Larry Morgan quitting Pro Stock

[SStockDart]

I agree completely with Evan. I have raced nothing but NHRA, since AHRA folded a long time ago. I did go to several IHRA races while I was in Missouri, as a spectator. The 10.5 class and the street radial class is really something to watch. These two classes take some of the horsepower and high dollars out of the equation ....If you don't "hook up" you will likely get beat. The stands were filled with beer drinking red necks.... (my kind of folks)....

I would think that these two classes would be something the NHRA would embrace since tech would be a "No brainer"..

Pro Stock should be a factory frame/suspension with factory body parts.

Just my 2 cents

[joespanova]

The NHRA is an "archaic" sanctioning body with their collective heads up their asses and apparently , reluctantly embrace , innovation and thinking "outside the bubble".
The heads up 10.5 stuff with over powered combos ( radials , whatever ) are very entertaining to the casual fans and SHOULD be in the NHRAs program. They weren't exactly quick to embrace Pro mod either. Pro Stock needs an overhaul and the knucklheads in Cali. ( or the teams ) dont seen to get it. Small blocks , turbos and fuel injection should be the order of the day.
Interesting NONE , ZERO of the "pros: ever defend , comment or are ever seen on message boards in the interest of "political correctness" or bad publicity for the sponsors .........or their over blown egos.................

[cutta]

Anybody have a legit plan for the transition from "current" Pro Stock to what Pro Stock should be? How do you soften the blow of telling teams to sell off millions of dollars of product(ie their current engine programs) to start new engine programs with current production engines. Also, a rule set has to be formed as well between all the different combos and a decision has to be made on whether things will stay naturally aspirated or go boosted(that could be a major talking point as most PS guys are faithfully NA). Considering the people that are already pouring millions of dollars into Pro Stock, you most definitely need their support in whatever plan you come up with because if teams like Ken Black and Allen Johnson decided to retire, your program could be in serious jeopardy because there's no guarantee you could replace their support and money.


In my opinion, I think NHRA needs to develop a 3-5yr transition plan to make Pro Stock more appealing. The first change that should be implemented immediately is a move to carbon fiber stock dimension bodies and rules to adjust for any aerodynamic disadvantages OEM to OEM to maintain parity. The next rule change(within a year) should be a move to fuel injection. Third, they need to develop a plan of how to bring the engines being used closer to OEM production platforms that way teams don't have to throw away all of their current parts. It will still be expensive but it will soften the blow.

At the end of the day, its not a simple fix because you still are having to convince millionaires to trash their current programs and build completely new ones. Thats a hard conversation to have and even harder to keep teams from calling it quits.

[joespanova]

Originally Posted by cutta

Anybody have a legit plan for the transition from "current" Pro Stock to what Pro Stock should be? How do you soften the blow of telling teams to sell off millions of dollars of product(ie their current engine programs) to start new engine programs with current production engines. Also, a rule set has to be formed as well between all the different combos and a decision has to be made on whether things will stay naturally aspirated or go boosted(that could be a major talking point as most PS guys are faithfully NA). Considering the people that are already pouring millions of dollars into Pro Stock, you most definitely need their support in whatever plan you come up with because if teams like Ken Black and Allen Johnson decided to retire, your program could be in serious jeopardy because there's no guarantee you could replace their support and money.


In my opinion, I think NHRA needs to develop a 3-5yr transition plan to make Pro Stock more appealing. The first change that should be implemented immediately is a move to carbon fiber stock dimension bodies and rules to adjust for any aerodynamic disadvantages OEM to OEM to maintain parity. The next rule change(within a year) should be a move to fuel injection. Third, they need to develop a plan of how to bring the engines being used closer to OEM production platforms that way teams don't have to throw away all of their current parts. It will still be expensive but it will soften the blow.

At the end of the day, its not a simple fix because you still are having to convince millionaires to trash their current programs and build completely new ones. Thats a hard conversation to have and even harder to keep teams from calling it quits.

Then let em go.......go do something else for fun. Nobody held or holds a gun to any of these guys heads to Pro Stock race. Most of the guys do something else for income and these are just fun toys , albeit expensive ones.....time for a "changing of the guard" as they say? Bring in the new blood from the legions of 10.5 heads up camps that would be more than willing to fill in the gaps left by the vacating current N.A. camps. Replace Pro Stock with 10.5 cars.
Yeah.....let em go , cry babies anyway.

[skills]

I am a fan and dont race, but i love pro stock. I people keep claiming young people have no interest in cars. Thats funny because how many lowered boosted imports or cobalts have you seen? Adjust pro stock to the times. Yes it will cost money, but if done the right way everybody will win. Try to get as many manufacturers involved since they all have a motor they can push. Perhaps let them do engine sizes with a weight break so you have competition not only with companies but engines also. Young people love cars its just we cant afford a hellcat yet.

[FED 387]

NASCAR did a similar thing with their program several years ago-- They said as of a certain date ALL cars will have fuel injection-engines will run on ETHANOL- compression ratios will be lowered etc.- the bodies will more closely resemble their showroom counter parts and be current year production bodies. etc etc----- they gave them a 2-3 year notice so that they could "get ready" & be totally compliant . NHRA has not done anything or very little like that or anything close to that . Nascar teams spend TENS of MILLIONS of dollars to field ONE car/team for a season. The only NHRA teams that approach such massive expenditures like that might be John Force's cars or Tony Schumacher's cars and I'm willing to bet they might be spending only a very small fraction of money for ALL of their cars compared to what a Nascar team spends to field ONE car like $3-5 Million per car per season vs. $20-30 million per car for a Nascar season maybe even more..
Even the best funded NHRA cars/teams cannot begin to compare expenses to what ONE Nascar car/team spends to run for a total season.
NHRA is going to have to make major changes to increase any future factory participitation as well as racers participitation plus keep fan interest in the PRO STOCK category- Some of those changes might be Ethanol vs Gasoline-Fuel injection vs Carb-maybe turbo charged vs non turbo - different body styles to include many manufacturers( domestic/import)-race engines based on current production engine platforms--all things that are based on CURRENT ENGINE TECHNOLOGY & the list goes on--the clock is running and now is the time to implement many of these changes

[cutta]

Originally Posted by joespanova

Then let em go.......go do something else for fun. Nobody held or holds a gun to any of these guys heads to Pro Stock race. Most of the guys do something else for income and these are just fun toys , albeit expensive ones.....time for a "changing of the guard" as they say? Bring in the new blood from the legions of 10.5 heads up camps that would be more than willing to fill in the gaps left by the vacating current N.A. camps. Replace Pro Stock with 10.5 cars.
Yeah.....let em go , cry babies anyway.

The only problem with your resolution is that most 10.5 legends wouldn't be able to afford to go coast to coast with a national series. That is a big "what if" that you are suggesting. Replacing the millions of dollars of support that your talking about getting rid of is not an easy task. Even now, 10.5 and X275 are not nationally supported. 10.5 is pretty much only supported in the Northeast and Canada. X275 is pretty regional as well. When you have a vested group that have roots in a class like PS, you need to work with them not write them off which is why I think the change to occur needs to happen over 3-5yr span. It can't be knee-jerk or abrupt.

[joespanova]

Originally Posted by cutta

The only problem with your resolution is that most 10.5 legends wouldn't be able to afford to go coast to coast with a national series. That is a big "what if" that you are suggesting. Replacing the millions of dollars of support that your talking about getting rid of is not an easy task. Even now, 10.5 and X275 are not nationally supported. 10.5 is pretty much only supported in the Northeast and Canada. X275 is pretty regional as well. When you have a vested group that have roots in a class like PS, you need to work with them not write them off which is why I think the change to occur needs to happen over 3-5yr span. It can't be knee-jerk or abrupt.

Its simple really ....they can procure sponsorship through the same efforts contemporary PS teams have................easy for me to say?
Well , you can continue to feed this ailing horse...............or put it out to pasture.............but , at some time in the not too distant future , Pro Stock is either going to change , or die.

[Isaac Zane]

Perhaps PS will (should?) head to way of what Vic Cagnazzi and Dave Connelly are running this weekend at the Keystones (Maple Grove, PA)? They are both in FS/B with their late model "Stockers".
PS would be of more interest to me with actual current bodies instead of the shell they currently are. Of course I would like Funny Car and Nascar to do the same. And in aging myself, I remember when they actually did.

[jmcarter]

Nobody should lose sight of the fact that three grey beards (Gray, Black and Johnson) get tired of spending $ and energies or simply take their marbles and go home then PS will essentially fold by itself.