 16 and Time Slip Only will be run at eight of the 10 events on the 2005 NHRA schedule.
The Street Stock class is basically an all-motor version of Sport FWD. No power adders, street legal, full interior and DOT radial tires are the basis of the rules. To support the class a year-end payout is in the works that would reward the quickest and fastest car(s) in the class.
The Quick 16 class is designed to showcase the 16 quickest cars at the event which may not be eligible for any of the "heads-up" classes, and provide an alternative to standard e.t. bracket racing for competitors. The handicap start, no-breakout format will equalize competition among the 16 cars while preserving the "first one to the finish line wins" concept. The class is for cars that run 11.99 seconds or quicker.
The Quick 16 class was test run at a few events in 2004 with great success. It seems to be designed for cars that don't qualify for a Pro class and, more importantly for us, old school cars that run mismatched chassis and engine combos and older Hot Rod cars. In 2004, a Toyota car must have had a Toyota engine. So a back-halfed Tercel running a 3TC was legal for the Modified class but the same Tercel with a 13B rotary was not. This new class opens up more opportunities for these old school cars which helped start the sport on the east coast.
After two rounds of qualifications a racer can elect to jump to the Quick 16; taking a third qualifying pass in a given class deletes the racer from jumping over. There is an anti-sandbagging rule where a .500-second break-out is established on the car's best qualifying time. Further, the dial-in time changes to any run quicker than the original dial in. Check this. A car qualifies at 9.40. Its break out is 8.90. If it goes against a 10.00 car there will be a .60 difference in the lights. Say the 9.40 car wins with a 9.20. In the next round the tree will drop with a 9.20-second dial in but the breakout point will remain 8.90. So if it goes against another 10.00 car there will be a .80 difference in the lights. Check nhra.com for the full rules.
The Time Slip Only class will compete on Saturdays at NHRA Summit Sport Compact Drag Racing Series events with the quickest and fastest per make/model to win a special plaque. This class is based on the successful street-legal programs being conducted all around the country at sanctioned NHRA member tracks, spectators who want a chance to race will be able to participate for only $5 more than the price of admission. This a test-and-tune opportunity and a way to transition enthusiasts into running at a real drag strip. They can get valuable track time while avoiding the pressures of competition until they have built up confidence in their driving skills and the performance level of their car.
The NHRA plans extensive grassroots marketing campaigns to drive awareness of these new sportsman-only classes and we hope to see large fields. We plan to focus more coverage on these Sportsman classes in 2005, including stand-alone features and driver profiles to help grow the sport as a whole.