✖ DRAG ILLUSTRATED ROUNDTABLE ✖ for that specific class . In Comp , you don ’ t have to worry about going too fast or having to slow down . It ’ s a performance-based class , and I think that ’ s what the draw is . You get to make your stuff as fast as you can make it .
Brogdon : For me , it ’ s just the creativity . Just about anything you can dream up , you can find a class to run it in with Competition Eliminator . And it fits a lot of different budgets . You can come to the class with $ 300-400,000 , but you can be competitive with $ 70-80,000 . It just depends which class you want to run .
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What do you find most challenging about the category ?
Aragona : Most of the challenges are in getting your combination to work . Once you have the combination that works , then you have other challenges . In Competition Eliminator , there have been constant rule changes to keep participation up in the class . Some of them I haven ’ t agreed with , but I ’ ve been doing this close to 30 years – we ’ ve raced in every rule package there is and won in all of them . You just adapt and learn .
Massel : It ’ s really about preserving the index . In Norwalk , I had to shut off and give up a round I could have won because it was a match that would have caused me to destroy the index . The challenge is knowing when to shut off and live to fight another day .
Greenheck : Everything . You have to have everything right in order to do this right . People say it ’ s like running Pro Stock , just with a smaller motor . It ’ s very intricate , very finesse-y . It ’ s almost too finesse-y , but that ’ s the fun of it .
Freeman : The big challenges are , as in any class , weather , racetrack , and getting your equipment right to go as fast as you can go . As you get into rounds of eliminations , you have to be careful and not take too much CIC [ Competition Index Control ] for the next round . It ’ s not only a performance-based class , but it takes some discipline behind the steering wheel – especially at the other end .
Brogdon : Just trying to stay competitive . Anyone can do all the research and find an easier class than others , but it ’ s still hard to stay competitive . If you want to win some rounds , or you want to win a race , you ’ re going to have to get indexed . The way the new program is right now , you can index yourself right out of being able to compete . Trying to find a way to win without getting your index adjusted is the challenge .
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There seems to be increased interest in the category lately ; to what do you attribute this rise in competition ?
Aragona : Before this current rule package , if someone else hit your index , everybody got hit . Now there ’ s a window where they can hit the index and not affect the other guy in the same class , and that ’ s helped increase participation a lot and bring the faster guys closer to the slower guys . In 2016 , they also gave everybody a tenth of index , and that evened it out as well . I think that brought some more guys out to race because now they ’ re more competitive .
THOUGH HE ’ S SCALED BACK HIS SCHEDULE THIS SEASON , FRANK ARAGONA JR . IS A THREE-TIME WORLD CHAMPION , INCLUDING BACK- TO-BACK TITLES IN 2018-2019 .
116 | Drag Illustrated | DragIllustrated . com Issue 177