Fri, 30 Nov 2001, 06:28 AM I Love Comp!!

By Bob Frey

Don Stratton

Don Stratton’s win at Pomona just underscored one of the things that I’ve been saying for years, and that is, Competition Eliminator is one really, neat class. Besides Don’s big day, a lot of the attention was focused on another car in Competition Eliminator, and that was Hurley Blakeney’s wild creation. It seemed that every time he came to the line, there were more racers standing around watching than at almost any other time. Of course, most of the Pro Stock contingent was there, because like Hurley, they run on gasoline, not nitro, and those guys always seem to hang together, Of course the fact that lots of Pro Stock racers came from the Comp ranks didn’t hurt, either. Jeg Coughlin, Tom Martino, Larry Morgan, Steve Schmidt, the entire Nickens family and more all began their careers in Competition Eliminator. Some are even old enough to say that they began in Modified Eliminator, but I’ll protect them by not revealing any names. Suffice it to say that, pound for pound, car for car, and driver for driver, there may be as much excitement in a good round of Comp (qualifying or racing), as any class out there. But, like everyone out there, I have a few ideas about how to make the class even more exciting.

Tom Snyder

Before I tell you my thoughts, you should know that there will be several new classes of Comp cars and trucks in 2002. I’m not going to delve into all of the technical changes, (although I’m sure you can read about them here at Drag Race Central), but I will tell you that there will be lots of trucks, both V-8 and V-6 models, a few new Super Modified classes and some categories for vehicles with those ever-popular splayed valve engines. Throw in some brand new classes for the cars with a planetary-type transmission and you may have as many different vehicle types as you have qualifying spots at the national events next year. And that’s a good thing. After all, who doesn’t love seeing Joe Shalkowski’s little dragster get a great big head start from Tom Snyder’s 200 mph missile? Or what about David Cook in Meredith Haner’s dragster as he tries to run down David Rampy’s Mopar-powered entry. OK, so maybe trying to run down Rampy isn’t anyone’s idea of a good time, but you get the idea. Comp is one, fun class. But you know what? With all of the excitement that is has, with all the opportunities for racers to show what they can do, both mechanically and from a driver’s stand point, Comp is still missing one, really big thing. At no time during the year do the Comp cars get to go head-to-head with each other, in class, to determine who has the baddest car of them all. And why not? Stockers get to have class eliminations at various national events, and so do Super Stockers. In fact, they even got their very own, class nationals this past season and, from what I’ve heard, it went very well. So I ask you, why not a Competition Eliminator class runoff? Imagine the possibilities.

Now my version of this race will include a special provision that protects all of the Comp indexes after the race. In other words, this would be a no-holds barred, bring your "A game race, where we could finally see who has the best car in each class. All right, so Hurley doesn’t have to show up, although we’d like him to. But in most of the classes, the ones where there are more than two cars competing, wouldn’t it be great to see them finally have a class run off? Wouldn’t it be great to see who really does have the best car in the eliminator bracket? I think so. NHRA used to do it a long time ago, so why not bring it back?

Brian Olson

As I picture this unfolding, I can imagine a few of the premier races that I’d like to see. Once, just once, I’d like to see Tom Snyder, Bob Rossi and George Gallimore bring their A/A cars to the same track to settle, for all time, the question about who has the best A/A in drag racing. Just this past season, Gallimore set the record in Bristol at a Division 2 event, and Bob Rossi broke it the same day at Maple Grove. And, of course, Snyder is the "Godfather" of the A/A class, so I think the three of them need to get together, at a neutral site, and have at it. And I haven’t even mentioned the A/A truck of Vince Deceglie or the Corvettes of David Beckley and Pat Bennett. There, you’ve already got half a dozen A/A entries and we haven’t even started yet. Another great class, even though it’s brand new, would be the A/ND category. The west coast guys, like Todd Movius and Wayne Ramay, like to think that the nostalgia cars from "out west" are a notch ahead of the rest of the country. After all, that’s where the junior fueler craze began years ago, isn’t it? But don’t tell that to Brian Olsen, who has a pretty good car himself. In fact, if I remember correctly, he holds the national record in the class and he’s from Indiana. Go figure. Dean Carter’s team, who had a wild weekend at Pomona with their A/ND, would probably have something to say about who wins the class, too. Or, Dean could just show up in his J/A, which isn’t a bad little runner, either.

Craig Schuck

With the first ever, Comp class nationals, you could get to see Dan Kilheffer, from Pennsylvania, meet Craig Schuck from Oregon in the finals of the C/ED class. Let’s see, if I figure that correctly, it would put the elapsed time record holder against the mile per holder standard-bearer. Not bad, huh? Bo Butner and Mike Smith could square off in another class final, while Glenn Treadwell and Jerry Arnold could meet to see who’s best in their category, and, just for fun, how about a Jeff Taylor vs. Fred Gross match up in the money round in D/A. Then again, Jeff and his team Captain Arnie Martel may just decide to build a blown car to race against that Indy-winning Corvette, or even a turbo job so Hurley would have to show up. Hey, you never can tell.

Since all of the other categories get to decide who the best man, or woman, is during the season, I think it’s about time the Comp racers got to do likewise. Think about it, Comp is the only eliminator in drag racing that never has a class championship. Even the Summit Racing E/T drivers got to see who was best this season, and it was neat. Just imagine, not breakouts, no c.i.c’s, no nothin’, except some of the best racing that you could possibly want to see. The SS/AA cars put on a nice show at Indy this year, the Super Stock and Stock nationals was well received, too, so why not showcase one of the sport’s most exciting classes? What do you think, are you with me? Good, then I’ll see you at the first, ever, Competition Eliminator class nationals to be held this year at________ drag strip. Mark the dates down in your calendar, that’s__________, 2002. See ya there. Oh, yeah, we could do it at Indy this year, too. Just a thought. Next time, I’ll propose a Competition Eliminator race where there are no c.i.c. hits at all during eliminations. You gotta love it!



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