This weekend I opted to run in "Street ET". It costs half as much to run as "No Box" but respectively is a trophy class and had a car count of 9. With such little recognition by anyone, I'm really not surprised by the small amount of participation in the class. Is it "The Man's" way of bumping everyone into "No Box" to make the payout?

Last time I looked there isn't much in the "No Box" field for 12 seconds and slower. Seems like it really discourages the average low buck street cars to come out to the track. In this economy I would think they would want to encourage more racers to come out to the track, not discourage them by herding them into the "No Box" class to make 3 runs and go home.

Years ago, it was Street, Sportsman, and Pro. Sportsman and Street had very similar car counts and Pro was the low count field. All 3 classes had pay outs and mostly everyone was happy... except for Pro which typically did not have a full field. Something had to give to fund the big dollar guys. Wonder what they did...

3 classes with payouts and substantially better attendance by comparison... Times gone by I guess. I think the turn out in general reflects the state of the hobby and will only continue to diminish until they can encourage racers to come back to the track. I don't think dumping everyone into one class is the way to do it though.

At this point, I'm still not sure why I coughed up the funds to join "Team Street". I'm not quite sure what "Team Street" is anymore. Maybe it's documentation to see who the last man willing to throw money at a dying cause will be. What a shame...

Guess I better throw more money at admission, making my car faster and more consistent so that I can enjoy this hobby again.

Rant Off...

Just to clarify, I'm not throwing stones at the "Box" and "No Box" class. I simply think that the "Street" class has been shunned and respectively discourages a group of racers from participating. Hope that didn't come across poorly.

Our local sportsman bracket probably averages 40+ cars on a saturday. We also have a Car Club race series for street cars 10.0 and slower that brings in 50+ cars on friday nights.

Pro bracket is bigger than both by a good bit, Super pro is smaller.

You don't have to be the fastest guy out there to be competitive.

What was the car count like in general?

Every time I think of the "Street Class" - I for some reason envision a big chevy van dialed in at a 21.20 that runs 21.20 on every single pass that takes the trophy home every race.

I vote for making your car more consistent. It's fun knocking out cars that are 2-4 seconds quicker!

I think we're lucky at PRP. Our Street class (IHRA Div 3 rules) allows slicks and open headers, footbrake, 12.00 and slower. There are a lot of 12 second cars in the class. Trophy class is same, except must have DOTs and mufflers. Modified (transbrake allowed) and Top (delay box allowed) are the 2 quickest classes, most car count, and highest payouts.

I say the street class is for fun. Sure less bucks for payout, less investment in the car also. Who cares. If you in racing for the $ You're in the wrong game. I found street to have some excellent racers. Just like Pro. Just like N/SS. It's the competition not the $ that makes it fun.
Doug

Our track run Street Elim, no box, DOT, mufflers and tags..any et. They also have Real Street, but those guys are running 10's or less.

It looks like in 2013 there were 5 "Team Members" for Street, 58 for No Box, and 34 for Box here in Tucson. Seems low to me.
It would be nice to see it pick up.

What kind of numbers are you guys seeing?

I really like Street Eliminator as I have been running it for five years now, here its 11.50 to 19.99, mufflers ,no electronics , four DOT tires and Street appearing. our average car count is between 22 and 35 cars a week. I ran two different tracks last year and the year before and the average car count was the same at both tracks. I ran Pro/ Heavy for years but after slowing my car down and putting street tires on I am having a blast in Street.

Milan has a Sportsman class on Friday nights, 11.50 and slower, door cars only, no trans brakes or 2 steps. I like it because I'm usually the quick car.

I think your track was actually looking to make a class so the average joe can come out and run with cars that are somewhat equal , basic street cars that have street tires. In the pro brackets the cars are more race items such as slicks etc. Can you run in the pro bracket with your car if you choose ? If so pay the extra entry $$ and go for it. If not go out and buy the extra parts and safety equipment so you can.

Wait...you are racing now?

From someone who is snowed in, I would take whatever class I could at this point, haha

Move to Sacramento, CA and run Street with the Team Sacramento ET Series group. They seem to be having fun and there appears to be whole a lot more than 9 cars in the Class. You can run Grudge on Wednesday in Street trim with mufflers if You want as well. I'm sure what You want is out there, go find it.

Capitol used to have a huge turnout in Street. Mostly Pro Et cars that double entered and were 11.50 and slower. New owner made it 12.00 which cut out about half the class, but it gave the new guy a chance to not be first round fodder. I guess the hope is to get more new people into the sport, which is something we definitely need.

Only 9 cars in street class??? I say make it 10 and don't appologize for anything when you come home with the trophy.

I remember in the late 70's and early 80's here in Md we had 4 basic bracket classes they ran every weekend which were :

Super Pro - 10.99 and faster
Pro - 11.00 to 11.99
Heavy - 12.00 to 13.99
Street - 14.00 and slower

And that was basically it as I dont remember any electronic classes in the late 70's as you just did not see trans brakes. I dont remember what year the electronics stared getting big on the cars as I did not race from 1982 unti 1998. But in 1982 when I rolled my old Dart we still got hand written cards with no 60 ft and no reaction times.

Now I cant even tell you what street class my track has as 99% of the time I just go to Test & Tunes or special events like sometimes I get to run in an NSS race. I do agree that there should be a class for just the average guy wanting to run his street car and try it out. I mean thats how we all got started and you dont want guys racing on the street. Ron

Sportsman is the street class out at RT 66. They usually have 40-50 cars. It is open to cars from 12:00-19:99. The sad part is they did not make it DOT and mufflers. Most of the Indy team is made up of cars running slicks and open headers in the 12.0-13.0 range. These guys stay in Sportsman because they are scared to death of the guys in Pro with transbrakes.

I don't get out much, but at both tracks I get to (Bremerton & Pacific), Sportsman is a 12.00 & higher bracket and its pretty competitive. There's plenty of guys with race-specific cars set up in the 12-second range that are pretty consistant and have been playing in Sportsman for years. Next would be Pro-bracket, and you can run pro up to 13.00, so there is some overlap. Typical of the Pro-bracket car is the 10-second foot-brake ride, and there's a lot of shoes that are pretty good up here. You have to be on your game to go rounds in Pro.

I'm starting to think maybe it's a local issue. Guess we'll see how things go at the next points race.

I feel "street" should be trophy ONLY!! , no payout!! That way you keep the duck hunters away so the new folks can learn how to play with out spending so much money they wont come back

Here are our payouts at PRP and street does receive money and the street class works very nice. Trophy class is for no money.

Entries / Payouts

DISCLAIMER: Prices are subject to change.

Hard Metal Tooling Modified Class
(13.99 and quicker. Transbrake and Air-shifter allowed.)
Entry Fee $45, Re-entry $20, winner $800, R/U $350, semi's $100, $15 round money after 2nd round win (Re-entries do NOT get points). Thanks to Hard Metal Tooling, Modified will pay $1000 to win the remainder of the 2013 points days!

Mike's Auto Body Top Class
(11.99 and quicker. Delay Box Class.)
Entry Fee $45, Re-entry $20, winner $800, R/U $350, semi's $100, $15 round money after 2nd round win (Re-entries do NOT get points).

B & R Speed Supply Street Class
(12.00 and slower. Footbrake only. Slicks (must have driveshaft loop) and open headers allowed.
Entry fee $35, Re-entry $20, winner $350, R/U $150, $15 round money after 2nd round win (Re-entries do NOT get points). Thanks to Carmen Tedesco and Carmen's Cafeteria, Street class will pay $500 to win for the remaining points days in 2013!

Z & M Cycle Bike Class
Entry fee $35, winner $250, R/U $150. No round money. Re-entry $20. (Re-entries do NOT get points)

Millerstown Pic A Part Trophy Class
(12.00 and slower. Footbrake only. NO slicks or open headers allowed.)
Entry fee $20, winner receives a large trophy, R/U a small trophy. Re-entry $15. There MUST be at least 2 cars who Re-enter in order to have re-entries.

Silvermine Jr. Dragster Classes 8-12 and 13-17
Entry fee $25, winner receives a large trophy and $50, R/U receives a small trophy and $25.
Second chance entry $10. Second chance winner receives a small trophy. (Second chance racers do NOT get points)

Cars Protection Plus Teen Championship Racing (TCR) Class: This is a great entry level class, where kids 13-17 can race a street legal vehicle, 10.00 seconds and slower (1/8th mile). The kids make license passes with a track official, and race with a parent or guardian in the car, who drives the car in the pits. Please let us know if your child would be interested in joining the class.
Entry fee $20, winner receives a large trophy. (No Buy-Backs)

Mumau Diesel Pickups
(Open to all diesel pick up trucks, bracket class, run on these Night at the Races dates: June 29, July 19, August 16, September 13, October 5)
Entry Fee $25, $200 to win, $100 runner up

Test-N-Tune
(There is no TNT on race days.)
Car and driver entry fee $25, spectator fee $7 or a carload for $20. Kids 10 and under are FREE.

Regular Race Days
Adult spectators $10, kids 10 and under are FREE.

Gambler's Race
Entry fee $35. Payout is as follows:

15-24 Cars = $250 win, R/U $100.
25-34 Cars = $350 win, R/U $125.
35-44 Cars = $350 win, R/U $125, $50 semis.
45-59 Cars = $500 win, R/U $150, $75 semis.
60+ Cars = $600 Win, R/U $200, $75 semis, $10 round money startng with 2nd round win.

But I like Duck season...there are ducks in every class, you just have to know where to look.

I like our Sportsman class at Lucas Oil Raceway (12.00-19.99), it gets 25-30 cars on an average week and there are a lot of good racers in the class. There is nothing "beginner" about it, and I like it that way. I just wish I had a car slow enough to compete in it. I tried it last year with my mid 10 second car, de-tuned up the wazoo to make it run 12.0x, it was a BLAST. The people are nice and welcome new folks making it a fun time even if you loose. I also think that if you are a newbie to the sport you shouldn't expect to win unless you have entitlement issues.

I do believe there should be a separate "trophy class" with no payout geared more toward the newbies of the sport, but it probably would not get that much traffic in my area...maybe a hand full of cars if that.

I would like to see a new pro class 10.00-11.99 no box, foot brake and no studder box(can brake out if too fast,mph and et) use the NHRA world records, it shows what mph is for a given et ,no more 11.0 cars going 160 mph, then there would be average type cars, not $100,000 cars to win $1000. A Duster with a 360 and tires can fit right in,low dollar. Pay this class the big money and every body will be slowing down there cars. This will help the entry level street cars by allowing them to learn racing and not brake the bank then it wouldn't take much to move up when they are ready.