[Alan Roehrich]

Quite the contrary, Ken. As an example, the 396/375 and the 427/425 Chevrolet engines remained much the same, especially with respects to Stock Eliminator as it stands today, for almost their entire run from 1965/66 to 1969, and if you include the minor overbore that created the 402, all the way up until 1970. That's just one example, with two engines. There are others.

While there were new cars and new engines introduced on a regular basis, even yearly, back then, the factories actually had to produce complete running cars that were sold in quantity to the general public in order to get them into the guide.

It's not so much that I wish for some return to nostalgic times as it is that I fully recognize what factory involvement with zero constraints can do, especially given the fact that they are no longer required to actually produce complete street legal production cars, but can in fact sell "packages" of partially assembled parts that meet no recognizable standards, and can even just change a few specifications with the stroke of a pen.

Those new cars often only have more "factory parts" on them because now the factories often merely buy aftermarket parts, and put their own part numbers and logos on them.

We're not quitting either, as I've said before, we're adding a Super Stock car to the stable, I'm leaving to go work on it after I post this. We currently run A/SA and AA/SA, so we're just as effected as you, and now we're going to run SS/EA, and possibly SS/DA as well.

Where you see all these wonderful possibilities with new cars and "crate motors", I see that absolute power corrupts absolutely, and the OEM's are getting a blank piece of paper from NHRA allowing them to do pretty much as they please. Much like one would look at a law not just to see what good it could do when administrated by a good person, but also to see what harm it could do if misused, I look at the "new cars", the "new rules" and the "new factory involvement" to see how it can be used for both good and for harm. I see far more potential for the factories to abuse the "new" things, as much by what they have already done with them and what they've shown they plan to do with them, as anything else.