[Jeff Lee]

Hear my rant....I have made it clear these late model Challenger DP / CJ cars should be SS cars (and no sense re-hashing the same old arguments about not even available for public use).
But this is the same NHRA that would not allow a superseded carb for my AMC. I have provided document after document to show it legitimacy. IHRA accepted it. NHRA's response was it appeared legit but after all the fiasco over the FOMOCO FE allowances, didn't want to go down that road again.
So in essence, NHRA admits the FE issues are a problem, won't fix them because they're in place, and others get to race against their "bogus" parts.
But in truth, that's OK. Why? Because I new what I had for parts when I built my car and I knew what my competitors also had. It was no mystery to me. Would I like to even the odds? Sure. But it doesn't appear likely.
But, and that's a BIG BUT, when one builds a car, factors in his potential competition, even looks into a crystal ball and tries to imagine what the OEM may provide in the future, NOBODY would have ever imagined NHRA would allow vehicles and drive trains that have not now (or ever) been allowed for public consumption.
So in effect, as mention by Alan, SS Engine Guy and numerous others, NHRA has flat "blown away" any semblance of a level playing field with the allowance of these crate engines...make that crate, paper; call it what you want vehicles. It matters not at all what the odds are in facing one of these vehicles in actual competition. The fact is, you spend your hard earned dollars traveling and entering races and this is a "performance based class" so many of us race with expectations (after hard work) of winning class and setting records. Loosing on a fair and level playing field is one thing and often times it's the impetus that drives us to further refine our cars.
But to have a top notch car that looses by a half-second to a paper car will take the wind out of your sales, in a hurry.
The LT-1 / LS-1 is an issue...an old issue. It was corrected so it's not a debate anymore.
And for those that seem to believe there isn't the potential for a half-second romp on the competition, pay attention to the MPH numbers. As I've said before, these CJ's and DP's (primarily the CJ's so far) either have throttle stops (or some electronic version) or are horribly inefficient race cars. There's 10+ years in AHFS penalties in these cars.