Personal Indexes

I disagree with continuing on with personal indexes. I recommend adjusting indexes for 2017 based on runs made this year, and then taking another tenth off of all indexes - or the tenth that was added at the beginning of this year.

And if a fairness policy is wished for, then consider bringing back a modified version of index hits in qualifying that permits a competitor the option to toss out only the first qualifying run if he/she hits his/her index, and the qualifying run not count just as if the run never happened. Hit it the next or later run, then it's hit.

I'm just not gonna talk positive about something that I've decided won't work - personal indexes. I'm not whining - it's what we have, and we'll play by the rules - but I don't think it's gonna work as planned. Therefore I have nothing good to say about it at this point in time.

I'd like to wish everyone a good finish on the 2016 season.
 
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Patrick Hale may want to chime in on this.

12 classes were hit this year compared with an average of 35 to 45 over the last 14 years.
2016 didn't work,
(1) racers didn't mine hitting their index one or two to win, but this year they would be down 12 for the rest of the year instead of two.
(2) giving the tenth back made a bye or an opponent's red light a big advantage. I don't know the answer but that's not it.
 
Looks like there's a pretty fast car for sale for any of these "new racers". It will have a pretty good index for a different driver.
 
Out of curiosity to see car counts I did a little research to see just how much this helped/hurt car counts. I went back as far as I could using the nhra website.

Year - Total (difference from previous year)

2016 - 206 (-18)
2015 - 224 (-34)
2014 - 258 (+15)
2013 - 243 (-9)
2012 - 252 (-12)
2011 - 264 (-23)
2010 - 287 (-11)
2009 - 298 (-25)
2008 - 323
 
Want car count? Maybe the factory crate motor or some variant type of program needs to be revisited. Let the factories dictate what they would be interested in doing and only let NHRA figure out an index and how to integrate it to the class. I'm sure the Stock/Super Stock guys wouldn't mind the really fast factory cars migrating to Comp to runs heads up.

Come up with classifications for dragsters, altereds as well. Factory involvement of any kind in Comp would be a huge shot in the arm that no jostling of indexes/trees, etc. will ever replicate.
 
I'd be all for factory involvement only if they were fair indexes. The data and brain power out there know exactly what they are capable of. In the past, with new classes, that has not been the case when indexes were announced. And we've all seen what horsepower factoring those motors were given in Stock and Super Stock.
 
What the hell are you talking about Rob.
Clark Smiley

I would think he meant Div. 4 director, not Craig Bourgeois.div 4 rep
On the same note, I spoke with Trey (div 4 director) at Jerry's funeral and he said he don't know how he has been labeled a comp hater because he loves comp.
 
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