For the last five years, IHRA has been monitoring the financial difficulty that sportsman racers have been faced with in trying to travel and compete on the national and Summit Pro Am level.  IHRA has made several key adjustments to help sportsman racers compete, such as double Summit Pro Am events, scheduling national events so that time off work required was at a minimum and the introduction of sportsman national events during Summit Pro Am or Nitro Jam national event weekends. 

We are now all very aware of the economic crisis that faces not only our country, but has significantly impacted our sport in terms of travel costs.  While we realize that the desire to compete still burns within IHRA competitors, many have been unable to compete beyond the local level because our current points structure is not working for the vast majority of IHRA racers.  Businesses everywhere are adjusting their model to accommodate their customers in these difficult times and IHRA is doing the same. 

THE PROBLEM    

The current drag racing points format that requires sportsman competitors to compete for a world championship by having an out of control travel budget simply needs to change.  The economy has changed and travel has become the primary unmanageable cost to compete at any event. 

 

We must remember that the current national point system was put into place decades ago to get racers to travel to more events.  Conventional wisdom suggested that the more events you require to compile a national score, competitors will then attend more events.  As travel costs have increased, this system has put more and more competitors on the sidelines.  IHRA actually reduced the maximum number of national claims possible for 2007.  What happened was that in 2007, the number of racers entering a second or third event increased for the first time since we began tracking this data in 2003.  Less proved to be more. 

 

Unfortunately, the current points system has never actually grown the total amount of participants.  In fact, the number of national traveling racers (attending 3 or more national events) has stayed literally the same over the years until the economy changed the dynamic.  Now this group of racers, which numbered nearly 600 just 3 years ago, is now less than half that amount.  In addition, our current points program has never worked for competitors living around half of our nitro jam national event locations.  Those from New England, San Antonio, Tulsa or Edmonton for example would struggle to find 3 events to attend remotely in their area, let alone 5 events.

 

We currently have a points system that determines the top 10 based on where a competitor lives and if they can afford to spend $20,000 chasing points to maximize their claims.  No one likes to hear that, but it is true.

THE FACTS

To fully understand the need for change one must understand that the current system, under the current economic climate, is indeed broken.  Below are some of the factors that point to the need for a change:

 

1)     Car counts were down at most national events.  While this decrease could be seen at IHRA and NHRA events, counts were stable at most IHRA Summit Pro Am events.  Travel costs kept competitors in their home region.

2)     The total amount of competitors (in all sportsman classes combined) that chased points by maximizing their nitro jam national claims was just 47 out of a total of nearly 2000 competitors.  This is a 50% decrease from 2007 and 2007 was a 50% decrease from 2006.

3)     The number of competitors maximizing their claims that also hold a gold card for free entry was just 5.  Even with free entry, gold card holders couldn’t afford to travel.

4)     The number of competitors attending the minimum 3 nitro jam national events to tally a national score was only 261 in 2008.  This is down 48% from the 2006 season.

5)     The total amount of competitors that attended a nitro jam national event are down over 20% in the last two years

6)     Nearly 70% of all nitro jam national competitors only attended just one event in 2008.  This is an increase of 15% over 2007.  Again, travel costs kept competitors in their home region and most were relegated only to the nitro jam national event closest to their home.

THE SOLUTION

 

We have come up with a new “Tournament Of Champions” format for determining national top 10 and national champions.  The objectives of changing to a tournament style format are:

 

1)  greatly reduce the expense for sportsman competing for a world championship

2)  provide enough value for competitors to race at the national event level no matter if they choose to compete at just one national event or several national events

3)  give racers in remote areas an opportunity to compete on a national level and it really mean something.

4)  create a system where the best competitors from around the country can meet in one location and decide the national championship on the track in head-to-head competition.  Geography and travel issues are reduced to the point where everyone can participate in one or more tournaments.

5)  Keep points chasing to the regional level so that costs can be better managed via the Summit Pro-Am tour

To accomplish the above objectives, we have to take bold action in two areas:

 

Eliminate the current national “points chase” program.

Due to the issues with national travel, the points chasing will continue to be done on the Summit Pro Am Tour level in the traditional fashion.  There will just no longer be sportsman “national points” awarded at Nitro Jam national events.  Instead each national event will become an individual tournament.  This concept sounds insane only if you don’t understand or don’t believe anything we’ve outlined as the ultimate problem up to this point. 

Remember: 

·  Nearly 70% of all national event competitors only attend just one national event anyway.

·  The national points only mean something if you are trying to run enough races to maximize your points claiming opportunities, eliminate bad scores and claim your best finishes.

·  Again, only 47 competitors (all categories combined) out of nearly 2,000 competed at 5 or more Nitro Jam national events. 

·  Nearly 30% of all sportsman top 10 national finishers this season attended the bare minimum 3 Nitro Jam national events.  

There will be some competitors who still don’t believe the current system is broke.  The question they must ask themselves is how good is the current points system when just 47 out of nearly 2,000 racers max their claims?  How good is the current points system when only 5 gold card holders (free entry) could afford to go to 5 or more races?  

The current points system doesn’t provide the kind of opportunities we should be providing to sportsman racers everywhere.  It makes the ones that can afford to chase points pay dearly for that opportunity.  Again, the current points chase system was designed when the economic climate was much different.  

The tournament system will certainly have its critics.  Winning one race isn’t the traditional way to win a world championship.  The critics will want just the current 47 racers to keep maxing out their claims, the pool of racers to continue to get smaller and they won’t want to introduce all the racers who can’t currently compete that live in New England, Grand Bend, Tulsa (and all the above mentioned locations that have a geographical disadvantage) into the national championship mix.  

However, IHRA’s goal with the tournament system is to crown a world champion based on his skill on the track and not by the size of his travel budget or the geographic location of his home.      

THE PROGRAM

 

“Tournament Of Champions” – the new sportsman world championship system  

 

 

In 2009, each Nitro Jam national event (and select other events) will become individual tournaments, with the winner of each tournament getting a spot in a select field of racers that will race each other for the world championship at the end of the season.  This race, during the World Finals at Rockingham, will crown a national championship as well as the national top 10 in each class. 

 

This format provides incredible value for the racers who financially can only afford to attend the national event closest to them.  It also provides opportunity for those that can run more than one event, as each national event becomes a new opportunity to qualify for the world championship race.  If you do poorly at one tournament, the slate is wiped clean and you enter the next tournament with a new opportunity to qualify for the world championship.    

 

To spend today’s money on travel demands that each event provide value for competitors.  By creating a tournament system, competitors can choose one or multiple events to compete for a world championship without the financial commitment of maximizing claims and having to follow the tour.

 

With the new tournament system in place, the competitors who live in areas where there is only one national event close to them now have just as good of a shot at competing for a world championship as anyone else.  Geography and gas prices will no longer dictate who can participate in the sportsman national world championship program.  The goal is to have the event champions from each of the tournament events decide the world championship by racing head-to- head for it.   The tournament system also eliminates the variables in scores based on the size of the event and/or the division it is contested in.  A win is finally worth the same amount at every Tournament Of Champions event.

 

To further expand this tournament format and populate the World Championship race with a true cross section of the best racers from all over North America, there will be additional ways to qualify for the world championship final event. 

 

1)  All Summit Pro Am division champions will automatically qualify for the world championship race.  (Note: The current Summit Pro Am points system will not change).  Summit Pro Am division champs will earn a first round bye run in the world championship race.

2)  In each Summit Pro Am Division, the #2 & #3 points finishers in each class will qualify for the world championship race. 

3)  All IHRA category champions at all the IHRA Sportsman National events will qualify for the world championship race.

4)  Each of the class winners of the Summit All Star race will also qualify for the world championship race.  (Summit All Star points will continue to be kept specifically for this program)

As you can see, this world championship race will consist of a cross section of the best drivers from every tournament in all regions of the US and Canada that IHRA visits. All these tournament winners (35 spots total) will meet in Rockingham during the World Finals to battle it out in head to head competition.  The world championship will now be decided on the race track and not by where you live or the cost of fuel.

 

There will be some competitors that have to make a big trip to Rockingham, without question.  In the big picture one big trip is by far more economical than the old system of competing for the sportsman world championship.

 

HOW IT WORKS

 

-  A maximum of 35 competitors in each class can qualify for the World Championship race by winning a nitro jam national tournament, a Sportsman National tournament, the Summit Pro Am division championship, finishing 2nd or 3rd in your Summit Pro Am division or winning the Summit All Star race.

-  Each class’s ladder at the world championship race will be generated via reaction time from the class’s final time run prior to the World Championship race.  The best reaction time of the pair will get lane choice.  Ties will be broken by coin flip. 

-  All Summit Pro Am division champs will earn a 1st round bye run and be inserted into the second round.  The 2nd round ladder will be re-generated based on 1st round reaction times of the bye run cars and the 1st round winners.    

-  The Saturday & Sunday “World Finals” in Rockingham in 2009 will not be a traditional “open” national event.  The only IHRA sportsman class racing contested during those two days will be for the competitors who qualify for the world championship and the competitors who qualify for the Summit Super Series world championship.  There will be a 2 day (Thursday/Friday) IHRA Sportsman National event (the last chance to qualify for the world championship) prior to the World Finals.

-  The World Championship race will be contested on a 1/4 mile.

-  A competitor may not have more than one spot on the ladder in the same class regardless of how many tournaments they win.  For example: John Doe wins the national event in US 131 in Stock and a Sportsman Nationals event in Stock.  John Doe would only have one spot on the ladder in Stock.  The other position will remain open.

-  A competitor MAY qualify for the world championship in a maximum of two different categories but may not drive the same car in two classes during the World Championship race.

-  The final national order (World Champion through 10th place) will be determined by head to head racing.  The winner of the run-off at the World Finals will be the national champion, the runner up will be #2 nationally; the semi-finalists will be #3 and #4 nationally, etc.  #3 through #10 will be determined by the best reaction time when the competitor is eliminated.  The end of the year World Championship payout (Champion through 10th place) will be earned by the competitor’s finish during the world finals.  Ties will be broken by best package.

-  The 32 car qualified fields in Top Sportsman and Top Dragster will remain qualified fields at each nitro jam national events during the season.  The World Championship race in Top Dragster and Top Sportsman will follow the 1/4 mile nitro jam national event format and rules (wing requirement, maximum dial requirement, etc).

BENEFITS OF A TOURNAMENT SYSTEM

 

The phrase “Win and you’re in!” really says it all.  This new format provides unprecedented opportunity for all sportsman racers to finally take a shot at racing their way (and not spending their way) to a national championship.  For the first time ever, racers from areas that only have one event remotely close to them will be able to compete on the same playing field as competitors living within range of several national events.  Racers from all over the U.S. and Canada will have an opportunity to prove their skill on the track in head to head competition both on a regional and national level regardless of their financial ability to travel or geographic location. 

 

The reality is that no matter what system is in place, the best racers are still the best racers and will rise to the top.  The Tournament of Champions system is not being put in place to keep anyone out or to create new champions.  In fact, this system is being put in place to allow everyone to participate nationally instead of just a few.  We reviewed each of the 2008 world champion’s seasons and found that every single one would have qualified for the world championship race if their seasons had been run under the new Tournament of Champions format.  Good racers will still challenge for the championship.

 

The tournament system will find the best racers from each region and put them in head to head competition with each other, instead of just competing on paper, to determine the championship.  Controlling your own destiny and winning or losing on the track is what a sportsman racer wants more than anything else.  Anything can happen during one of the tournaments or during the World Finals, which is what adds to the importance of each of the events.  The New England Patriots went 17-0 and lost the super bowl.  No matter how good you are, you still have to win the big race to be the champion. 

 

Sportsman racing continues to be a key element of IHRA on a local, regional and national basis.  It is our hope that sportsman competitors understand the need for a tournament format.  It has been and will continue to be IHRA’s mission to find innovative ways to support sportsman drag racing on all levels.

 

WHAT IT PAYS

 

“Tournament Of Champions” World Championship Prize Money

The Tournament Of Champions during the World Finals will determine the Top 10 in national standings as outlined above.  The qualifiers will be racing head to head for the following payout:

Top Sportsman and Top Dragster

$10,000 – World Champion (winner)

$4,000 - # 2 (runner-up)

$1,500 - # 3 and # 4 (semi finals)

$750 - # 5 through # 8 (quarter Finals)

Super Stock, Stock, Quick Rod, Super Rod & Hot Rod

$10,000 – World Champion (winner)

$3,000 - # 2 (runner-up)

$1,000 - # 3 and # 4 (semi finals)

$500 - # 5 through # 8 (quarter finals)

WHAT PEOPLE HAD TO SAY

The Tournament Of Champions concept was nearly a year in the making.  If you think this change was a result of Feld ownership you’re wrong.  This program was on paper and being refined before we even knew our division was being sold.  We’ve spent plenty of time investigating why hundreds of racers were participating at Summit Pro Am events but not national events, spoke with many one event participants, track operators and dozens of world champions and multiple race traveling sportsman.  At first glance, competitors were uneasy with the change.  Some hate it all together.  It breaks from tradition. 

 

In most cases, racers understood that this change was in response to the changing economic climate and that IHRA has a strong desire to build sportsman racing and not stand by and watch it deteriorate.  These competitors realized there would be no economic stimulus or bailout package for sportsman racers.  They realized that this change is mainly about opportunity for all sportsman racers regardless of financial status or geographic location.  But most of all, they realized that IHRA is attempting to do something about sportsman racer’s problems.  Here is what a few who reviewed the program had to say:

As a racer who has followed the IHRA Sportsman tour since 1996, I think it is evident that it is time for a change.  I have seen car counts decline progressively over the years and do not want to see IHRA Sportsman racing come to an end.  I like the idea of having a head-to-head race for the World Championship.  No one racer can say that they lost position in points standings or possibly a World Championship due to someone winning in a division or area with a light car count.  I'm not saying that a racer from a division that is lightly contested is not capable of winning a World Championship, just that there are less rounds of competition needed to win races.
 
The average racer should be thrilled at the thought of being able to cut down on travel expenses.  the chance for me to win around $10,000.00 per National Event win including contingency money will keep me showing up at the gates, no matter the points system.   Who knows, this could be the best new deal in Drag Racing.  I for one hope it is.

                                                Danny Waters Jr. – 2007 QR World Champion

I applaud IHRA for this bold and innovative new Sportsman Championship  “Win and You’re In” format.  In this current economy IHRA is being pro-active to help the IHRA sportsman racer compete for a world championship with much less cost and travel than anytime in the sanctioning bodies history.  While this system may not be popular with all the semi-professional sportsman racers that have the budgets and time to follow a full tour, it will meet with the approval and excitement with the vast majority of sportsman racers that can only afford to compete on a divisional level and maybe one or two near by national events.               

                                           Royce Miller – owner Maryland International Raceway 

Over the past 5 seasons, I'm sure everyone has noticed a considerable decline in car counts.  It is very evident that a change is needed.  After all, this supposedly is the year of "change" right?  If this is the direction that is deemed best for the future of our sport, I support it 100%.

                                           Damien Hazelton – 2007 Hot Rod World Champion 

I understand the reason for needing to change the program.   Sportsman turnout is poor at most nationals and we need to gain some racer base to be sure we can cover the purse and be a positive at the back gate.  I will support whatever will make IHRA healthy and give the sportsman a place to race.  I do not like the idea of not having national points to decide the World Champion but I do not have a better idea and I want a place to race.                             

                                                    Steve Furr – 3 Time IHRA World Champion 

 

I’m sure we will have more details and make adjustments as necessary.  A brand new program will have challenges that we will address as they arise.  We’ve gone to great lengths to have a number of racers review this program and address all the issues they could come up with ahead of time.

 

This is a big step and as I’ve said before, it won’t be liked by some.  Hopefully most will see it for what it is – an attempt to correct the national event program for sportsman racers before it is too late.  If it is viewed as a crime to change the points structure, it would be a bigger crime to stand by and watch sportsman racing shrink to a point of non-existence at national events.  Only the racers that show up to compete in the Tournament Of Champions events in 2009 will make the ultimate decision on if this was the right change to make.  Everything else is personal opinion until the end of 2009. 

 

As racers were shown this program, rumors and speculation made their way around select pit areas.  Less than a dozen competitors actually contacted the source (IHRA)to get answers to their questions or concerns.  If you don’t know IHRA very well, you should know that everyone is readily available to answer any questions.  We return our phone calls and e-mails promptly.  In this particular case, if you have questions, concerns or comments on the Tournament Of Champions program, I ask that you e-mail them only to speaco@ihra.com so I can personally answer each and every one. 

 

Wishing everyone a successful and safe 2009,

Skooter Peaco

Vice President

FELD Motor Sports, IHRA Division