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GM Performance Parts Presents The Inaugural U.S.
Class Nationals
Stock and Super Stock classes were once the weekly program at local tracks all across the country, and the only real means of getting involved in drag racing. In the early days, you took your brand new 1970 Dart Swinger 340 with the four on the floor to the track, were placed in the proper Stock class, and rowed your way through the gears as best you could. The old man in the Malibu that knew how to work the rules would drive by you at half-track, flicking the ashes of his cigar in your general direction, and moved on to yet another class win. The deadly combination of money, time, and knowledge led to the domination of the sport by just a few drivers, turning off many who might otherwise want to try their hand at class racing. Along came "Bracket Racing", which took the monetary burden off of a driver’s shoulders and placed the responsibility for winning or losing more squarely upon the driver himself. The bracket racing concept came as low-cost alternative to heads-up racing. (A tip of the cap to Bill Bader for his "Selectra" idea, which came about in the same era, standing for "Select your own Dial-In.")
In the last decade, Stock and Super Stock has experienced an influx of bracket racing talent, which many of the purists take as diluting what class racing is all about. Bracket racers strive for consistency more than all-out performance, so even though they may get trailered in those somewhat rare heads-up, same class races, they have also been very successful in threading their way through eliminations. The level of competition in Stock and Super Stock continues to rise, as bracket racers learn that they need outstanding performance from their machines to succeed, and hardcore S/SS drivers polish their bracket racing skills to complement their impressive rides.
Another visionary, Super Stock racer Alex Denysenko, fed the lightbulb over his head more power than was probably good for him. Denysenko wanted to bring together Stock and Super Stock cars from all over the country for their own national event, featuring every imaginable venue for class racers to compete in. What started as a seemingly impossible dream came to fruition through pure ambition and dedication. The GM Performance Parts U.S. Class Nationals was born. Stock and Super Stock will be contested in their traditional handicapped format for the main event, with the addition of special Kendall Quick 32 shootouts for the heavy hitters, individual class eliminations, and contingency postings from nearly 100 companies! For the first time, Stock and Super Stock racers will be solely featured with prime time TV coverage on ESPN 2’s Inside Drag Racing, and will receive media coverage from nearly every print and electronic media outlet involved with drag racing.
From class racing came bracket racing. Over time, class racing has come to more closely resemble bracket racing, but today, the movement is going back to heads-up racing. With the Inaugural GM Performance Parts U.S. Class Nationals fast approaching, it could be that Stock and Super Stock racing has come full circle. [GM Performance Parts U.S. Class Nationals website] A note to IHRA Super Stock racers: Due to insurance regulations, all IHRA cars competing at the US Class Nationals will be required to have an NHRA chassis/roll cage certification sticker if they do not currently have one, as the event will be taking place at an NHRA facility. IHRA certification stickers will not be accepted. An NHRA certification official will be available Friday and Saturday to certify cars. Below is a guide briefly describing the classes and cars competing at the Inaugural GM Performance Parts U.S. Class Nationals. Stock Eliminator:
Super Stock Eliminator:
Top Stock Eliminator:
The Quick 32’s:
Nostalgia Super Stock:
Outlaw Super Stock: The Outlaw Super Stock Association led by Bill Houghton will also be putting on an awesome show at the Inaugural GM Performance Parts U.S. Class Nationals. The cars in the Outlaw Super Stock class feature Super Stock style cars: mainly big block, wheelstanding, big tire musclecars, but with a twist: these cars run nitrous oxide systems, run heads up, and have elapsed times (ET’s) in the low 8-second range! HOME
- ABOUT IHRA - INFORMATION - CLASSES
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Byron,
IL - The first and only national meet dedicated solely to all Stock
and Super Stock class cars will take place at Byron Dragway in Byron,
Ill., July 20-22, 2001: The Inaugural GM Performance Parts U.S. Class
Nationals. The event has been met with extreme enthusiasm from racers,
sponsors, and even sanctioning bodies as IHRA and NHRA racers come
together for one weekend of pure, original horsepower. What does it all
have to do with bracket racing, though?
Bracket
racing certainly breathed new life into drag racing, and it continues with
a life of its own, but Stock and Super Stock racing never fell by the
wayside. There have always been purists in the drag racing community whose
personal satisfaction is found in squeezing every last hundredth of a
second from a car, and all its components, under the strictest of rules.
Although much of class racing follows a bracket racing format during
eliminations, drivers still have to build their cars within the tight
rules, run under their class index, and be able to outrun all challengers
in the event of a same class matchup, where the race returns to a
heads-up, no breakout format.
Remembering
their roots, however, a group of racers longed "throw the shoe polish
away", and get back to competitive heads-up racing. Terry Bell and
Mike Keener devised a class they called Top Stock, which brought A, B, and
C-classed Stock Eliminator cars together on a level playing field for
heads-up racing. Just as bracket racing grew from class racing, Top Stock
has taken on a life of its own, with a six-race showcase backed by GM
Performance Parts, pitting stick shift cars against automatics,
carburetors versus fuel-injection, and original Stocker engines against
new Crate Motors.
Another
first is that the U.S. Class Nationals will be "non
denominational", meaning both IHRA specific and NHRA specific cars
will be competing together for the first time: anywhere! IHRA and NHRA
racers will be able to get together to race, have fun together, and
compare notes. It’s been a long time coming. This amazing feat got the
attention of IHRA President Bill Bader. "The organizers of the U.S.
Class Nationals have been able to do something that the sanctioning bodies
haven’t been able to do for 30 years, and that is to bring racers from
both sanctioning bodies together at one event," explained Bader.
"I am proud to be associated with it."
A
class reserved for cars and trucks that are original from the factory and
are designated to their individual classes and indexes by their weight and
engine horsepower ratings. Minimal modifications are allowed to the
engines and cars themselves. Generally, small tires, stock suspensions,
and stock engines and parts are all that can be run in Stock. Individual
class eliminations are run heads up, and overall eliminations are run
bracket style on the car’s individual class index or expected elapsed
time (ET). Anything from a low ten second Dodge Hemi Charger, and a
sixteen-second four-cylinder Ford Ranger pickup truck can compete in Stock
Eliminator!
A
class reserved for cars and trucks that are original from the factory and
are designated to their individual classes and indexes by their weight and
engine horsepower ratings. Unlike Stock, more modifications are allowed to
the engines and cars themselves. Generally, larger tires and aftermarket
suspensions, and modified stock engines set these cars apart from Stock
cars. Individual class eliminations are run heads up, and overall
eliminations are run bracket style based on the car’s individual class
index or expected elapsed time (ET).
GM
Performance Parts Top Stock is a new sub-category within IHRA Stock class
that is specifically for the fastest Stock class cars and specially built
cars with corporate "crate motor" engines. Unlike Stock, Top
Stock is run heads up like a Pro class such as Pro Stock or Funny Car, and
is showcased during IHRA’s pro show.
The
Kendall Quick 32 shootouts are for the Top 32 qualified cars in both Stock
and Super Stock. The quickest 32 cars according to how far they run under
their index will run against their index and can run as far under that
index as they can without fear of breaking out as they would in a bracket
race. These shootouts will showcase the best of the best in Stock and
Super Stock racing.
Period
specific cars competing on fixed indexes ranging from 9.25 to 12.00
seconds in the quarter mile. The Nostalgia Super Stock cars are from a
circuit called the Midwest Nostalgia Super Stock Association. The cars
featured are early to mid 1960’s full bodies musclecars only, and
include a Pro Nostalgia and A/FX class. Their goal is to put on a good
show and recreate an atmosphere of the original Super Stock days in the
early to mid 1960’s with a relaxed, low cost fixed index style of
racing. Also look for a show to be put on by Nostalgia great Arnie
"Farmer" Beswick and his Tameless Tiger 1964 GTO!