Hemi Head Ruling

[Dwight Southerland]

Originally Posted by 426Fred

I for one love this stuff. It just goes to show how passionate these guys are to be the best that they can be. If you are not looking for an advantage to get ahead of your competition, you might as well stay home. It reminds me of the early 70's ProStock racing. Dollar for dollar, if I had a choice to watch the current ProStock racing or the HEMI shoot out at Indy, handsdown I would watch the shoot out every time. How many stock andsuper stock racers do you see going to the lanes to see ProStock racing versus the HEMI's running? Run what you brung, lets see a 7 this year

I'm with you, Fred. Someone else mentioned the early 70s Pro Stock controversy over cylinder heads, and I loved that part too. It's too bad that the associations and people in charge think it is the right thing to do to make it so there is no controversy. It's called "leveling the playing - field". It's like what has happened in our country - "all men are created equal" has been transformed into "everybody should pay their fair share". NASCAR is a good example. What used to be a rich arena of manufacturers' competition has been so homogenized so that the excitement fans look for is fights between drivers and crashes. It's the controversies that mix the people and the machines that make racing exciting for the fans. The Gasser Wars, factory Super Stocks, Pro Stocks, the early Funny Cars - those were exciting. Of course, we have such an entitlement mentality that prevades our society now that lawsuits become the threat to make things fair, not the battle in the arena.

I applaude you AH guys. I just hope that for once in the history of this great sport that leadership, honor, wisdom and character leads this era and restores some of that part of the glory that created it. For all involved, please don't turn it into a cat fight; the honor is in the battle, not just in who wins.

MHO, and worth about a nickel.

Dwight Southerland

[jaythorne]

There is a place for run whatcha brung it's called pro stock....if that's what ya want go there...I'm sure it wouldn't cost much more

[Stewart Way]

David
Your comment about no rule stating how narrow the scoop can be may be true but there is a rule that keeps you from narrowing the scoop. Under your train of thought there also is no rule in the rulebook saying how wide a Dart is or how tall the windshield is but I think we all know they have to be stock. It has been in the rule book since the early 70's at least. Under SuperStock/body section in the rulebook it says "Alterations or customizing prohibited,". Since the hood is part of the body, and the scoop is part of the hood it cant be altered. No saying this rule has not been abused by many in the past and today, just pointing out the rule as written. The rule used to not allow altering the body for class advantage but that was really a hard one to prove so it was changed to prohibited.
I remember a Div ll car with the Shaker scoop in SS/DA or EA making the shaker so it came up when the hood was raised. It was no allowed. It was bodyworked to the hood and may have been a touch talled when finished. Looked pretty cool.
No dog in the fight, just an old X NHRA tech guy who still reads the rulebook.

[art leong]

Originally Posted by Stewart Way

David
Your comment about no rule stating how narrow the scoop can be may be true but there is a rule that keeps you from narrowing the scoop. Under your train of thought there also is no rule in the rulebook saying how wide a Dart is or how tall the windshield is but I think we all know they have to be stock. It has been in the rule book since the early 70's at least. Under SuperStock/body section in the rulebook it says "Alterations or customizing prohibited,". Since the hood is part of the body, and the scoop is part of the hood it cant be altered. No saying this rule has not been abused by many in the past and today, just pointing out the rule as written. The rule used to not allow altering the body for class advantage but that was really a hard one to prove so it was changed to prohibited.
I remember a Div ll car with the Shaker scoop in SS/DA or EA making the shaker so it came up when the hood was raised. It was no allowed. It was bodyworked to the hood and may have been a touch talled when finished. Looked pretty cool.
No dog in the fight, just an old X NHRA tech guy who still reads the rulebook.

Stewart I got a letter of repremand for having louvers in my front fenders. The had inner fenderwells so there was no advantage. But they made me change them.
The only fiberglass fenders made for a neon had the louvers. So I had to get metal ones. That were 3 pounds (each) lighter than the fiberglass ones.

[SSDiv6]

Originally Posted by art leong

Stewart I got a letter of repremand for having louvers in my front fenders. The had inner fenderwells so there was no advantage. But they made me change them.
The only fiberglass fenders made for a neon had the louvers. So I had to get metal ones. That were 3 pounds (each) lighter than the fiberglass ones.

Art, everyone knows the louvers were for feeding air to the hidden ProCharger!!!

[art leong]

Originally Posted by SSDiv6

Art, everyone knows the louvers were for feeding air to the hidden ProCharger!!!

But they never measured my hood scoop. Also know as front mounted parachute. LOL

[Pvt Parts]

Originally Posted by art leong

But they never measured my hood scoop. Also know as front mounted parachute. LOL

You know, I've seen this kind of nonsense go on for years and it's not limited to racers. Over the years it seems that one thing remains the same.... "the whiners and the crybabies (for the most part) who cry the loudest have the most to lose". Case in point: When I first moved from SS to Comp I had an A/SM Olds Calais. The rear spoiler was an oem factory piece that was bolted (in the factory location) and bondoed to the deck lid. It was clearly for aesthetic purposes. There was no real benefit. At Maple Grove another SM Comp racer started whining and complaining about it. NHRA Tech told me to remove it so I did.... on the spot. Then I went to the semi's, ran it out the back against Larry Kopp, went .60 + under and hit the index. That's when the real whining started. Later at Topeka, I hit the index again. At that point, a mindless few even threatened me. Lesson: Be careful what you complain about. The end result may be far more unpleasant.