A/SA First in the 9.80's

Mike Mans · 04-05-2010, 11:18 AM

I rarely ever post on these boards, but this topic is just nuts. I understand people's frustration with fast combinations, but why does everyone complain instead of go work on their own stuff? If you are running a combination that has been beaten to death over the life of the car, i feel for you - but complaining will never make you fast again. It is absolutely ludicrous that everyone has been raising hell over the fact that Ford and Chrysler have played by the rules set forth in the NHRA rulebook and have purpose built cars within the guidelines to be competitive. Having factory involvement again Stock and Super Stock is a blessing and will hopefully keep our classes thriving into the future. Everyone in any class can be capable of winning, no matter how fast you are (as long as you can run the index obviously). It's not like the guys with the new cars are out here winning every event, so who cares how fast they go? I think you should all be impressed that a boat of a Drag Pak car with a 372 cubic inch motor with no power adders can outrun an old school 426 hemi with two carburetors!! Believe it or not, this is supposed to happen - it's evolution and progression. If a new performance car can't outrun an old performance car - the new one has some terrible engineering involved.

I know this has to be a generational thing, because I've heard the impressive story numerous times about how Ben Wenzel bought his 1967 Z-28 Camaro new, brought it to the racetrack and won the US Nationals with it in 1967. Now why can't someone go and buy a new Cobra Jet and come out and do the same thing without being harassed? If anyone wants to see Stock and Super Stock continue, there needs to be a progression with technology and reason to attract new, youthful drivers or it will be dead in 15 years. I don't have any demographic numbers, but when you walk through the staging lanes for Stock or Super Stock it's very evident that roughly 75% of these guys won't be heavily involved within the next 10 to 15 years simply because of their age! You guys hate seeing new cars come out strong, but when you were younger and used to go to your local racetrack - were you pumped to see a 32 Chevy make a run? No, you were all jacked up about your '67 Cobra Jets, '69 Camaros, '68 Hemi's etc... Those cars were all relatively new and high performance. Now why would a youthful guy/girl want to come out to a drag strip and watch a full class of 45 year old cars putt down the track? Nowadays people are educated on fuel injection and computers. A carburetor hasn't been on a factory car in 20 years!!! Just because many of you get frustrated on the new technology, doesn't mean it shouldn't be involved in present day class racing.

So many of you want a new class for all of the new factory race cars, well - how about NHRA just creates a class for you instead. Nostalgia Stock. Otherwise, get back to work on your car not your keyboard.

Mike Mans

*** This post was not meant to insult or criticize anyone with older generation cars, I truly am a fan of them and appreciate old school muscle and performance.

04-05-2010, 11:18 AM	#11
Mike Mans Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 177 Likes: 21 Liked 299 Times in 48 Posts	Re: A/SA First in the 9.80's I rarely ever post on these boards, but this topic is just nuts. I understand people's frustration with fast combinations, but why does everyone complain instead of go work on their own stuff? If you are running a combination that has been beaten to death over the life of the car, i feel for you - but complaining will never make you fast again. It is absolutely ludicrous that everyone has been raising hell over the fact that Ford and Chrysler have played by the rules set forth in the NHRA rulebook and have purpose built cars within the guidelines to be competitive. Having factory involvement again Stock and Super Stock is a blessing and will hopefully keep our classes thriving into the future. Everyone in any class can be capable of winning, no matter how fast you are (as long as you can run the index obviously). It's not like the guys with the new cars are out here winning every event, so who cares how fast they go? I think you should all be impressed that a boat of a Drag Pak car with a 372 cubic inch motor with no power adders can outrun an old school 426 hemi with two carburetors!! Believe it or not, this is supposed to happen - it's evolution and progression. If a new performance car can't outrun an old performance car - the new one has some terrible engineering involved. I know this has to be a generational thing, because I've heard the impressive story numerous times about how Ben Wenzel bought his 1967 Z-28 Camaro new, brought it to the racetrack and won the US Nationals with it in 1967. Now why can't someone go and buy a new Cobra Jet and come out and do the same thing without being harassed? If anyone wants to see Stock and Super Stock continue, there needs to be a progression with technology and reason to attract new, youthful drivers or it will be dead in 15 years. I don't have any demographic numbers, but when you walk through the staging lanes for Stock or Super Stock it's very evident that roughly 75% of these guys won't be heavily involved within the next 10 to 15 years simply because of their age! You guys hate seeing new cars come out strong, but when you were younger and used to go to your local racetrack - were you pumped to see a 32 Chevy make a run? No, you were all jacked up about your '67 Cobra Jets, '69 Camaros, '68 Hemi's etc... Those cars were all relatively new and high performance. Now why would a youthful guy/girl want to come out to a drag strip and watch a full class of 45 year old cars putt down the track? Nowadays people are educated on fuel injection and computers. A carburetor hasn't been on a factory car in 20 years!!! Just because many of you get frustrated on the new technology, doesn't mean it shouldn't be involved in present day class racing. So many of you want a new class for all of the new factory race cars, well - how about NHRA just creates a class for you instead. Nostalgia Stock. Otherwise, get back to work on your car not your keyboard. Mike Mans *** This post was not meant to insult or criticize anyone with older generation cars, I truly am a fan of them and appreciate old school muscle and performance.