Approval of Super Stock Class Aftermarket Cylinder Heads

[Rory McNeil]

Funny thing about the "upgraded" cylinder heads, is that like many other things that get "upgraded", such "upgrades" became allowed because so many people were outright cheating , and I guess NHRA threw their hands up in the air, and now the cheating was now made acceptable. I am a little to young to remember when Stocker cams had to meet the OE lift, duration, and valve spring pressures, but I certainly remember when NHRA allowed porting, welding, and epoxying heads for Super Stock, because so many cheaters were running ILLEGALLY ported and welded heads, and then trying to cover up their cheating. So, NHRA gave in, and now the cheaters, were suddenly the innovators! So yes, the "upgrades" allowed the SS cars to go faster, and no longer had to cover up their cheating. Then came all the approved aftermarket heads, intake manifolds, carbs, etc, all under the guise that it was "too hard" to find factory heads. Find it strange that the big and SB Chevy racers, and 390 Ford, and some MoPar racers that run common combinations, that all were produced by the millions, can`t find any OE heads, but the handful of heads produced for stuff like Max Wedge MoPars, that have all been used for racing for 60 years, can still be found. There are a lot of combinations in the NHRA rulebook, that are not "blessed" with accepted, aftermarket heads, intakes and carbs, kinda makes for a tilted playing field, no? Seems kinda strange to look under the hood of a "Stocker", with lightweight aftermarket seats, wheelie bars, and a 4 gallon fuel cell,and see a Quick Time or Edelbrock carb, sitting on an non factory intake manifold, bolted to Edelbrock aluminum heads, makes you look at the window to see if you are looking at a "Stocker, Super Stocker, or PRO bracket car.