WHY OPEN COMP SHOULD BE THE NEXT BIG THING

By John W. Rollins
Gainesville, FL
3/8/05

eing an actuary, I think a lot about demographics and statistics. Lately, I've been worried about the health of affordable local and regional sportsman racing, the kind I grew up with. I've gone from a rookie to a grizzled veteran in 20 years, and I don't want to quit, but I'm bored. I make a good living and support a family, and I spend every
spare dime I have on bracket racing, but I look around and I don't see a class to "move up" to that I can afford. Even Super Street, the "entry level" non-bracket class, is dominated by 140-150 mph cars with 700+ HP and thousands of dollars in electronics on board. And let's not even talk about performance-based classes like "Stock" (right), or the money pit of heads-up racing. Big money brackets are dominated by $50,000 dragsters with the high speed. And so on.

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Then I think about how all this looks to the potential new racer, maybe even someone who's a spectator now. Super classes involve spending tons of money on powerplants and electronics in order to go slow and look broke for 300 feet. Stock and Super Stock look fun, but you can't afford to run the engine every week and there's always the possibility that they'll make you obsolete with the stroke of a pen, especially if you offend the racers in the inner circle. Bracket racing is fun but is stale, the format hasn't changed for decades, and the skill of the regulars is intimidating if you choose to play on their field. Heads-up racing is thrilling but you know going in that the biggest wallet will eventually win, and there's always a bigger wallet than yours.

I don't think "bracket racing" is dying, at least not quickly, but the demographics are worrisome. I think a major change in format, much like the introduction of bracket racing itself in the mid-1970's, is needed to shake up the demographics of local events and bring in some new blood.

I think the format change which will get some veterans excited again and some new racers to show up is called Open Comp. For those who don't know, here's how it works:

1. Five-tenths Pro Tree, blinded. Deep staging okay but not guaranteed. Courtesy staging may be enforced.

2. Qualifying runs determine your index for the day - your best qualifying run less one-tenth.

3. Handicap racing with breakout based on your index. A ladder is used for pairing after first round, based on closest to index.

4. NO delay boxes, NO timed throttle stops, but transbrakes okay.
Nitrous oxide okay.

5. Any type vehicle okay, any legitimate qualifying time okay.

That's basically it, five rules plus standard safety requirements. Rules could be tweaked for local preference, of course. Every racer out there already has a car that will be eligible and maybe reasonably competitive; no one has to build anything to run an index or outrun the next guy.