I no expert, but if you don't care what brand you run, I'd say the best way is to look at the cars that are running the class you have in mind, at the big races.
At the big races where they run class, DRC usually lists all the cars in every class that has more than 1 car in it, in the order of how quick they went in qualifying.
The US Nats is a good place to look, since they allow more Stockers than at most other races.
Here's last year's class Q-list, at Indy. Should give you some choices.
https://www.dragracecentral.com/DRCS...r2017#indextop
There are obviously other car/engine combos that will fit in many of the classes. But, the most popular and softest combos will usually show up at Indy.
If you're a Chevy guy & wanna run A or B, with a carb, there are several big block combos that will work. There are also several of the Mopar big engine combos that can run the upper classes. I know VERY little about any of the later model FI combos. But, I'm sure there are guys here who can tell you the most competitive combos for any class you can name. Some cars will fit a class, but for one or more reasons is not competitive, at all.
If you wanna build a competitive low budget combo, I think Billy Nees here knows most of the best combos for that purpose.
If none of this info is helpful, just ignore it. Hey, I'm just a has been that never was much.
