What do you think about a professional class that is supposedly the newest most modern up to date category?????
11 of 16 qualifiers at Reading are Pontiacs!!!!!!!they are no longer made!!!!!
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What do you think about a professional class that is supposedly the newest most modern up to date category?????
11 of 16 qualifiers at Reading are Pontiacs!!!!!!!they are no longer made!!!!!
You ought to know better Jerry, it's called MONEY.
The best body in the aero department is gonna get the nod----GM thinks they know what the public wants, NHRA knows what's fast!!!!!
would love to see mustang VS camero VS challenger in pro stock ..
Anyone aware of a date where changes have to be made by??.
I did post a article from Engine Builder that there is a rental business of Pro Stock engines.I would think they would be reluctant to disrupt that.Lots of money flowing around because of that.
I don't have a rule book handy but I think they can use a body for 5 years? Or was it 3 ??
What really annoys me now is the funny cars that supposedly are Mustangs, Camaros etc. and have NO resemblance (sic) to the real car.
Other than the stickers on the nose... 8-(
Oh, I don't know......................obsolete brand, carburetors instead of injection, engines based on 50 year old designs,...................the list could be longer....
i enjoyed super stock much better. once they stopped using oem sheet metal i lost interest. if the wheels don't get air i aint interested.
Super Stock was and still is a great class!!!!! It's where a lot of us old gear bangers started out, I'd love to be able to run it again, just the old time and money deal!!!! Maybe I could plan on "retiring" back to a B Super Stocker????:LOL::LOL:
The class records and indexes are so wild now, would take some really first rate equipment to be competitive-----but it sure would be fun!!!!
like the comp classes---4 cylinder trucks????
whats scary is these guys running the 10.5 class. with the turbo's spooling up on the big end they are more like airplanes . 10.5 tire and running 4's in the 1/8 .
Bob-it's not 50 yr old tech.The block/head tech is just as update as you can get:
Pro Stock Engine Technology: Engine Builder
50 year old DESIGNS is what Bob said---and I agree wholeheartedly. Regardless of how highly refined the engine is, it has a single camshaft, pushrods, carbs, and a distributor. If it were up to date, we'd probably see 3 or 4 valve heads, double overhead cams, variable valve timing, electronic fuel injection, traction control, all wheel drive, and a myriad of other updated technologies...and IMO would then more closely resemble a pro STOCK car then what we have now!!!! Also, as Hoss mentioned, we'd be watching Camaro's, Mustang's, Challenger's, and Corvette's because that is what is currently available with a V-8 off the showroom!!!! Maybe what we see as today's Pro Stock cars would be more accurately titled Nostalgia Pro Stock Facsimiles??????
Guys-the article about these engines might not shadow production advances.But the current Pro stock engines are a far cry from the days of stick a cam in there and see what she'll do shucks.I don't ignore the results of all the yrs of R & D that has gotten us to today.And much of that we don't know because it isn't a shared tech.
I do think to appreciate the impact of that,do read the three page article.
BTW:I do understand you guys point.
Hummmmmm--Varible cam timing----I remember doing that in 1968!!!!!!!
I just looked through that article again......nothing revolutionary there. Lots of money spent on pieces and R&D. Cryogenics and heat treating certainly aren't anything new. Big valves and small chambers?? Pat and Jerry have been preaching that to us on CHR for years!!!!! Granted, some very good minds wrenching on Pro Stock engines, but the same is true in all top level motorsports competition.
As Jerry makes apparent with variable cam timing back in '68, nothing is really new....just refinements and tweaking pieces to the absolute max. \
Guess I just don't see anything in Pro Stock engines that is ultra trick or brand new technology.....What I do see is dedicated engine builders with huge budgets that will spend countless hours in the dyno room searching for a few more ponies....
Dave.Just to the sake of talking points.
We talk about in some classes how we miss old time racing.
Then here we talk about not enough changes.Yet even through it is founded on same designs,I am convinced that the current engine is so far removed from the common engines found.
The article covered three different type engine manufactures.
So it isn't being limited to just one brand.
When we talk about classes like top fuel where it is too far advanced.
I just don't know what to say after this Dave.:confused::confused:
Jerry-I am truly sorry about the off topic post bud.
Gotta watch tonight---according to results there were only 2 or 3 races in eack catergory---
New ET records in Top Fuel and Pro Stock on Sunday, that cool weather sure does make some power---(and give the clutch man nightmares!!)
Just looking at the NHRA site....With Lines winning at Reading, he's dang near got the Pro Stock championship locked up!!!! Mathematically, others could still win but in reality someone would have to figure out a way to slow down those two Sumitt cars!!!!!
It's interesting (to me anyway) that the sanctioning bodies continually come up with a points system that tries to force the points totaling to become a lot closer at years end and then with 3 races left to run, Mr. Line looks like a runaway! :LOL:
There is an old adage in there somewhere.. but I ain't gonna say it!:3dSMILE:
Both of the Sumitt cars are crankin' the numbers everywhere they run, but Lines is having an Anderson year this year!!!!:LOL::LOL::LOL:
if i ammember correctly jason was an engine builder before he became a driver .. may not be sharing all he knows with the boss ..
Well, they're crew chief on each other's car, so probably not a lot of info being kept secret as Anderson does the tune up on Lines car and vice versa!!!!!
Well, once again----11 of 16 qualifiers Pontiacs!!!!!!!
Well Jerry here is my answer.You have a pedigree in your history.Start building Pro Stock lease engines to beat up those Pontaics and lease them out going on tour to do the tune-ups yourself.The first one is the hardest and after getting income from that,the rest aren't as expensive.;):LOL:
I'm just talking about the premeir stock class being filled with a make that is discontinued!!!!!Make them run a Chev or Buick----
Jerry-I said before that would wipe out a cottage business in leasing that has alot of money changing hands.
You know there is always IHRA if anyone is unhappy with NHRA.
I understand exactly what your saying.The business of drag racing is supported by the racers and that isn't just at the local race tracks.Both of us have looked into the stands and realized that fact.The fan base has faded.So I think NHRA has to be very careful not to make major financial decisions that effect the business's behind the scenes.
It's not a conspiracy Gary, it's just the Aero is better on the Pontiac body. Rules say the body can only be a 5 year old design so the Pontiac body will die a natural death... Of course being a Pontiac fan from way back (I still drive a Bonneville), I betcha the guys at GM gotta wonder sometimes if they didn't cancel the wrong nameplate!!!!!
As for leased engines, it's become very common throughout many forms of Motorsports....Much cheaper then having to have your own full time engine shop with all the personnel and equipment that's necessary to be competitive!
Dave,I'm just saying the cash side of drag racing to run a program like Pro stock,I do agree in the five yr rule.The sport can not afford to lose teams because the costs drive them out.
Gary
This is supposed to be the best the factories have---there is no Pontiac---- so --they shouldn't be competing against the other cars that have current models in production---
They can run in the comp classes
It would not be shutting anyone down as they will continue but will be in new current makes
Wanta run a Pontiac?? go Nostalgit!!!!!
I have a Pontiac Pro Stock Chassis in a storage facility that I had to stop running because it was too old----but they still had the same Make, Model and body shape!!!!
But----My concern is that this completely, over wellmingly, violates the con cept of PRO Stock---supposedly a factory professional class !!!
I hear ya Jerry.Thing is the factory money dried up long ago for the most part in drag racing.I over heard a major sponsor saying the primary reason was the lack of exposure on net work TV and limited exposure of the brand name because of single passes over NASCAR where it is on net TV and the brand being in plain site for the whole time the race is on.Said because of that,the ad time was tons more expensive.So if you don't have the backing like type in other racing,it isn't a factory class anymore.As always,it all about money bud I think.
Discovered that we can get results pretty much as they happen on NHRA.Com in the interactive bloggie thingie
There's still factory money in Pro Stock---That's why the brand name and model is so prevalent on the car and the driver's and crew chiefs always remember to thank Ford, Mopar, Chevy, and whomever else on their interviews!!!!
Heck, the rules I believe still say the body can be no more then 5 years old so the Pontiacs will be there. With all the expense already in campaigning a Pro Stock, why add the expense of putting new bodies on all the cars??? When was Pro Stock a Factory Class??? Last really factory effort with factory personnel that I remember was the old Ramcharger's team, made up of engineers from Chrysler Corp.... Even prior to the Pro Stock class starting up, the A/FX cars only vaguely resembled something you could buy off the showroom floor. The only thing "factory" on the Pro Stock cars was the body shell itself, not including doors, front fenders, hood, trunk, etc etc etc....
Racing always has been about the money---if you don't have enough or can't scare up enough from sponsors you ain't gonna race!!!! Back to when I was 9 year's old racing karts, if you didn't get the work done around the farm there wasn't gonna be any racing money from my sponsor (Dad)! There's still some very competitive racing for low budget efforts in NHRA and AHRA, it's called bracket racing....and it's about the money, too. Just look at the turnout at the $5K and $10K to win bracket events throughout the year. With the current condition of the economy, I don't think drag racing has taken it any harder then any other form of Motorsports. There's not as much money to go around as there used to be so the racers with the best program and best results get the majority of the sponsorship money.
I can't tell you who because of the sponsorship,but I do have a very good basis to say what I am.
One thing for sure.The payout for circle track racing has always been more than drag racing.In fact yrs ago when monster trucks where popular we did take a very hard look at going that route because of the money was that much better.If me or the partner's back had been in better shape,we would have.
You can tell where the money is at by the transporter/support rigs in the pits---
Years ago(probably early 70s) at the NHRA Nationals at Indy we would take the truck/trailer to the hotel at night and work on the car in the parking lot--it was nothing to be running a fueler in the parking lot at 2 or 3 am after a rebuild!
Now--there are more support/hospitality trailers than race car haulers--
I do remember that Jerry.Motel pits that is.
Jerry, I remember those days very well, in '72 or '73 I was in the parking lot of the Flagler Inn in Gainesville,FL late one night watching Ronnie Sox, Herb McCandless and Jake King swap the gears in the Dana rear end in one of their cars. It was a fun, laid back atmoshere especially when Linda Vaughn came by to see what 'the boys' were up to. :D
Mike