Coming Soon.....

[Tom Broome]

Originally Posted by BRETV

Rory, You are wrong, there were no 2003 specs for any Ford in the guide and I wanted to run a 2003 Cobra. So I contacted NHRA and ask them what I needed to do, They told me I had to get someone from Ford to summit all paperwork and specs to them. I contacted Jesse Kershaw and he agreed to send the info. I was building the car per Ford's specs while the process was taking place. Took almost 2 years to finally get it all done. The specs hit the guide and the car was finished around the same time. My uncle went thru the same process back in 1997 to get the 1995 Cobra R in the guides. So as far back as 97, the process has been the same.




Bret Velde
2003 I/SA
Coming soon

Not that I have a dog in this fight, but what you're choosing to ignore is that you and Jeff chose to follow the conventional path to approval. You chose a vehicle combination that you wanted to race, and approached the manufacturer and NHRA to get that combination installed into the guide.


What you DID NOT do, is built a finished race car BEFORE the manufacturer submitted specs to NHRA....Which leaves the appearance of specific favoritism, since it appears that the specs will be generated around that ONE SPECIFIC race car.


And yes, I know all about the 1968 Cobra Jets....And all the vagaries involved. Ford really twisted the arm of NHRA to get it done...and not for the first time either. But consider that process involved more one specific vehicle. What we are discussing is a completely new and different process towards inclusion in the guide. Darren admits specifically that....."Once everything is approved by the NHRA it will be added to the guide. Then the whole world can see it. Which is exactly how it has always been.".....Really?....Always?
Not that I can blame them for taking advantage of a weak NHRA who's become beholden to Toyota for manufacturer support. If you can afford it, more power to you. But then too, you almost had to have an expectation that when included in the guide it would receive favorable horsepower to make it as competitive as possible.....Otherwise why would you make the investment in preemptively constructing a finished race car....One off transmission adapters included. By the way? What's the Toyota part number for that transmission adapter? Or the manufacturer? Is it an "on the shelf" part?


I believe these are the concerns you sort of glossed over in an attempt to diminish Mr.McNiel's question...though I've never met the man, maybe you could treat another racer with a little more respect, and determine his thoughts first.