Spy shots - Don Garlits Challenger

[Smitty]

Originally Posted by bill dedman

Smitty said, "Chrysler built the Hemi back in the 60's as a purpose built SS car and you couldn't drive it on the street. There were to versions, the street and race just like Ford."

But, you never saw a '68 Hemi Barracuda/Dart or a Thunderbolt in Stock Eliminator, did you?

No... NHRA put them in Super Stock, where they belonged, and where these new cars belong.

If these new entries had been classified into Super Stock, where they belong, nobody would be complaining.

Supercharged cars that can't even be licensed don't belong in Stock Eliminator. That flys in the face of fifty+ years of tradition.


Don't agree? That's your right, but show me a precedent.

I want disagree with you on that one sir, I have never seen where either car was in Stock Eliminator but that but doesn't change the fact that these cars haven't shown that have an overwhelming advantage in the class. Didn't a Q/SA car win today at the Gators? there were several fast AA/SA thru C/SA cars there and they didn't win so what is the issue?

[bill dedman]

Originally Posted by Smitty

I want disagree with you on that one sir, I have never seen where either car was in Stock Eliminator but that but doesn't change the fact that these cars haven't shown that have an overwhelming advantage in the class. Didn't a Q/SA car win today at the Gators? there were several fast AA/SA thru C/SA cars there and they didn't win so what is the issue?

Well, the Mustang won the first race it was entered in, and the Challenger hasn't run yet, so I'm not sure there's much to go by yet, beyond their factors. The Mustang factors are, as almost everone agrees, absurdly soft. That would give them a huge advantage in Class racing, but not necessarily in the Eliminator until they have a race with another similarly-classed car. Ken Miele owns and races arguably the fastest AA/SA car in competition (until these Mustangs came into the picture), and he's admitted that they are a LOT faster than his car... because of the weight they DON'T have to carry, due to their soft factor.

The Challengers are an unknown entity at this point, from where I stand.

As for your question about lower classed cars winning... there is no question. The ONLY problem with all of this as I see it, is the unrealistic HP factor given these blown 'stangs.

Yes, a lower class car won Gainesville, but the advantage that under-factored (such as the Mustang) cars have, disappears in handicap (Eliminator) racing, so the issue is not with cars in other classes... just issues for cars in the under-factored car's class.
It gladdens my heart when a lower-classed car wins; I feel it somehow validates the handicap system's ability to level the playing field between the slower cars and the fast ones. Now, if they'd just get rid if the antique "first red light loses" rule, which deprives the quicker car of his chance to red light if the first car bulbs, then there would be very little to complain about. That would be another step toward making things as fair as they could possibly be.