Re: 1968 Camaro in C/SA?
 

Fascinating story, but what does this have to do with Jimmy Alund's Nova stocker?

Re: 1968 Camaro in C/SA?
 

Read the entire thread, then ask Fred. Fred thinks he knows.




There's a big difference between the two (actually, there's another instance identical to Alund's) circumstances, some people know what the difference is. Fred doesn't.

Re: 1968 Camaro in C/SA?
 

Alan,

Thank you for confirming he is racing a combo that doesn't exist in the guide. If another racer builds this combo, which NHRA tech official do they ask to run this special class and combo?

BTW I have nothing but upmost respect for Jimmy however his merits or circumstances doesn't make him exempt from the rules that everyone else has to adhere too.

Fred is right on this

Re: 1968 Camaro in C/SA?
 

Dave,
With all due respect, "not in the guide"? Since when? Last I looked, the 65 Corvette 396/425 was in the guide. Jimmy's combination is just that, 1965 Corvette 396/425, manual transmission only. With aluminum replacement heads, 411HP as of 7/9/13, when Jimmy was, and still is last I looked, the only person racing that combination, iron heads or aluminum heads. In July of 2013, when they added HP, to the aluminum head ONLY, Jimmy was told, by an NHRA official, that the car could now legally move to SS/B. There was no "exemption", Jimmy asked a question, and was given an incorrect opinion, by an NHRA official. There's no "combination that does not exist in the guide", period.


By the way, after all of the complaining, by people who don't even run the class, Jimmy was informed by NHRA at Bowling Green on Memorial Day weekend that the opinion that he was given by the NHRA official was incorrect, and that he had to move to SS/C. No penalty was given, no reprimand was made, Jimmy was merely informed that the ruling by the NHRA official was incorrect.


So, no, Fred is not correct, at all. There's no made up combination, and no special exception made for Jimmy Bridges. There was just an honest mistake made by an NHRA official, nothing more, nothing less. The accusations that Jimmy Bridges asked for or was granted a special favor or exception, is racing a combination that is not in the guide, or that anyone did anything dishonest in the situation, are absolutely false.

Re: 1968 Camaro in C/SA?
 

I don't have a dog in this fight, but I've been curious about the replacement heads and how you figure the class.
Looking at Jimmy's car, it has a factor of 7.65 with hp rating of 395 with cast heads. Multiply those together to get the shipping weight of 3022, which makes it a natural D car.
With the aluminum replacements heads hp of 411, wouldn't you divide the shipping weight by 411 to give the NHRA factor of 7.35? Which would make it a natural C car and be able to move up to B....

Re: 1968 Camaro in C/SA?
 

Mark, that was the exact question posed to an NHRA Tech official when the HP factor on the replacement head combination went to 411. The answer Jimmy was given was "Yes". The reason given was that the aluminum head version of the combination had been hit with HP repeatedly, while the cast iron head combination remained the same, since no one was running it. So, rather than JUST the 10HP penalty for replacement heads, the replacement heads were now carrying 26 more HP.


However, that official's answer was apparently incorrect. The ruling given was that, no matter how much penalty is put on the replacement heads, the base class remains the same as if no replacement head is used. Of course, this could lead to a replacement head combination becoming illegal, since it could require more ballast to be added than is legal.

Re: 1968 Camaro in C/SA?
 

But it have not it's own column in the guide then?
If not I think thats the bottom line in this, can anyone running replacement heads use this argument if they would like to try to move up another class or is it case by case?

Re: 1968 Camaro in C/SA?
 

I just looked at the guide for 1965. The replacement head does have its own column.


However, once again, Jimmy was told, at Bowling Green, on Memorial Day weekend, that the base class of the car was the same as if it had iron heads, regardless of how much extra HP was put on the replacement heads. So the current combination can no longer be run in SS/B.