Jim Head Racing / Maple Grove. (2 Viewers)

[Custom Body Fan]

Professional sports teams. I referring to stick and ball teams. Professional? Like the players who "take a knee" to protest law enforcement? Like the players who have "black lives matter" on their shirts? Or the hoop ball players who support the chinese with their slave labor camps making sneakers? Those professionals?

Interestingly Jim Head’s car had “End Racism” on the Mustang’s quarter window last year. I was glad to see that statement. This pic shows that as the body is blown up in an engine explosion. At Pomona this year there was a tribute to their crew member killed in the hauler crash in that spot. https://www.blakealexanderracing.com/

 

[mick]

remember when warren johnson (i think) said something about 'even a blind man can drive a funny car'.....or something like that.....soon after jim's FC had pic
of ray charles airbrushed in same location

 

[n/a]

My head is starting to hurt!!! 7 pages on a subject that really shouldn't concern us. Jim is smart, really smart, successful and plays with funny cars. Jim went on a vacation. Jim pays for everything out of his own pocket. When I grow up I want to be like Jim Head. BTW, there's a race in two days.

 

[z28]

remember when warren johnson (i think) said something about 'even a blind man can drive a funny car'.....or something like that.....soon after jim's FC had pic
of ray charles airbrushed in same location

WJ said even Ray Charles could drive a FC in his current condition. I believe Ray Charles was already dead at the time

 

[Ramjet]

WJ said even Ray Charles could drive a FC in his current condition. I believe Ray Charles was already dead at the time

Said the man who never sat in one. Driving is a piece of Cake UNTIL "$hit" happens. Being good in one area doesn't mean you necessarily are in others and given the chance I believe it would be a real eye opener for him. Depends may be in order. Ray wouldn't be scared because he wouldn't know how over his head he was.

 

[mikebcurve]

I remember Johnny Gray saying hands down pro stock was much harder than funny car.

 

[TSK]

WJ said even Ray Charles could drive a FC in his current condition. I believe Ray Charles was already dead at the time

Didn't good old WJ also once say dragsters are for "old men, women and children"?

 

[Randy]

20 years ago I ran 5.70's at 250 in my TA/FC, although before I quit in 2012 we had it running low 5.50's at 260 with other drivers as we progressed. Fast forward to last year. I ran 6.60's at Sonoma in my Rick Jones built Sonny's powered pro stock/top sportsman Camaro formerly owned by JR Carr. I found myself reaching for the chutes at 1/2 track and had to wait a while before pushing the lever. Even coming from TA/FC, anyone who says driving a pro stock car is harder than driving a funny car needs to put the crack pipe down.

Here I was in the last qualifying session...

 

[Butch]

Too bad Warren can't ask Scott Kallita about how easy it is in a flopper

 

[glofria]

Many Funny Car drivers like Ron Capps and Jack Beckman have said that driving a Nostalgia Funny Car is more challenging than the big show cars.

Randy, do you have an clutch or powerglide in your car?

 

[Reese]

Many Funny Car drivers like Ron Capps and Jack Beckman have said that driving a Nostalgia Funny Car is more challenging than the big show cars.

Randy, do you have an clutch or powerglide in your car?

I maybe wrong but I would think TA/FC would be the hardest to drive. I love watching and hearing them run because of them having to stage with no chip, then shift them by feel(or tach). I hope they don't go completely away with the addition of the nitro version. The Funny car Chaos show earlier this year in Baton Rouge was also a lot of fun to watch them run. Glad they signed up for 2023.

 

[none]

I’ve driven TAFC,NFC and a match race mini big show car. TAFC is by far the hardest. Maybe not so much the actual steering part but being able to get the rpm right and swapping feet right, shifting on time. Doing any of these wrong will hurt the run big time. I will say I’ve never driven the latest version of TAFC and they have definitely gotten harder than when I did it. Would love to give it a shot though.

 

[z28]

I’ve driven TAFC,NFC and a match race mini big show car. TAFC is by far the hardest. Maybe not so much the actual steering part but being able to get the rpm right and swapping feet right, shifting on time. Doing any of these wrong will hurt the run big time. I will say I’ve never driven the latest version of TAFC and they have definitely gotten harder than when I did it. Would love to give it a shot though.

The laid back headers certainly tested a lot of the curent drivers of NFC. Not quite as bad now but with 11000 HP and 125 WB it doesn't take much to get crossways.

 

[Randy]

Many Funny Car drivers like Ron Capps and Jack Beckman have said that driving a Nostalgia Funny Car is more challenging than the big show cars.

Randy, do you have an clutch or powerglide in your car?

I ran a B&J 3 speed triple sprag with a Quick Drive like some of the Pro Mod guys run. No Powerglides for me.

 

[Randy]

Many Funny Car drivers like Ron Capps and Jack Beckman have said that driving a Nostalgia Funny Car is more challenging than the big show cars.

Randy, do you have an clutch or powerglide in your car?

I think one of the challenging aspects is tire shake. A big show car will shake and immediately smoke the tires. In TA/FC or Nostalgia, they don't quite have enough power to blow the tires off in tire shake so it tries to kill you. It will cost you your vision besides trying to knock you out in the process. Think about not putting just your head in a paint can shaker but your whole body. The worst tire shake I ever had was in 1996 at the Texas Motorplex. We were trying to figure out how some new things with a PSI Supercharger on it. It shook so hard it broke the windshield and knocked a crown out of a tooth in my mouth. I remember being disoriented when they got me out of the car. I'm sure Marc White has some stories, but I remember when Marc drove my TA/FC at the 2004 Winternationals in Q2 after the run I told him "That thing shook so hard the car was blurry!" Marc looked at me (a little cross eyed) and said, "Never felt it!" LOL

Here's Daniel Oliver at his first national event (2008 Pomona Finals) driving my car through tire shake. He almost hit Steve Harker. Watch Steve's reaction to it when John Kernan shows him the video. ESPN ended up showing 9 replays including closing the show with it.

 

[Cliff]

Randy, I was thinking about you running 6.60's in your T/S car. I well remember when that would have been a good time in T/F and you're doing it on gas & carbs. And some of the NHRA Pro Mod cars can run 5.60's today. I wonder if it's harder to drive a Pro Mod car than a TA/FC?

 

[Randy]

Randy, I was thinking about you running 6.60's in your T/S car. I well remember when that would have been a good time in T/F and you're doing it on gas & carbs. And some of the NHRA Pro Mod cars can run 5.60's today. I wonder if it's harder to drive a Pro Mod car than a TA/FC?

Erica didn't last long in a Pro Mod car. I think it was after the fire and she was done. Don't know why. Pro Mod cars look like you better be paying attention or they will bite you big time. And if you wad one up you better have a stout checking account just to fix it, if it's fixable.

Yea, I remember when 6.99 at 200 in a funny car was a huge deal.

Don't get me wrong. These things will bite you in a hurry. I added downforce thanks to advice from Rickie Jones to my Camaro shortly after I got it because it tried to do a Kenny Delco at Sonoma while testing. Everything was moving along just fine until it felt like I hit black ice at about 1,000 feet in the right lane and moved toward the centerline. I lifted at 1,000 feet and coasted to a 6.79 at 190 and tossed the chutes. The guys came down on the golf cart and said they thought I was done for. I remember Jamie Howe interviewing Delco at the top end while they were loading what was left of his pro stock Camaro on a flatbed, asking, "Kenny, what happened?" Kenny looking stunned said, "I have no idea..."

 

[Rajunz]

......Drag racing needs to change or it is going to continue to whither away. The worst reason to do something is because that's the way it has always been done, yet that seems to be a common thread in drag racing.

No it's not. The first Cajun Nationals held at LaPlace only had 6 Funny Cars show up. 8 car Top Fuel and Funny Car fields were common at a lot of National Events back in the '70s and '80s. The sport never withered away then, and it won't now. People show up to watch racing, just last week, Maple Grove was a sellout. Baytown was a sellout in the Spring, some markets do better than others, but the sport in general still attracts crowds. Sunday's broadcast from Maple Grove had the highest ratings of any NHRA broadcast on FOX. I guess that was because it followed a "Professional Sport"?

 

[Nunz]

No it's not. The first Cajun Nationals held at LaPlace only had 6 Funny Cars show up. 8 car Top Fuel and Funny Car fields were common at a lot of National Events back in the '70s and '80s. The sport never withered away then, and it won't now. People show up to watch racing, just last week, Maple Grove was a sellout. Baytown was a sellout in the Spring, some markets do better than others, but the sport in general still attracts crowds. Sunday's broadcast from Maple Grove had the highest ratings of any NHRA broadcast on FOX. I guess that was because it followed a "Professional Sport"?

Good post. People forget that different markets draw different size crowds. Also, there's probably a big percentage of fans who go 1 or 2 days out of a 3 day event. So many people, if they see gaps of empty seats in the stands or it's not packed to the gills, assume that nobody showed up. Also, people are just different today, not quite as "diehard" as years ago. Meaning, for example, if the weather looks iffy for the day, they may bag it. If it's a blazing hot day, many people will tap out early. Things like that, at least IMO, seem to be more prevalent than when I was a kid. I'd say considering what the country has been through the past couple of years, and still is going through, the sport is doing pretty damn well. Room to improve? Absolutely, on many levels.

 

[none]

The second race at a particular venue often seems to struggle attendance wise. Also, with better TV coverage, it is much easier "just stay home and watch" rather than face potentially bad weather. Other competing events in the area can also cut into attendance. When I lived in Houston, the local promotion always made a big difference in attendance as well.