The biggest buzz throughout the IHRA World Finals in Rockingham, NC, was the announcement of the 2008 Knoll Gas Nitro Jam schedule. The big news coming out of that schedule was that the Amalie Oil Texas Nationals will be contested as an eighth-mile event in 2008, and in 2009 the tour’s first stop at Pittsburgh Raceway Park will be eighth-mile as well.

“Last season we really learned something in San Antonio,” IHRA president Aaron Polburn said. “While the quarter-mile has been the standard for drag racing for a long time, we learned an eighth-mile national event is a viable, exciting format. The buzz and excitement the Amalie Oil Texas Nationals generated caused us to take a good, hard look at this format. We’re very excited to grow this race and build our eighth-mile national event slate in the future.”

Reaction was mixed among the drivers. Some favored it while some opposed it, but most were pleased that IHRA announced the change early, giving teams lots of time to prepare.

“Changing to eighth-mile mid-race is no good,” said Rob Atchison. “I’m glad they decided to go ahead and announce it. I prefer quarter-mile racing, but I understand their reasoning.”

“It’s OK,” said Jack Wyatt. “I don’t want to run all eighth-mile all the time though. Everybody made the assumption that we would save parts and money, but to be honest, when we run eighth-mile we just shorten the fuse up. We’re gonna make sure the thing is wicked up and worn out at the eighth-mile if we know that going in.”

While Pro Stock, Pro Modified, and Alcohol Funny Cars seem to be relatively safe going the full 1320, recent events have shown that there is a significant safety risk for the fuel cars.

“The last 300 feet is where we are having problems,” Wyatt said. “I feel that these cars are pretty safe though. It’s one of those things that they’re working on, and they will make the cars better, it just takes time. There is no such thing as cost when it comes to safety, so when they figure out what needs to be done, it’s definitely something we will look into.”