Factory experimental

[Alan Roehrich]

Once again, NHRA completely ignores the law of unintended consequences, in a quest for the biggest payoff. There used to be a rule against aftermarket "tuner cars", especially those with superchargers. Anyone else actually look at the supercharger on this particular combination, and what it is actually designed to fit? When this first leaked out a while back, I did. If you know anything about engines, supercharging, and racing, you'll understand, if you don't, well, no one will ever help you figure it out. In the past, cars like this were either illegal, or immediately placed in Super Stock or another class where they actually belong.

It's funny, the ZL-1 Camaro, an actual factory production car that met all the rules, was removed from the class guide, and only recently (2005) reinstated. Funnier still, the factory production 1967 Corvette L-88 was also removed, on grounds that not enough were produced, when 36 were sold to the public, and dozens were given to racers (easily making the 50 car quota). But there are other cars that were never actually sold to the public that are allowed, and even racers and fans of that brand say they should not be.

The factory Challenger is one thing, but a Roush supercharged car is entirely different. And it has absolutely nothing to do with the "base brand" of the car, either.

Now, the next thing is, a bunch of people will come in saying this is all just a bunch of whining by the Chevy guys. Wrong again. It won't be just a few guys with L-88 Corvettes, LS-6 Chevelles, and the ZL-1 or L-72 Camaros, there'll be plenty of guys with even more expensive Hemi cars, and 427 Fords that get the short, but stiff, end of the stick from NHRA on this one. Some of those guys have had their cars for 30, and some even close to 40, years. I guess NHRA has already had enough of their little guy dollars, they're ready to take some big bucks from the factory and the tuner.