What do you think of Great Lakes Dragway switching over to NHRA?

[RCN4HIM]

Wild:stare

[TransAm12sec]

What was it before? And what are the main changes?

[Daytonapacecar959]

I think it's great:thumbsup ,but for me personally it might not be so good.I Should be running quicker then 11.49 and i don't plan on adding a cage in the car.someone told me that right now GLD won't kick you out if you run alittle quicker then 11.49 without a cage with a street car,not sure if they'll let that happen when they're a NHRA track.

[turbogarrett]

I can't see the big $$ cars - top fuel, funny car, pro stock etc. racing at gld. If it doesn't attract big events what's the point?:confused Do stricter rules = cheaper insurance for them?

[Car Guy]

I can't see the big $$ cars - top fuel, funny car, pro stock etc. racing at gld. If it doesn't attract big events what's the point?:confused Do stricter rules = cheaper insurance for them?


Ditto.....

[EVIL AWD]

I think it's great:thumbsup ,but for me personally it might not be so good.I Should be running quicker then 11.49 and i don't plan on adding a cage in the car.someone told me that right now GLD won't kick you out if you run alittle quicker then 11.49 without a cage with a street car,not sure if they'll let that happen when they're a NHRA track.

If they follow NHRA rules the way they should you will need at least a 6 point rollbar for anything faster than 11.99. It was 11.49 for IHRA. But like you said, I knew guys running faster than 11.49 with no rollbar and they were never disqualified so who knows..

[HITMAN]

GLD used to be an NHRA track. As a matter of fact, before Route 66 in Joliet was built, they used to have the NHRA divisional race here. IIRC, after the divisional race went bye bye and Bob sold the track, that is when Drew switched to IHRA. The IHRA has helped out with some of the new stuff that is at GLD, but I don't know to what extent, and I don't know how what, if any, loyalty is owed. I actually prefer the IHRA to the NHRA, as it seems to be a bit more racer friendly. Just my $.02

[awsomeears]

I actually prefer the IHRA to the NHRA, as it seems to be a bit more racer friendly. Just my $.02

I dont race my car cuz ummmm I dont have one but I have been going to GLD for many years. IHRA just like you said seems to be a bit more racer friendly ( Average joe's battling it out )

But if they do go NHRA I will continue to support GLD, hell anything they do ill go to. I give GLD 5 years and they will be bringin in more and more racers, its just a hunch I have no real proof.

GLD all the way :thumbsup

[FANAT1C]

But if they do go NHRA I will continue to support GLD, hell anything they do ill go to. I give GLD 5 years and they will be bringin in more and more racers, its just a hunch I have no real proof.

GLD all the way :thumbsup


Same thoughts here! :thumbsup +1 for you

[RCN4HIM]

But if they do go NHRA GLD all the way :thumbsup

They've gone!!!

http://www.greatlakesdragaway.com

[Car Guy]

But if they do go NHRA I will continue to support GLD, hell anything they do ill go to. I give GLD 5 years and they will be bringin in more and more racers, its just a hunch I have no real proof.

GLD all the way :thumbsup



Every year there has been constant improvement, some small some big but it all adds up as a positive, I feel the same way.....


Has anyone seen the plans for the new skybox/hospitality suite......?

[Greg@GLD]

Website's off for awhile, working on the server again

[Al]

What happens to cars which run faster than 11.99 stock? Do they need cages as well or is this only for competition?

[GRAMPS SS]

What happens to cars which run faster than 11.99 stock? Do they need cages as well or is this only for competition?


i would say with the NHRA rules...you run that time stock or comp you need a cage....but what about the FAST cars...will they be there with the short shut down or will they redo the track? I'm just saying you get the funny cars there or top fuel rails or pro stock class cars....will they have the room to stop, or will they not bring that type of car to GLD, and will just see what we see now....which is not all bad, but would like to see the BIG BOYS come and play instead of going to route 66 or indy....or will they change the track to a 1/8 mile track like others are changing too....just a few questions...someone must has the answers or some insight

[Al]

What I meant to say is whether or not cages were required for weekend "fun" passes down the track.

[70challenger]

they had a big meeting saturday before the rounds and told everyone that they were switching. it sounded like the main reason was the insurance or so they said. now everybodies going to have to recertify the chassis and get new licences for the faster cars. other than that they said not too much is goin to change.

[Rocket Power]

What do you think of Great Lakes Dragway switching over to NHRA?
I think it'll be just like a few years ago.:rolf
And they'll need to buy NHRA stickers to sell
I was on the street class team in 99 when it was NHRA and went to the DIV 3finals in Indy.So it wasn't that long ago they were an NHRA track. 'course being slow enough to not worry about the rollcage bubble means I don't care who they are with.:goof
There was talk on the Olds board that Norwalk was going to switch from IHRA to NHRA which seems more significant. http://www.nhra.com/content/news.asp?articleid=15442&zoneid=8
The Olds guys care because our one main Olds only event is held there.
For those that don't know, Nowalk Raceway Park was/is owned by Bill Bader who was the pres of the IHRA until 04. Their main office is located in Norwalk OH

[GRAMPS SS]

What I meant to say is whether or not cages were required for weekend "fun" passes down the track.


from what i was told by my brother that races at Trails in Columbus, Ohio...if your a weekend fun racer or comp racer...you run that time and you don't have a cage ...your off the track...it's a saftey thing more then anything else...now will GLD inforce the new rules or let it slide like they do now...who knows....GLD lets it slide now , mabe they want the cash flow and won't do a thing about it...or now that NHRA is part of them ...the rules will be inforced....we'll see i guess....and if you did have to cage your car, whats the big deal, your safer.............

[HRSEPLA]

If you wanna play, you gotsta pay.:)

[RCN4HIM]

from what i was told by my brother that races at Trails in Columbus, Ohio...if your a weekend fun racer or comp racer...you run that time and you don't have a cage ...your off the track...it's a saftey thing more then anything else...now will GLD inforce the new rules or let it slide like they do now...who knows....GLD lets it slide now , mabe they want the cash flow and won't do a thing about it...or now that NHRA is part of them ...the rules will be inforced....we'll see i guess....and if you did have to cage your car, whats the big deal, your safer.............

I shake my head in disbelief when I see 8 second Modified Super Stock drivers with no gloves and no windownet:wow

When I ran in 10" Super Street in 00-01, they never once asked for a IHRA/NHRA liscense although I did have NHRA Cert to 7:50

To thier credit, I did get kicked off the track in the late 90's for going 11:20's without any rollbar whatsoever:stare

[scaleracer]

sounds like a bad change if you have a street car you need a cage it may hurt their crowd.

[turbogarrett]

I'd imagine all the new zo6 owners will be pissed, can't run a car off the showroom floor without adding a cage:wow

[RCN4HIM]

I'd imagine all the new zo6 owners will be pissed, can't run a car off the showroom floor without adding a cage:wow

From past experience, both sanctioning bodies will allow stock supercars run without cages.

[GRAMPS SS]

From past experience, both sanctioning bodies will allow stock supercars run without cages.


then whats the sence of having the rule , if there not going to go by it...oh it's stock so let it slide, till someone gets hurt doing 11.99 or faster into the rail then inforce the rule that was there for SAFETY REASONS to begin with , or they wouldn't of made it a rule in the first place......but then again , those are the cars that come weekend after weekend to race , so let it slide....they bring in the money to the track...whats the big deal with putting in a cage for safety reasons in your car if you run 11.99 or faster can someone explain this to me................

[fireguyrick]

...whats the big deal with putting in a cage for safety reasons in your car if you run 11.99 or faster can someone explain this to me................

I just wold like to know the different rationale between bodies. Is an IHRA 11.99 slower then a NHRA 11.99?

Rick

[Reverend Cooper]

cant say that the changes are a bad thing. anything that makes racing safer is fine with me fo sho

[Reverend Cooper]

from what i understand is if the car is designed to run faster than the cage requirements from the factory it is grandfathered in so to speak. hopefully greg will chime in here. i am not sure this is true.

[Greg@GLD]

I'll chime in when I see a 2007 NHRA rulebook.
As for all the people snding me pm's EXPECTING me to provide info-

I am not a tech inspector.

When I know what the final rules are regarding rollbars, I promise I will post them. PLEASE do not badger me or expect me to do your research for you. Because there's a LOT more to it than "Do I need a cage or not??"

I also do not feel that just because I work at GLD, that means I have to inform everyone about this rule or that rule. Sorry if that sounds testy.

GET A 2007 NHRA RULEBOOK!!!

[Syclone0044]

i would say with the NHRA rules...you run that time stock or comp you need a cage....but what about the FAST cars...will they be there with the short shut down or will they redo the track? I'm just saying you get the funny cars there or top fuel rails or pro stock class cars....will they have the room to stop, or will they not bring that type of car to GLD, and will just see what we see now....which is not all bad, but would like to see the BIG BOYS come and play instead of going to route 66 or indy....or will they change the track to a 1/8 mile track like others are changing too....just a few questions...someone must has the answers or some insight
I have some insight. You guys have to realize that NHRA does not equal "Top Fuel". The "big boys" are not going to come to GLD. The way I understand it, NHRA has multiple divisions and certain tracks (the biggest ones) are part of the big Top Fuel / Funny Car circuit and the rest are for the smaller races. Hell there used to be a class called AT/SA where a guy competed in a GMC Syclone but nobody's ever heard of it because it was one of these divisional races they don't show on television.

As for the bone stock cars that could potentially run 11s purely showroom stock (although there are very few examples of that), NHRA addressed that in 2004: http://www.nhra.com/2004/news/june/062202.html. Kind of a stupid rule IMO, who has a truely 100% stock car at a dragstrip?

Finally, for the people who can't understand what the big deal is with putting in a cage, you'd understand if you were facing the decision of either cutting up your beloved or classic street ride, or not drag racing any more. Cages come with compromise.

[juicedimpss]

Finally, for the people who can't understand what the big deal is with putting in a cage, you'd understand if you were facing the decision of either cutting up your beloved or classic street ride, or not drag racing any more. Cages come with compromise.

and they are a pain in the arse for a normally street driven vehicle.

[Syclone0044]

Yeah I was taking a good look at my truck the other day and wondering what would all be blocked off. Is there a way to make a 10pt cage work and still be able to use your sun visors? I know it sounds dumb but I wear glasses and this time of year around 5-6pm the sun gets blazing in the West and you simply cannot drive safely unless you can block it with a sun visor.

It also looks like various accessories might be blocked off too, ashtray, speakers, heat vents, tilt wheel.. Sucks.

[Stangman98]

I'll chime in when I see a 2007 NHRA rulebook.
As for all the people snding me pm's EXPECTING me to provide info-

I am not a tech inspector.

When I know what the final rules are regarding rollbars, I promise I will post them. PLEASE do not badger me or expect me to do your research for you. Because there's a LOT more to it than "Do I need a cage or not??"

I also do not feel that just because I work at GLD, that means I have to inform everyone about this rule or that rule. Sorry if that sounds testy.

GET A 2007 NHRA RULEBOOK!!!
Greg,
I thought that early this season NHRA and IHRA both had decided that the new "Cobra" rule where you don't have to ran a roll bar until 11.49 in both NHRA/IHRA. I say Cobra rule because that is why the rule was changed because of the '03-04's ability to go faster then 11.99 with almost no work done to them. Do you remember talk about that Greg?

[Syclone0044]

Stangman, could you be referring to the link I posted above in Post #29?


As for the bone stock cars that could potentially run 11s purely showroom stock (although there are very few examples of that), NHRA addressed that in 2004: http://www.nhra.com/2004/news/june/062202.html. Kind of a stupid rule IMO, who has a truely 100% stock car at a dragstrip?

http://s95370645.onlinehome.us/images/misc/dunno.gif

[wheelsofsteel]

At the same time you have to take into consideration safety at the track. Especially at the speeds these street cars are going.
If you were at the last Nitrous Street Car Brawl you would have seen a car not even making it 300 feet and the suspension broke and before you know it he was on his lid and into the wall upside down. This car was equiped with a full cage the the driver walked away unharmed. Probably would not be the case if the cage wasn't there. Mind you, this all happened in less then 300 feet. How about thru the finishline at 130, 140, 150+ MPH.
Is ones life only worth the couple hundred bucks where you wouldn't put a bar/cage in the vehicle.

I was once told a phrase that I will never forget when it comes to this topic...

"At some point someones life was taken for every safety rule in that book"

[fireguyrick]

Is ones life only worth the couple hundred bucks where you wouldn't put a bar/cage in the vehicle.

I was once told a phrase that I will never forget when it comes to this topic...

"At some point someones life was taken for every safety rule in that book"


The issue is for the DD cars. A cage is EXTREMELY dangerous in an accident on the street. It would not take much to crack you head against a bar (and the foam padds will pretty much do nothing for you). So, it comes down to not racing or wearing a helmet in your DD all the time.

Rick

[Stangman98]

Stangman, could you be referring to the link I posted above in Post #29?



http://s95370645.onlinehome.us/images/misc/dunno.gif
Yes. I do appologize for not looking at that post closer.

[Greg@GLD]

There's a couple of things not being addressed here.

1. There are dozens and dozens of NHRA-member tracks all over the USA. Have been for years. Guys still race at these tracks. People will still race at GLD. IHRA or NHRA or NO-HRA.

2. GLD was an NHRA track for decades, they were NHRA when I started working there 11 years ago. People still came to GLD back when we were NHRA.

Also, we need to wait and see because there's another element here- The track owners can make any rules they please. We are not bound by the sanctioning body, we can make the rules tougher if we want, and we have done that in the past. FWIW, I have owned my Cobra for 10 years and it's been capable of 11's since like 1997. They used to yell at me back in the 90's because we were NHRA and I was running 11's with no rollbar. Then when we first switched to IHRA, Captain Ray still said "You can't run 11's without a bar!"
We argued about it. I showed him the IHRA rules. "Ray, I can run down to 11.49 now! We're IHRA!"
He said "NO YOU CAN'T"

I lobbied with Randy about this. It took until the second season we were IHRA for them to follow the 11.49 rule. To this day, as we are still IHRA, we require a bar for ragtops that run 13.99 or quicker. That's not the IHRA's rules. It's ours. Another example is WIR- WIR is IHRA. I have heard a few guys on MMA say how they won't come to GLD anymore and go to WIR. WIR's tech is MUCH stricter than ours is, and WIR does not let any ragtop run without a rollbar. That's right- none. They don;t care if you run 17.49, if it's ragtop, it HAS to have a rollbar.

Let's see where the changes take us guys, that's all we can do right now. I planned for needing the proper equipment with my LX, and I know my days of running 11's in my Cobra at GLD have probably ended as well, as I am not going to hack up my Cobra. I'll leave it alone and race my LX.

As for rollbars being very dangerous on the street- That's only if you are stupid enough to drive with passengers in the back. The main hoop is way behind your head, and if you wear your seat belt you will not come close to hitting it. The old Shelby GT-500KR cars came from the factory with rollbars Pork...
The work done on my car- (see my post in the drag racing forum) I'd rather drive around like that on the street than to get hit broadside or rear-ended in a "regular" Fox body.
Plus plenty of you guys ride around on crotch-rockets with no helmet. I think it might hurt you worse to hit your head on the concrete... Pork might hit his head on the steering wheel doing those "hydraulic dances" :D :D

[Greg@GLD]

I just spoke to Ray at length about these rule issues.

You want to run 11.xx you better get the required safety equipment, which includes a rollbar. You should obtain a copy of the 2007 NHRA rulebook and follow it. We will be enforcing the NHRA rules for 2007 beginning opening day 2007.

As for the "supercar rules" Ray says that there are very few cars that meet that criteria, so don't focus on that, focus on being safe.

Our official position per the owners of GLD: "We are prepared to lose customers who do not wish to adhere to the NHRA rules, therefore expect to adhere to the NHRA rules, or else you will not pass tech inspection"

That's the way it will be guys, take it or leave it. A LOT of cars that run in our class racing series like True Street and Mod/SS will have to be upgraded if the drivers wish to compete at GLD in 2007.

We're not going back to IHRA, so it's either comply or go elsewhere.

[Crawlin]

I don't see anything but positive things with the switch. Don't know how anyone can think any different.

[Slow Joe]

Another thing to remember about WIR is that you need a helmet REGARDLESS what ya run...

I'm just curious, even though my car is way slow. Where can I get one of these handy books??

[Greg@GLD]

We will have them at GLD in spring or you can go to nhra.com and order one...