Not that you need to hear it again, but most of the world is in economic turmoil. A lot of you reading this might have had to sell a race car to survive or have one and simply cannot afford to operate it. There are many forms of racing classes out there, from Index to Heads Up, and while some Index classes can be expensive to run, most associate heads-up classes with a lot of dollar signs.

Regardless if it’s the ADRL, NHRA, NMRA, NMCA, PSCA, ORTC, NEOPMA, or local track series, there are a lot of carry over classes between sanctioning bodies. These can include Pro Street/Mod, Outlaw 10.5, Outlaw Drag Radial, newly popular 275 radial and Outlaw 8.5 plus naturally aspirated classes.  The problem is that a lot of these racing sanctions have relationships like Iran and Iraq; when they need to be working together.  The doorslammer racing world needs standardized rules for these big categories that everyone uses.

Similar Classes, Different Rules

Take for example NMRA Hot Street and PSCA Hot Street.  Both are heads up, naturally aspirated classes that carry over a lot of the same rules, though PSCA Hot Street cars run two to three tenths faster than those running in the NMRA.

The main differences? Less weight minimums, no spec fuel, and the use of wheelie bars at the PSCA. While these differences may seem minor, having more horsepower and less weight with the ability to control launches with wheelie bars can drastically change the vehicle’s setup. Why can’t these (among other major racing sanctions) rule committee guys work together to standardize one set of rules everyone can use?

Spec Tire Size Classes Need To Be More Loose

Then there are spec tire and Outlaw classes like X275, Outlaw Drag Radial, Outlaw 10.5, Outlaw 8.5.  Largely these need to be what they were originally intended for; run what you brung on the class spec tire. While there are global rules that need to be addressed – because you can’t have a tube chassis, fiberglass-bodied Outlaw 8.5 car – engine combinations need to be open.

Another aspect is track length standardization.  Most classes like X275 or Outlaw 8.5 all run on an eighth mile, because it’s too damn scary to run them out the back door in most circumstances, there are some of the aforementioned classes that vary from series to series.

Pleasing The Masses

I believe in being diverse, and some rule fluctuations can occur because there are a couple guys running a specific combination that needs help (or penalty for being too fast) to be competitive in the class; it allows people to build what they know, and sometimes on a budget.  On the same token, a class rules cannot be accommodating to non-competitive combinations, in which some racers may need to seek a more common engine selection on par with the rest of the people in the class.

Can’t We All Get Along?

It needs to start at the racer to sanctioning body relationship with an open mind for what has to happen to make the rules more universal.  Then those rule suggestions needs to be taken to a House of Representatives-type meeting where these organizations discuss and collaborate on a unified set of rules.

There are people out there willing to race where their cars can be legal and competitive.  Constantly changing rules and not having uniformity forces many racers to park their cars more than they want.  Not only will this have a greater impact on racer turn outs, it also might encourage growth.  So let’s band together and email our rules committees: WE NEED UNIFORM RULES!