Big Changes coming to Pro Stock

[Sean D, shondoo]

If nothing else, I'm glad to see the potential for change is being embraced. It's obvious we as fans aren't the only ones that see the class as stale, boring and in need of help.

I TOTALLY agree with virtually everything that AJ said. Right down to the wheelie bar comment. I would have to disagree with Freeman in regards to the cubic inch deal. I truly believe that in order to get maximum support from the factories, as well as possible interest from the foreign market, the engine combinations will need to be based off of the current production platforms. I think major factory involvement is going to be HUGE in this transition, simply because the air-time will continue to play second fiddle to the nitro cars, thus sponsorship support will continue to sputter.

Just my .02

Sean D

 

[FABMAN]

Excellent article on Pro Stock at www.enginelabs.com, sorry I don't know how to save and move article on this dang Smart Phone. Hopefully one of our smart maters can do it.

 

[CJDeeds]

Jesse, that is an interesting article. I agree with them that air supply is going to be a key engineering concern. http://www.enginelabs.com/news/nhra-ponders-efi-and-other-changes-to-pro-stock/

 

[FABMAN]

Jesse, that is an interesting article. I agree with them that air supply is going to be a key engineering concern. http://www.enginelabs.com/news/nhra-ponders-efi-and-other-changes-to-pro-stock/

Thanks for putting on here

 

[Alan]

I would like to see Camaro, Mustang, Challengers, even a Camry. 358 CI, fuel injection, and with more and more turbochargers being seen in the automotive industry, let them run turbos. This gets them a little closer to a production car. That's my big pipe dream......

 

[bodyman]

nhra.com/story/2015/7/25/pro-stock-changes/

 

[TooTall999]

http://www.nhra.com/story/2015/7/25/pro-stock-changes/

 

[Reese]

Not the changes I was looking for but oh well. They should just call them 10.5 outlaw. Seems like they want them to wreck more often because I didn't see any spoiler changes.

 

[SST2096]

meh.. same egg shaped bodies, but now a windshield banner to identify it mandatory?... Well, at least they're making them park so fans can see them now (not like they'd know what they're looking at anyway).. EFI is a step in the right direction, but they needed to make the bodies resemble the actual production cars..

Maybe next time...

 

[Rajunz]

The one thing that you missed Robin, are the shorter wheelie bars. Wheels up launches will change a ton of things, from the way they set up the cars, the way they launch them and drive them once they gather them up after the launch.

 

[nwspeedshots]

Eliminate wheelie-bars. All classes.

 

[Rajunz]

Eliminate wheelie-bars. All classes.

Too dangerous.

 

[stitcherbob]

no wheelie bars:

 

[stitcherbob]

with wheelie bars:

drivers tend to run the wheelie out further down track when they have wheelie bars....

 

[Rajunz]

I like option number 2.

 

[StockersRock]

Eliminate wheelie-bars. All classes.

There's been Stockers over the past few years that have had issues running no bars. Do we want Pro Stock to be in a performance level less than Stock Eliminator?

 

[twostep]

with wheelie bars:

View attachment 3255 View attachment 3257

drivers tend to run the wheelie out further down track when they have wheelie bars....

I can guarantee you Troy Coughlin wasn't trying to run that wheelie out. The car just came up on him at over 200mph, the result of an instant power wheelstand egged on by about 3500 horsepower. Looks pretty cool, though.

 

[stitcherbob]

I did not know the circumstances behind Troy's wheelstand....I wonder what is going to happen when the P/S cars lose their hood scoops. There has to be a lot of drag or downforce generated by them .......

 

[SoCal Racer]

Interesting comments from the PS contingent willing to answer the questions. I don't think making the switch to EFI primarily has anything to do with removing hood scoops. That would just be a nice side benefit. I think it's more about racing technology that is featured on showroom vehicles. Doesn't Rickie Smith run a variant of EFI in Pro Mod with the help of Pat Musi? Obviously anytime changes are made it's going to cost money. It's interesting that Allen Johnson feels it'll cost about $100,000 per team while Larry Morgan half-ed that estimate. Also, I agree with AJ in that bolting on EFI to the current 500 ci format won't do anything for the class. They really need to make some big changes to get the manufacturers back involved. It would be nice to hear from a rep at either GM or Mopar about the possibility of downsizing the cubes.

I think AJ's vs. Larry Morgan's take on the cost impact is largely due to the Johnsons running their own engine program, and being one of the very few developers of Pro Stock Hemi engines. Not to say Larry can't run an engine program - because he can - but since the switch to Chevy he's doing the rent-a-motor deal like so many others.

 

[Sean D, shondoo]

I did not know the circumstances behind Troy's wheelstand....I wonder what is going to happen when the P/S cars lose their hood scoops. There has to be a lot of drag or downforce generated by them .......

I remember an interview with WJ where he said the absence of scoops wouldn't make a major difference. What he basically said that what was lost in aerodynamic drag was made up for by the ram-air effect the scoops had on the intake charge. Granted, that interview was several years ago, so maybe those comments aren't applicable today.....

Sean D