Interesting Commentary on Pro Stock and Factory Stock

[PozQB14]

Last summer my brother and i were at a swap meet/car show and we had a chance to speak to an NHRA division director who was at a racers booth. We had a great conversation about the future of the NHRA and the issues within the sportsman categories and such. But one big thing we talked about was the pro stockers and the changes they were making to the class and the lack of viewing with the general public. He assured us that pro stock was going nowhere for atleast one reason....they're still handling law suits from pro stock truck teams. NHRA dropped the truck category after these teams spent millions to compete, and they won't do the same thing to the pro stock cars. They'll let the teams die out before they decide to do away with the whole class. He was really forthcoming which was very appreciated.

[Fatman]

Pro stock is dying because of the economy, and NHRA's lack of promoting the class. P/S has been left out in the cold to starve. I like many others had hoped that the new TV coverage would be better than ESPN, but sadly it's worse. NHRA was only looking to save $$$ on production cost and could give a rat's *** if the show sucks or not. Corporate money doesn't want to sponsor cars that get 1/2 the airtime of Johnny Bigmouth, or his daughters in fuel classes. Also do we really need to see 4 minutes of fuel cars backing up from burnouts and their boring staging process? The EFI has already priced good teams out of it, and NHRA rushed the class into with no parts and little time to develop them. I think if they let P/S compete on a regional level, where smaller teams could compete, and gain regional corporate interest it would surely grow the class back up. Teams that compete on a regional level would be limited to competing at national events within their region, and 2 or 3 outside of it, and teams that ran for the countdown points would be limited to 2 regional races to keep it fair and prevent heavily funded teams from using regional races as "test" events. There's no quick fix to the problem because NHRA has left the vine withering for decades now, and maybe my ideas are a crock, but I'd like to see the class thrive again. Unfortunately I agree that P/M will move ahead of P/S because the meatheads in the stands like to see aborted passes and crashes, not real geniuses who push the envelope of the internal combustion engine, and chassis to win by the closest margins. I've ranted long enough!

[jmcarter]

Think the FS1 show last night reflects the direction, 3rd and 4th Q runs of Pro Stock showed about 4 runs total. The bikes even got more exposure. NHRA mismanaged the class so bad it's on the way out.

[davidhuff]

Originally Posted by jmcarter

Think the FS1 show last night reflects the direction, 3rd and 4th Q runs of Pro Stock showed about 4 runs total. The bikes even got more exposure. NHRA mismanaged the class so bad it's on the way out.

FS1 and NHRA are doing their part to kill Pro Stock and what a Damn Shame!

[Pinballer]

Originally Posted by Ok stocker

The last time I enjoyed Pro Stock was back when you could run different motor combos and all the different body styles that were different wheel bases. The 70's were the golden ages of creativity. Pro Stock is during because of the rules no one has a connection to the cars or respect for the cookie cutter motors. Bring back the variety.

X2, Exactly my thoughts. The time and money it costs to be innovative and gain an edge in Pro Stock is beyond most human's means now, so the class will most likely wither on the vine. Hard work and some creative thinking like the 70's and 80's cars had won't cut it any more because *everybody* does that with their multi-faceted computer design driven racing operations. And if you did happen to gain some kind of advantage of a few hundredths that couldn't be called cheating, there'd probably be a short period of time before spies caught on, or the secret was sold off or leased out to other teams via a "corporate built motor".

I have the same trouble with trying to watch NASCAR races today. It's not that the sport doesn't have some appeal by it's very nature and use of strategy, after all it IS good old American auto racing, but I truly do find them boring. They weren't boring back in the 70's though. The only time anything different happens on track now is when there's a wreck and it shakes up the field. Otherwise they follow each other around lap after lap because the slightest deviation from the draft will cost them dearly.