Cutback puts a drag on local racers

In the past, the International Hot Rod Association was able to go head-to-head with the National Hot Rod Association in terms of car classes, from Top Fuel Dragsters to Junior Dragsters.

But over the years, the sanction became only a shadow of its former self, and began dropping some of the more expensive classes of drag cars.

While not as large as the NHRA, the IHRA continued to provide a solid venue for Sportsman racers to compete. But not any longer. It recently announced it will drop most of its drag racing classes and focus on Bracket racing, or grassroots racing.

The sanction was purchased by the Florida-based IRG Sports and Entertainment group in 2015, and two years later dropped the Pro classes (top fuel, pro stock, pro modified). For the 2018 season, it is eliminating the majority of its quicker classes, including top sportsman, super rod, super stock, and stock.

And that leaves a lot of local racers of those classes in the lurch. There are several IHRAsanctioned tracks in this area, such as the strips of St. Thomas, Grand Bend, Lancaster, and Empire, where competing for points and money in IHRA events were an important part of their racing.

“The heightened focus on Sportsman gives us the necessary resources to improve the IHRA from the ground up to make sure that the core of the sport, our member tracks and weekly racers, get the attention they deserve,” said Lou Partenza, the IRGSE CEO in a statement.

Founded in 1970, the IHRA presently has about 100 sanctioned tracks throughout North American and 13,000 members.

But local racers do not see this as a step moving forward.

The Can-Am Stock/Super Stock Series is comprised of classes of cars based on NHRA and IHRA rules.

Members such as Wally Clark, Venice Perno, and Chuck Nagy along with others have been highly successful in competing at IHRA divisional meets. But the group also competes locally in its own series, something it has done for over two decades, and will continue to do so.

“We are strong as an organization and owe nothing to the IHRA or any other sanctioning body,” said Fred Smith, who heads up the Can-Am Series.

“We will continue as in the past to include the IHRA classes and indexes, for the foreseeable future. It will be ‘business as usual,’ ” Smith said.

Ted Barnes, who heads up the Joe’s Transmission TNT Super Series, said his group of racers have also shown concern about the lack of future IHRA events. The TNT Super Series, started in 2006, is comprised of cars based on the NHRA’s super street and IHRA’s hotrod classes, and like the CanAm racers, have competed in many IHRA-sanctioned meets in southern Ontario and western New York.

But Barnes said it was too early to tell how this will play out for the TNT racers.

“I don’t think these changes will affect us too much,” Barnes said. “We may lose some racers, but our car counts could also grow.”

Many racers are concerned that travel will become a big issue for racers who are competing as a hobby and have limited budgets. While there may be no IHRA events to race at, they can focus on similar NHRA divisional races, but that can get expensive and take more time travelling.

“I don’t think anyone really thought this would happen,” said Tony Valerio, last year’s Can-Am champion. “Especially Stock and Super Stock.

“If you supported it and only have IHRA tracks surrounding your home plate as we do, it’s a direct kick in the face and now you’re forced to travel,” said Valerio. “The one main reason car count is down is the cost to travel.”

An IHRA member since 1981, Chuck Nagy put it all in perspective: “Although this week’s decision that the IHRA has terminated all sportsman class racing from their program may be a shock to some, many racers saw the handwriting on the wall. The spiral started years ago when most American manufacturers pulled support and contingency funds.

“With the cost to race and travel rising and the return decreased, less entries were becoming the norm. We fell into a ‘Catch-22.’ Low car counts per class equal low payouts. Sadly the racers can only blame themselves. You can say or blame management or ownership all you want but the bottom line is that it was an entertainment business, operating with very few entertainers.

“Now we all have one less sandbox to play in.”

NOTES: While this weekend’s F1 race in Texas, the U.S. Grand Prix, will probably be another Lewis Hamilton romp, the off-track entertainment may be worth the price of admission. … Along with the Prairie View A&M Band, better known as “The Marching Storm,” Motown legend Stevie Wonder will be on hand to perform in Austin. And Justin Timberlake will be around to entertain after the race. … Everything is done big in Texas, and the prerace activities certainly justify that motto. Mr. “Let’s get ready to rumble!” Michael Buffer of wrestling fame will introduce the F1 drivers, the Dallas Cowboy cheerleaders will help the drivers into their cars, and the fastest man in the world, Usain Bolt, will help send off the drivers on their formation laps.