who's to blame?

I for one blame the ones who let the screw blowers in tafc and I would say the injected cars in tad.you had a lot more cars before people started buying there horsepower. Only the rich surive. Just like our economy!

 

Yeah because roots blowers wouldn't have got better and more expensive either..

 

But there would have been more than one player making them, when ever you give the keys to the kingdom to just one it never turns out good.

 

New FC screw blower 10995 most guys have 1. run it all year only spray gel in it. take it off at the end of the year put it back on at the beginning of the next year.
DMPE state of the art hi helix roots blower 13995 for pro mod, most teams have at least 2 and need restrip. yea that will save you money

 

Blame

So in other words, you are saying people who were born with nothing but there Mothers blessing...Have worked hard all there life and have done well.. Shouldn't be able to race ??? And are the Blame with were racing is today ???

 

The injected cars have always been a legal combination dating back to the pro comp days, it took technology to make them a competitive combination. I have no experience with dragsters so I will leave them out of my reply from here forward.

I have been around alky funnies since 79, with the All American Funny Car Series, based out of Dallas, Frank Cook, Dennis Pirinio, Harold Lewelling and guys of the like. I was around when NHRA came to the circuit and asked them to come to their races, and PAID the circuit to come because they (NHRA) had no better show in this area. I have seen 20 cars in division 4 alone trying to make an 8 car show. Seen alot of good guys come and go due to the expense. I currently tune/crew chief a legal TA/FC, so it's not that I am some side liner wishing and whining that he could get back in.
The bottom line "IMO" is the expense, and it did start with the screw blower. That one piece alone took alot of guys out of the equation. Dad was able to go the Whipple route only because of an inheritance that coincided with the advent of the screw blower, and we all know how well that turned out. I come from the days where two or three guys could pool thier resources and field a respectable effort. The $10,000.00 blower to be competitive ended alot of aspiring teams. Some sold out completely, some put altered bodies on their chassis, and others I dont know about any longer. Yes the roots and high helix stuff has gotten better, and more expensive, plus maintenance to maintain them, but at the time, it was not so.
The carbon brakes last season was just another contributing factor, to the demise of the class. Yes, I said demise.
We all buy the same parts, blocks, heads, blowers, clutches, fuel systems, and there are few doing anything different, but all expect differeent results.
Some will argue safety, some expense, but in a division that held maybe the largest per capita of cars in the country, that has now been reduced to three to four cars, and one of them is from southern California, with a New York driver, the cost is choking all of us dearly. And once again there are 20 plus altereds showing up for a chicago style 1/8 mile booked in show in the DFW area.
The racers themselves are responsible. Don't blame the sanctioning body. We wanted it, we got it. Instead of looking out for the benefit of the class, we are looking out for number one. Joe Snuffy has it, so I have to have it too to be competitive.
Top Alcohol Funny Car, Federal Mogul Funny Car, BB Funny Car, what ever you want to call it this week, they are still the ultimate hot rod in my opinion, and nothing I would rather have more.
It's progress, and I am as guilty as the rest.

 

why

why do you think nhra didin't shorten the track to 1000 for the class? because the the times would be too close to the nitro cars! Also thats why they didin't make it a pro class watch out promod!!

 

?

Have you ever been 260 @ Half Track? Has an alcohol car ever been 260 @ half Track?

Our desire to do anything in life is limited to our ability to fund the experience. The gentleman from California has put himself in a position to do what he is doing.

If your desire is to be competitive in the lane next to his car, you have the same opportunity as he. Rick has worked far harder than any of the rest of us to be where he is at. I thank him for being the productive person that he is.

With that said-----------Do you think it would be the wright thing to do if the rules were changed in your favor?

Please address the question and re-think your negative stance.

 

Good post Bob. I agree the screw blower is what began to separate the haves from the have nots. You use to be able to always count on a full show since it was still affordable to most, even the low buck guys. Then the screw blower changed all that and teams were weeded out as they simply couldn't afford to take the big step up. And when you add HP then it becomes a domino effect of upgrades in other places in the car.

 

Fixing the problem instead of trying to fix the blame.

I suggest we all spend the time and energy trying fixing the problem instead of trying to fix the blame.
We all would like to go back to when we each feel it was Racing Cars instead of racing pocket-books. That nostalgic time is different for everyone of course.
This is related to that old joke (or is it) How to make a small fortune auto racing = Start with a large fortune and go auto racing.
NHRA has tried to control the rising costs on many occasions. The one that comes to mind was the short lived un-enforced and ignored moratorium on new cylinder head designs. NHRA has also tried to limit blower changes and that too failed.
These efforts have failed for one reason and of course it was money. The guys with big money wanted the parts and could afford them and as always are the most vocal along with the sellers of the new parts need a market. I should mention that I have never felt limiting innovation was the right thing to do.
Yes it would be nice to be one of 'them' so I could buy the newest trick of the week too. But then all of the cool innovations on my car would possibility not exist under those conditions. As the high dollar guys are usually not the ones inventing or making that one of a kind part that makes their car - faster, safer, easier to maintain. This is why I love working on my car. Making improvements to parts I have or just making my own when I think I can do it better.
You see we need 16 car fields with 4 qualifiers so the innovators can run their cars and play with their 'NEW' parts. This also allows new drivers a chance to run and learn.
The guys at the top want to keep the status quo and to do that requires keeping the other guys from getting into the show. The way to do that is 8 car fields and limited qualifying runs and that is exactly what they are trying to accomplish. The problem with that is without new blood the class dies out rapidly.
So if you want 8 car fields at least do what has been needed for so long - Split the AFuel cars and the Blown cars into the two separate classes that they are. Personally I would like to see AFuel Funny Cars but ONLY if they were run as a separate class.
To keep costs down and safety up (Although I am a Die Hard 1/4 mile guy) racing to 1000' keeps top end RPM down and the extra 320FT of shut down is a GOOD THING on some tracks.
Consider RPM Limiters in the 8900 - 9200 range for blown cars (only if the class is split) This will keep costs down and reduce oil downs.