There were a record number of sanctioned races this past drag racing season. The increase in race sponsors has resulted in four major race circuits this year: NHRA, IDRC, IDRA and NDRA.
Having more organizations throwing races means more opportunities for you, the readers, to attend races in your area and maybe take your car out on the track. Also present in record numbers were corporate sponsors, which means more cash prizes for the racers. Our sport's explosion in popularity has attracted the attention of TV programmers, too, so that import drag racing or sport compact drag racing, as it's called these days, occasionally airs on the Speedchannel and ESPN2. More TV exposure means more companies have sponsored race teams in order to showcase their name on the track. This race season, mainstreaming the sport is causing the domino effect.
All of this newfound enthusiasm sounds great, but it has added some complexity to the scene. The biggest complaint is the varying rules for the race classes. Each sanctioning body has its own set of rules and regulations. To compete in a certain class, racers may qualify for one group's race but not another, making things more challenging. Given that it's hard to modify a car, and sometimes drastically, for each event we've seen that many top racers this season chose to compete only in one circuit.
For example, a racer may attend just NHRA races. Having stringent race class rules has also impacted the underdogs out there - the low-budget, no-big-sponsor racecars that are the heart of the sport. Their cars may not qualify in the same class depending upon which race is in town.
These guys don't have the money or the means to modify their cars to such great lengths just to compete at a given race. Most are doing it for the love of the sport, not to win the cash prize. There may be a dozen or so top racers, but half the fun of attending a race is seeing all the local top guns get in the staging lanes and show their stuff. See the hometown pride take on the pros. More cars on the track means more racing for us to watch.
This, naturally, leads us to ask a question raised many times before- why do such varying race class rules exist to begin with and why can't the major organizations come to a general agreement on the matter?
The fact that rules and regulations are often ever changing within a given organizations' race circuit further complicate matters. Throughout the season we have seen the classes come out with new rules. Racers themselves change the rules to "level the playing field." Sometimes certain rules leave loopholes for particular models of cars to get away with things that put them unfairly on top.
The race organization then tries to change the rules so that no type of car (i.e. VW vs. Honda vs. 3-rotor) has an unfair advantage. While these during-season modifications of the class rules are based on good intentions, they do create a frustrating situation for the race teams. One, the teams must be up-to-date with any late breaking changes and be ready to put them to work on their car. Two, they may find themselves having their best runs ever only to hear that their methods will no longer be allowed. Having their standings drop mid-season because of a rule change is not what the sponsors who pay their way want to hear.
Of course, it's hard to please everyone all the time. The race organizations do their best to be fair to everyone and take into consideration all perspectives. The question still lingers though about the effectiveness of mid-season rule changing. Is it more trouble than it's worth? Why can't there be one set of rules for all classes in all circuits? You be the judge and let the race companies know what you think. They put on the races for you guys, so your voice matters.