Back from Indy-what's happened to Stock Eliminator??

[Alan Roehrich]

Originally Posted by BadBanana

"There was a time when NHRA knew this. Purpose built factory race cars were put in Super Stock or Factory Experimental classes, where they belonged."

You made some good points (high hp cars on small slicks - dangerous !!!) but drew some poor conclusions.
The above statement wasn't exactly true. When it all started in the early 60s there was only Stock Elim. Super Stock was a class in it. In '62 the top class in Stock Elim was Super Super Stock (413 Chryslers, 409 Chevys, 406 Fords, 421 Pontiacs) They were limited to 7" slicks; and drew the crowds. When they ran Top Stock Elim. at the '62 Nationals it was the top Stock cars, including SS/S cars. When they ran the Elim. there were even some A/S cars in it..

The point that JHeath makes is very valid. If you don't come up with a way to co-exist in Stock Elim. and "give it up", you will lose your Eliminator.
Figure it out. Take your concerns and figure them out; but don't exclude the future or you will lose - guaranteed !!!
Form a Stock /Super Stock association and work out the details to everybody's (well almost everybody's) satisfaction with some give and take, and get it ALL hashed out and written up and signed by everyone and then present the package to NHRA, in a way that will benefit them, as well.
for a small example - give the new 7 lb. classes 10 " slicks for their class only.
Why in the world would you care - as long as the handicap is correct from your class to theirs ???

First, we're talking about Stock Eliminator as it has been for about 40 years, with Super Stock (oddly enough where the Hemi powered factory race cars went as soon as they were released) as an entirely separate class. The Stock Eliminator that 90% of the people discussing this have been in for years.

Which of the 409 cars were factory race cars, limited production? The closest would be the 63 Z-11. The 406 Fords were limited production? The Mopars? Those were production cars sold in volume to the general public. But we're not talking about stripped down muscle cars sold to the general public you could drive home from the dealer anymore.


Who said anything about not allowing new cars? New cars are fine. Try to convince Ford of that, by the way. Find a new Ford production Mustang in the guide after 2008. Good luck with that. I hope they bring in every new combination Ford GM and Chrysler sell for street use to the general public, and put every single one of them in the guide, they belong there.

The new factory race cars are great, I like them. Some of my good friends own them. They belong on the drag strip. But they belong in their own class. Honestly, they need an F/X class, with 10.5 slicks, their own factors, their own weight breaks, with their own indexes, and their own safety regulations, so they can really show their true performance. They really need to be on 10.5" slicks, with weight breaks starting at 6.0 or 7.0 up to about 9.0, with full 12 point cages, and indexes starting out at around 9.70 or 9.90, low enough that they can go out and race, instead of sandbagging to protect their factors.

Showcase the new cars, let them really run, let them really fight it out. If you had a few F/X classes, with 1 pound weight breaks, you'd have 32 cars or so going fast, with plenty of hard core heads up races, low ET's, big MPH, and a great show.