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Anderson`s rant
- Thread starter Percboy
- Start date
Dragracer
Nitro Member
Time after time Pro Stock has made the issue of track prep past 1000'. Sometimes they do the track and make it good but other times not so much. It's well known how the lack of downforce makes Pro Stock very evil handling. I hope this does not become one of those issues that isn't handled until something terrible happens. Greg probably has made more runs down the track than any other PS driver and would know if it was a track prep issue.
Well we all know NHRA does a great job prepping the tracks, the question is are they always prepping the last 320ft? The PS cars that were testing in Phoenix were only running to 1000ft., as that's how far the prep went. Roger Brogdon said on one run he stuck with it a bit past the 1000ft mark and it changed lanes.
Percboy
Nitro Member
Back to my original question....what is the downside of prepping past 1000"?
I could be wrong and usually am...no authority on Pro Stock here other than like the rest of us we understand the dangers associated with the lack of downforce on these cars. But to me it appeared that Anderson started drifting towards the centerline not far past the 660'; reasons unknown. Maybe the setup was off. By the time the car got to around the 1000' it was out of the groove and into the marbles where (I'm assuming) the tires broke loose. Rather than lifting and popping the chutes he chose to make a correction under power and it was pretty obvious to all that watched it that the car wasn't happy with that. Just like he said, Greg is damned lucky he didn't destroy a half million dollar race car and put himself in the hospital - or worse.
I was standing near the fence at about 800 feet years ago when Bruce Allen and Kenny Koretsky locked horns. Allen had exactly the same thing happen, except the drift was towards the wall and not the centerline. He chose to correct back towards the groove - a natural reaction when you see the wall coming your way at 200mph - and we all know what happened next. Bottom line - in my humble opinion the track prep wasn't to blame and Anderson probably should have simply lifted and popped the chutes, even if it meant crossing the centerline and taking the points penalty.
I was standing near the fence at about 800 feet years ago when Bruce Allen and Kenny Koretsky locked horns. Allen had exactly the same thing happen, except the drift was towards the wall and not the centerline. He chose to correct back towards the groove - a natural reaction when you see the wall coming your way at 200mph - and we all know what happened next. Bottom line - in my humble opinion the track prep wasn't to blame and Anderson probably should have simply lifted and popped the chutes, even if it meant crossing the centerline and taking the points penalty.
Too much prep can rip pieces of rubber off the tires of the nitro cars as they rapidly decelerate past 1000'.
Maybe someone with an officials shirt on should ride one of these things past 1000 !
Ramjet
Nitro Member
If there is no safe solution for stopping for the fuel cars and safely going past the 1000 ft. for the P/S cars maybe it's time to go to 1000 feet for the P/S'ers. There are usually no stands past 1000 feet anyway at most tracks and other than chest pounding about the MPH the spectators have to see the score boards or watch the Jumbotron to see who won. They (NHRA) shortened the track for safety for two of the Pro classes why not for the third one. 75 to 80% of these tracks are too short anyway. When they were built the speeds of the dragsters were in the neighborhood of todays (even slower) Pro Stock cars and even the P/S Motorcycles. Pomona is the oldest still running NHRA drag strip and many years ago we used to have turn to the left at the end and had a pile of RR Ties for a speed trap. Now with a real sand trap going straight in it is even shorter and the speeds are over 100+ MPH faster.
mikebcurve
Nitro Member
1000-FOOT FOR PRO STOCK: DRIVERS SAY NICE PLACE TO VISIT, BUT NOT TO LIVE | Competition Plus
While many of their counterparts were running to the quarter-mile in Bakersfield, a fair share of Pro Stock drivers participating in the Nitro Spring Training session at Wild Horse Motorsports Park were only running to the 1,000-foot mark. Dallas Glenn usually runs to the 1,000-foot mark in his...
Huge
Nitro Member
The rule of thumb is nobody likes changes. But if they ever did change to 1000' the teams would adapt, and it would become the norm just like it did with the nitro cars. You would get some racers and some fans kicking and screaming for a while but in the long run it would probably save on parts and be safer for the driver. There has been a lot of pro stock cars crashed in the past that would probably not have crashed at the shorter distance. Plus, the pro stock drivers would never have to be concerned about the track prep after the 1000' again. I think that's a win win for everyone. As a spectator it sure wouldn't bother me any.
J
Nitro Member
Why dont we just reduce races to 60ft. We dont need to shorten races,if anything go back to 1/4. Problem solved with ps
A while back the P/S category was complaining about running after the fuel classes because of all of the clutch dust on the track even after a quick re-spray and drag. I think, Don't get me wrong, I think that they stop spraying after 1000 feet is because of the tire chunking. The sportsman categories were complaning about having to run after the Jet Cars because they would leave a greasy film on the track.
*******
Nitro Member
I would trust Greg Andersons or Warren Johnsons assessment of a race track way before I would listen to any of you keyboard jockeys. Including Alan R. NHRA doesn't care about anybody but the fuel cars. Had a good friend drive all the way from Texas to run S/C and they ran the semi's right after TAD without touching the track and there was so much crap on it he damn near crashed his 180mph dragster. You think it's safe for pro stock car?
