I agree completely with Jimmie. To me it's about trying to put down the best runs that I can manage and then comparing my abilities to those of the guys at the top echelon. Isn't that why we spend the time, effort, and money to travel to these big races in the first place? It's way more fun to have a solid run that still slots me behind several of the really fast guys than to dominate a slower class or a club race at home. Having the opportunity to run with and measure myself against the very best would seem the whole point of the exercise. Why seek out the best racers, only to avoid them by running in a slower class where they don't participate? Doing that does seem a little silly. Does anybody really care about what's engraved on the plaque? One might argue that a solid 4th place run in modified a bigger accomplishment than a win in stock against a weaker (probably larger but still weaker) field.