IHRA BRACKET RACING'S WORLD CHAMPION MAY WIN $150,000

By Jok Nicholson

IHRA, Summit, Pontiac and Sunoco Fuels have combined to put together the richest program for bracket racers in history. They are making it possible for one bracket racer to win a possible $150,000 prize package and never leave their local IHRA sanctioned drag strip! There is also cash for finishing in the top five at the local track and also at the divisional level.

When I first read the information brochure my first thought was "They must be kidding." The more I read, the more I liked it. They have really put a lot of thought into this and it looks pretty bulletproof to me. The formula to figure out the champion is a little complex when you first see it but I think after actually using it for a while it will make sense. I had this wild idea about how to beat the system but the "50 possible rounds" rule ended that deal.

The exact rules and procedures your local IHRA track must use are on the IHRA website and brochures will be sent out to local tracks. The importance of how the local track operators support this is very important. The elimination round sheets must be emailed in the Monday after each event. That means every IHRA track must have a scanner to copy pages of elimination round sheets and an email system to get everything sent in. I hope the track managers realize this.

It will be the racer's responsibility to check out every ET slip during eliminations to make sure their competition number is correct on their ET slip. If it is NOT, it MUST be edited by the track THAT DAY. An error here could cost you valuable percentage points, as your number will not match.

There is a huge bonus ($50,000) if the winner has spent $1,000 with Summit Racing. There are some rules involved with that as well but nothing to complicated. This is an enormous opportunity for all bracket racers. It doesn't really matter if you race at a small track with 25 cars in your bracket every week or at a track where there are 125 cars in your bracket every week the formula equalizes everything out very well. NASCAR has used a similar system to determine their Regional Champions for years.

I must give the IHRA management team an "Attaboy" on this program. I am wondering who the person is walking around the IHRA offices saying "My idea. . .all mine!" Whoever it is, I hope they get a nice big raise.

VALVOLINE ANNOUNCES SWEEPING GRASSROOTS RACING AWARDS

The Valvoline Co. announced a sweeping commitment to American grassroots racing that includes a national driver points championship beginning in 2002.

The Valvoline Cup will be contested by virtually all drivers in all types and classes of wheel to wheel competition in all sanctioned racing or track sponsored weekly racing programs throughout the U.S. Every driver will be awarded points for finishing positions in his or her own racing series, according to Valvoline and program administrator, RaceFan Inc.

"This is a program for racers, no matter what series they run, no matter where they run," said Valvoline Sr. Vice President James V. Rocco. "The Valvoline Cup was created to spotlight grassroots racing and bring excitement and recognition to racers who might not appear on TV every weekend. These racers are the bedrock of American motorsports and Valvoline is proud to support them," said Rocco.

There are no Valvoline Cup rules with respect to the cars, tracks and racing. The rules of the tracks and sanctioning organizations under which each driver competes will govern that driver and the car. The Valvoline Cup will be a measure of the success of a driver within his or her racing program relative to the success of other drivers in similar cars within their program.

The program calls for every driver being awarded points for finishing positions in their own racing series. In this way, a super stock driver can compete with a NASCAR Winston West driver, and a NAMARS driver can compete against a USAC driver all on equal footing and all for the same trophies, merchandise awards and cash prizes. There will be over twenty divisions for the 2002 program.

Weekly updates for Valvoline Cup competition will be posted on a special Web site, www.valvolinecup.com. "Racers at all levels love competition," said Bill Catania, President of RaceFan Marketing, Birmingham, Alabama. "The Valvoline Cup will let racers from different series, different types of racing, compete on equal footing."

LITTON SEEKS SPONSORSHIP FOR 2002

Indy-based chassis builder Gary Agan is busy bending pipe for IHRA Top Fuel racer Bruce Litton, with Litton's race-winning 2001 Agan destined to become his back-up piece. Litton also has a new semi-trailer rig in the works, but has yet to sign a major sponsor for the new year's campaign. Regardless, Litton said he'll definitely contest the first two IHRA 2002 events and then take it race-by-race if no major backing is secured. "But one thing's for sure," he added. "I won't go barefoot to race this car, I can tell you that."

SPIN CITY: FEDERAL MOGUL DROPS OTHER SHOE

Recently Federal Mogul filed for protection under the Federal bankruptcy laws. So the press release DRO received from NHRA was not a surprise. It did, however, need some interpretation.

"...Federal Mogul announced (Nov 27) their intentions to resign as the Sportsman series sponsor, opting to restructure their financial commitment to the popular sportsman series through a variety of bonus programs and other initiatives."

Agent 1320 interprets that paragraph to mean that Federal Mogul will no longer be series sponsor for NHRA's Sportsman division and that (thankfully) we will no longer have to read in print the words Federal-Mogul Dragsters or Federal-Mogul Funny Cars.

"The NHRA Sportsman Drag Racing Series is in a very strong position, both from a competitive and sponsorship perspective, and NHRA is committed to running a full schedule for 2002 and beyond," said Tom Compton, president of NHRA. "Soon, we will introduce a new divisional series sponsor who will help carry this growth forward and continue to build upon this foundation."

The NHRA Sportsman Series will maintain its current structure, in its entirety, for the 2002 season, regardless of the series sponsorship situation. "Sportsman racing is at the core of NHRA and, to that end, we will always continue to grow, support and encourage sportsman racing at all levels,"

The Agent believes the preceding couple of paragraphs actually mean that NHRA is looking for a Sportsman sponsor and, until they get one, NHRA will be paying the bills.

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