Author Topic: Total NHRA B.S.! Any engine make in Pro Stock.  (Read 4555 times)

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machoneman

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Re: Total NHRA B.S.! Any engine make in Pro Stock.
« Reply #15 on: June 06, 2019, 05:53:23 PM »
Hey, I get the lagging interest in Pro as it's become more like the SuperGas class. After the nitro cars run, more than 1/2 of the spectators FOR YEARS NOW head to the concession stands or the pits. Instead, they should have gone back to the early day rules much closer to stock cars one could actually buy. It wouldn't be hard to write new rules but the racers, as always, would take the hit with outmoded cars, engines, etc.

Just like NASCAR, I swear the idiots that run the NHRA keep moving in the wrong direction and alienate fans with rules like this. No wonder independent track events are gaining in popularity at the expense of 1/2 empty stands at overpriced NHRA regional events. 

Bob Maag

e philpott

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Re: Total NHRA B.S.! Any engine make in Pro Stock.
« Reply #16 on: June 06, 2019, 10:58:00 PM »
Seems like anymore all you see is Top Fuel and Funny Car on TV , Pro Stock bores me too but I like watching Charlie Westcot slowly developing a Ford engine package in his Mustang . I have developed an interest in Pro Stock Bike the last couple years as my friend Flying Ryan Oehler has been starting to run good ( except last week) and matching Vance Hines , Arana’s and Matt Smith In MPH with a totally in house engine program with old used engines that been put out to pasture and they are only in their second season but first full season

Katz427

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Re: Total NHRA B.S.! Any engine make in Pro Stock.
« Reply #17 on: June 07, 2019, 06:15:38 AM »
Yes, it really is not related to a BBC engine. The DRCE or whatever they call it is an iteration of Warren Johnson's prostock engine program started during his Oldsmobile days. Since these engines are all basically the same block architecture now, really not much difference to the eye. I talked with a gent a few years back, who designed heads for Prostock engines, he said he was contracted to do a wedge type and a hemisphere style design head. Ford for Jim Cunningham put up money for the design of both heads. The Chrysler guys decided on the hemisphere and Larry Morgan picked the wedge type head. I believe Jim Cunningham wanted the option to try both. Of course, as per NHRA the aerodynamic rules were not cast in stone , so Ford went with a body that NHRA would accept. Morgan felt that the NHRA was being anal, and had a body modified to what "he" felt was needed. That car tested, and was quite competitive, especially in the mph category, but NHRA ultimately did not approve it. After that, as we know Jim Cunningham passed away (cancer) and Ford Racing decided nobody was watching NHRA anyways, so pulled support from John Force, and thanked Larry Morgan, and John .

machoneman

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Re: Total NHRA B.S.! Any engine make in Pro Stock.
« Reply #18 on: June 07, 2019, 10:18:19 AM »
"... Ford Racing decided nobody was watching NHRA anyways, so pulled support from John Force, and thanked Larry Morgan, and John ."

Ain't that the truth! And NHRA even handicaps the killer Cobra Jets now. Anti-Ford in all categories for 50 years now. Man, the Chevy money to the sport's Board is mighty heavy!
Bob Maag

TomP

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Re: Total NHRA B.S.! Any engine make in Pro Stock.
« Reply #19 on: June 07, 2019, 12:38:14 PM »
The DRCE was allowed as a way to make GM competitive with  Bob Glidden. NHRA allowed all sorts of stuff on he GM that other makes were not allowed, like wider bore spacing and heads that are much different in appearance.  Then on the cars they allowed radical wheelbase alteration and longer front ends on the front wheel drive stuff which somehow stayed for the Camaro/Firebird.
Ford never got those advantages and poor Dodge either. At the time of the nitrous scandal they had to use 4.8" bore space and wedge heads. Afterwards they were using GM engines (20 years before the rules allowed) until the Hemi99 came out.

e philpott

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Re: Total NHRA B.S.! Any engine make in Pro Stock.
« Reply #20 on: June 07, 2019, 12:50:56 PM »
GM had lots of help from NHRA and NASCAR for decades …. A simple deck height rule could level the playing field because cylinder heads are all pretty equal nowadays  , I found it interesting that the 500 inch PS engine deck height falls between SBF and SBC according to Maskin

RJP

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Re: Total NHRA B.S.! Any engine make in Pro Stock.
« Reply #21 on: June 07, 2019, 02:30:49 PM »
The DRCE was allowed as a way to make GM competitive with  Bob Glidden. NHRA allowed all sorts of stuff on he GM that other makes were not allowed, like wider bore spacing and heads that are much different in appearance.  Then on the cars they allowed radical wheelbase alteration and longer front ends on the front wheel drive stuff which somehow stayed for the Camaro/Firebird.
Ford never got those advantages and poor Dodge either. At the time of the nitrous scandal they had to use 4.8" bore space and wedge heads. Afterwards they were using GM engines (20 years before the rules allowed) until the Hemi99 came out.
NHRA also saddled Glidden with 300 lbs more weight than everyone else...To make things "Fair" ::)

Katz427

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Re: Total NHRA B.S.! Any engine make in Pro Stock.
« Reply #22 on: June 07, 2019, 03:34:10 PM »
Yes, I can't remember the fellows name but he said he deigned the "mirror" hemisphere head which the Dodge teams used, and was also to be legal for Ford, ( since he said Ford paid a sizeable part of his contract cost). He also designed a semi wedge head for Larry Morgan's use.
In my younger days the Chevy guys were a "pain". They were always complaining when they were beaten. I was on an oval track team and a fellow running a Ford called it the "Chevy mafia" LOL! But regardless of the series they usually got their "way". In this guy's case, the Chevy mafia got Ford Clevor engines outlawed along with Clevelands. They changed the rule to read "inline valve geometry" is allowed.

falcongeorge

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Re: Total NHRA B.S.! Any engine make in Pro Stock.
« Reply #23 on: June 17, 2019, 10:30:05 AM »
If they had done this in the 80's they'd all be in Boss 429 Camaros....
and if they'd done it in the seventies, they all would have been in 351C powered Vegas... ;D

machoneman

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Re: Total NHRA B.S.! Any engine make in Pro Stock.
« Reply #24 on: June 17, 2019, 11:37:14 AM »
If they had done this in the 80's they'd all be in Boss 429 Camaros....
and if they'd done it in the seventies, they all would have been in 351C powered Vegas... ;D

Yeah, good one! Yes, Chevy has had their way in too many pro race venues for decades. Yet, the decline in NHRA and NASCAR fan participation can somewhat be traced to this unfair edge. When the top Chevy drivers like Gordon and Earnhardt retired, they lost a ton of paying spectators. Johnson's imminent retirement (he's doing quite poorly this year) will further drive down attendance. Had NASCAR spent more media time on other, new rising stars, driving any make, than these three, they'd have salted the field with new talent the fans got behind.

As for the NHRA, those dunderheads did the engine change solely, as they stated, to revive interest in a lagging field. Fans as we have all seen head for the exist when Pro runs. And, if they think for a second a Chevy powered Mustang will bring Ford fans back into the fold, they are dead wrong....as usual. 
« Last Edit: June 17, 2019, 11:38:56 AM by machoneman »
Bob Maag