Okay, cool. But my above engine surely won't push my Fab Concepts front-engine dragster into the 7-second zone, much less near the 7.03 record. Meaning, I won't be able to be competitive in NHRA Competition Eliminator, a dream of mine for 30 years. What's the answer?

One would be this: put Competition Eliminator on a dial-it-yourself index. The IHRA does that with some of its eliminators. Would it work? No. You want to dial in an A/Dragster, which has a current index of 7.11 and a record of 6.59/208 mph, and have the driver slam on the brakes on the top end? Disaster!

The other is to keep the confusing CIC system in Comp but expand the Nostalgia Dragster classes. That's what I wrote to NHRA's Jim Skelly about.

Here's my idea, and the reason why. Actually, let's go with the "why" first. When A/Nostalgia Dragster came out, the index was set at a reasonable 8-flat, and that meant that a top runner could go 7.50 or so, five-tenths under the index, and be competitive. Now it's the low 7's that will keep you in the show, and that came about some time earlier this season when one A/ND driver blasted the index by seven-tenths under. (And that's why A/Econo Altered racer David Rampy is my hero --- here's a former bracket racer who knows how to protect his index and his future as a competitive racer, by lifting slightly on the top end when he has his round-race in the bag.)

So A/Nostalgia Dragster is out for me. The alternative? Hey, NHRA, why don't you guys create "B," "C" and "D" classes, "B" being for 350-inch-type engines, "C" for V-6s and "D" for inline sixes and four-cylinders? Keep the same weight (maybe), but let "B" exist for those on a budget, "C" for the V6 guys, and "D" for the inline six-cylinder boys like Jerry Arnold and Argenta-Ambrose-Huettman. Maybe even create an "econo"-type series of classes and restrict THOSE Nostalgia Dragsters to carburetion only, and gas. Hey, maybe even have a Nostalgia Dragster class for superchargers, albeit a blower that makes a low percentage of boost. Why not?

If I want to take the "why not" question even further, why not allow classes for Nostalgia Dragsters with bodies, like in the old days --- AA/Competition (Al Bergler, Raymond Godman's "Tennessee Bo-Weevil"), A/Competition (Charlie "Plain Vanilla" Smith's brother, Frank), and B/Competition (all I can remember there is the "T-bone Rare" roadster, circa 1966). The only trouble with that idea is what do you call the classes? AA/Competition/Nostalgia Dragster? Naw, not enough room on the body panels for that designation.

For that matter, why not bring back the gassers? Naw, I guess the altereds and their 25-percent engine setback is good enough for now.

Okay, back to "realistic" dreams. Everybody has a favorite eliminator; mine is Comp. You know the rap yourself --- a nitroused Pro Modified Willys might pair up against an injected four-cylinder dragster, an "econo" (and boy, is THAT a misnomer) altered might go off against an ex-Pro Stock Truck. And, praise be to old styles wrapped in modern technology, a front-engine dragster might challenge a hot rod street roadster. That's what makes the eliminator so cool --- the variation, the different combinations, the "viva la difference" of all those classes.

Why not add three more?

Double-A Dale's Bracket Racing Tip for September

Here's a tip I learned a long time ago from former IHRA champ Johnny Cofield of Ranburn, Alabama. Some bracket races are won and lost on the finish line, right? Sure, but how do you know when to put on the brakes and not break out of your dial-in, or lead your competitor across the finish line by just a wheel or so, or dump him and let him break out? The trick that Cofield showed me was do your "car-positioning" figuring out on the starting line. Say both you and your competitor have your pre-staging lights on but not the staging. Look over at your competitor and pick a spot somewhere on his car as a reference point. Keep that reference point --- his windshield post, a decal, a roll bar, whatever, in mind when you cross the finish line. If the reference point is in front of you, so is your competitor's car. If it's behind you, so is he. Then make up your mind, based on your own feelings about how fast your car is going, how "hard" you hit the Christmas tree. If your car spun the rear slicks or not, decide whether to carry him across the finish line with you ahead, or dump him, or let him take the last stripe and thus force him into a breakout. It's hard to do, but it can be done, especially in "slower" bracket situations.