A/F and TAFC

[Murrieta Mad Man]

My question is why can't you run an A fuel engine in Top Alcohol Funny car? What makes it different than the dragsters?

 

[Nunz]

This is a very old argument, one I actually brought up on another thread. The A/FCs were written out of the rules years ago, and I'm not sure why nobody has lobbied to bring them back. My thought is the NHRA has years of dealing with the 2 combos in TAD and have them extremely close in performance, and I think they could apply that knowledge to the TAFC class. Would love to see it.

 

[mike]

This is a very old argument, one I actually brought up on another thread. The A/FCs were written out of the rules years ago, and I'm not sure why nobody has lobbied to bring them back. My thought is the NHRA has years of dealing with the 2 combos in TAD and have them extremely close in performance, and I think they could apply that knowledge to the TAFC class. Would love to see it.

Ask any of the tafc competitors if they would want to see it ? I once asked Frank Manzo the same ? His answer was are you insane.[nuts]

 

[JHOLE]

 

[SundayNiagara]

The points races don't have the equipment to deal with a nitro fire in an enclosed body.

 

[JB3]

The points races don't have the equipment to deal with a nitro fire in an enclosed body.

Not even close to true

 

[Nunz]

Anything can happen, but I've seen more fires in Pro Mod cars than A/FDs. And PM cars run points meets. I think some regional events also feature nostalgia nitro FCs as well.

 

[Randy]

I was for it and so was Bucky when we were running, and there were some who supported it. Support went away quickly when Scott Weis ran one in IHRA and proceeded to outrun everyone before IHRA banned the combination due to the kicking and screaming that went on. NHRA didn't want to deal with another problem.

Here's a story on it from Bobby at CompetitionPlus:

http://www.competitionplus.com/featured-stories/8099-afuel-flopper-the-weisguy

 

[Jim]

Presumably, there's also a cost issue?

 

[Nunz]

Cost issue is same as in TAD. Guys make a case for each combo, Randy can chime in since he's actually run a TAFC.

 

[Toejam]

My question is why can't you run an A fuel engine in Top Alcohol Funny car? What makes it different than the dragsters?

Once the A/Fuel combo became dominant in TAD, NHRA has done a Terrible job of leveling the playing field thus a Ton of the blown guys quit, or switched to TAFC! Jay Payne, Sean Obannon, Mic Snider, Jeff Wilson, Lee Calloway ( however he has since switched back!). NHRA doesn't wanna go through that hassle all over again.

 

[none]

Way back when I sent out some questionnaires to racers in TAFC and some that had quit. The response leaned towards allowing A/Fuel funny car. A few of the big hitters in the class didn't want it for their own reasons. And I had three or four ex-racers that said they would build one. My car owner at the time said he would build one in a heartbeat. Had some discussion with NHRA and they wanted nothing to do with it at all. Never gave me a solid reason. Just a NO. I still wish it would have happened but just my opinion. Hell I still think the current A/Fuel cars and A/fuel funny cars could be morphed into the new big show when the current show prices themselves out of existence.

 

[Randy]

Way back when I sent out some questionnaires to racers in TAFC and some that had quit. The response leaned towards allowing A/Fuel funny car. A few of the big hitters in the class didn't want it for their own reasons. And I had three or four ex-racers that said they would build one. My car owner at the time said he would build one in a heartbeat. Had some discussion with NHRA and they wanted nothing to do with it at all. Never gave me a solid reason. Just a NO. I still wish it would have happened but just my opinion. Hell I still think the current A/Fuel cars and A/fuel funny cars could be morphed into the new big show when the current show prices themselves out of existence.

That's how I remember it. As far as cost, it depends on whether or not you have your act together on the tune-up in A/F. Eating up a set of heads every run can get expensive, but so do blower belts, valve springs, transmission maintenance and other RPM related damage that will surely happen in TA/FC. Neither is cheap.

 

[Butch]

looking back to late 70's we had a blast running 6.70's and it was a hell of a lot less $$.
then what it cost today running 5.40

 

[Nunz]

Everything is better looking back. I'm not disagreeing with you, but nobody gets into the game with the goal of running the same ETs and speeds 40 years later. It's the very nature of motorsports, to go faster. And to go faster, you need to spend more. And that's how we got here. Also, I know that guys running alky cars back in the '70s didn't feel like they were cheap cars to race, especially after it became necessary to run aftermarket aluminum blocks and heads, which happened way before Pro Comp even got split up.

 

[flapjack]

Competition Plus posted a link to an archived article on A/F:

http://www.competitionplus.com/featured-stories/8099-afuel-flopper-the-weisguy

 

[TooTall999]

Injected nitro funny cars would allow a nice progression to the pro ranks...

 

[vegasnitro]

Injected nitro funny cars would allow a nice progression to the pro ranks...

Many people say the alcohol funny cars are harder to drive than nitro cars, so I would think they already make a nice progression. The limiting factor, as always, is money.

 

[Reese]

Many people say the alcohol funny cars are harder to drive than nitro cars, so I would think they already make a nice progression. The limiting factor, as always, is money.

I like watching alcohol funny cars more that nitro funny cars. Watching a driver stage a car at what over 9,000 rpm and then having to hit all shift points and keep it in the groove. It have to be the hardest car to drive I think.

 

[JHOLE]

..and one- handed..