[Kegracing]

Myron makes a lot of good and accurate points (like usual).

One big variable is where you live. When I lived in NC, there were plenty of IHRA tracks and races, and you could do a full season with just IHRA. Easy to run some Div. 1 and 2, along with Div. 9 races, without living on the road. Crate motor or even the Stock GT stuff was a good option. Much easier to find a body you want to race, than finding all the numbers matching stuff for a NHRA legal stocker. My 67 Firebird is a good example of that. 1967 was a one year only for heads and intake on the 400 - parts are not cheap and not easy to find. But I could put a crate motor together and go racing. Might not qualify at the top, but could race for cheap (is there such a thing???). Same with finding a complete stocker motor and putting a GT combo together.

Now that I live in TX, my crate motor has really limited my racing. Fewer IHRA tracks and much more traveling to be able to claim enough races to worry about points. Can still bracket race the crate motor without as much worry as most stocker motors, but limited tracks and much more travel out here just to hit in Div. 4 races.

All depends on what you want to do, where you are, and how much you can afford to spend! You can go faster, easier, most of the time with crate motors, especially in bodies that did not offer a "fast" motor, if that is what you want to do. Vega's for example, and every OEM has some light bodies out there for the picking.

Good luck.

Ken