Check out the AFCO Crate Spec Shock Series at PRI this week

[Punisher88]

I guess what I am saying is you don't have to have those shocks to run well. You can have a set that costs $1500 bucks and your car work VERY well. You won't have some of the crazy stuff I have heard and seen that the Lucas Oil Heroes are running, but you will have competitive equipment. The average racer will screw his car up with 4 way adjustable shocks. Bloomer may have position-dependent damping, but you don't need it to dominate your local FASTRAK race.I am also glad you brought up Docol. All steels have the same stiffness. Chassis are designed for stiffness. Docol just costs more. It doesn't make the stopwatch trip sooner. A lot of money is spent for the latest, greatest and be a pure waste of money.The biggest reasons the cars take more power now are increased understanding and increased aero. Only one can be fixed with rules. And those rules have been ignored or changed in the wrong direction for years.

Exactly. I still have the same set of Ohlins I bought new in 2008. Only thing that's be changes is some heim ends and the body on the Rr last year. I promise with the help I receive from Kirk Loudy at Envy I'm not lacking in shock department. You cant tell me they haven't been worth the 500 a piece I paid for them back then..

[CageFaraday]

I dont really remember a " influx of people" , most racers came from other classes , they either moved up or down .....

Exactly. Crate started out cheap, but wasn't drawing huge numbers so they jacked up the purse to Super levels and that made a ton of folks quit running "Limited and Super" to create the crate class of today. Nobody deals with the inherent issue of why these expensive items are needed, they just keep adding band aides and finding ways to line their own pockets. He had the same knee jerk reaction on seats a couple of seasons back and when I approached him about how his Nascar seat was going to lead to entrapments for larger drivers, he told me, "Don't worry I've got a blanket and we'll come get you." WTH? I'm not waiting in a burning car for you to bring me a blanket, I want out. I shared that to demonstrate the lack of critical thinking at work. The motivation is money for FASTRAK, not saving anyone any money, that's secondary. Deal with the real AERO/Sealed off issues and the shock issue dies on its on.