Graham Light, the NHRA’s senior vice-president of racing operations, told Competition Plus Saturday that its Pro Stock fields will remain at 16 cars for 24 races next season.

Details of the meeting among NHRA decision-makers and Pro Stock owners and drivers two weeks ago at the Texas Motorplex, near Dallas, remain confidential.

However, Light said, “It was a positive meeting. It was good to see the great majority of the teams all came together for a common solution. We’re obviously concerned about the dropping of entries in Pro Stock as they are. They submitted us some ideas. One of them is a new engine platform that Glen Gray of our Tech Department is working with a few of the teams to evaluate, and that’s a possibility. As a result of the input, we’ve decided we will run 16 car fields at all 24 national events next year.”

That decision is final for 2018, Light said, assuring that the sanctioning body will “continue to work with that contingent of Pro Stock racers to try and better the class.”

Earlier this year, the NHRA suggested that it might reduce the Pro Stock class’ appearances next season. But Light said Saturday that met with mixed reaction.

“Over the course of the summer, the teams, manufacturers, made many, many different suggestions. One of them is reducing the number of races. And that fits with some teams, business owners [for whom] 24 races is a huge time commitment. It didn’t fit with other teams where their livelihood is racing. We get that: everybody’s got different objectives or needs. So it was just one of many, many ideas that were submitted.

“A lot of the times we think of the idea [and] teams come back and say, ‘You know, that idea wasn’t a good idea. It’s going to cost us a fortune’ or ‘It’s not going to work’ or whatever. We’re the same way. So [we] kind of went through the season and got to where we were, Dallas with the meeting, and we’ll see what happens going forward.”

Overall, Light said, “I was impressed with the fact that they all came together to try to achieve a common goal, and that’s to make their category bigger and better than it is.”