[Jared Jordan]

One aspect that hasn't been discussed in this thread is the effect the supercharger will have on those cars at an altitude track. Those of you in the Eastern U.S. don't have nearly as many of those as we do out West. If you're getting blown off at sea level by one of these cars how much further behind are you going to be in thin-air against a forced-induction vehicle?

I'm not railing against the Cobra Jets. I think it's fantastic that the factories are injecting new technology into both Stock & Super Stock, but I worry that the playing field won't be entirely level. I never understood the uproar over injected cars vs. carbureted cars. As it turned out, there wasn't as great of a difference in performance as many feared would exist. Perhaps this is the case here, though I don't believe it to be so.

I don't currently have a "dog in the fight" so to speak, but 430 HP seems a little low. If these engines are indeed making 700+ HP (I have no doubt that they are capable of doing so...), then 3395 lbs in AA/SA and 3610 in A/SA seem a tad light. These cars will be capable of bettering the -1.40 number required by the AHFS out of the box, but I guarantee you won't see one go that fast for a couple of years. The system remains the problem, not the car(s). A truly "automatic" system without any degree of human input will never effectively maintain a level playing field. Systems can be manipulated. Common sense cannot.