I've re-read these new rules about half a dozen times now, and I'm still struggling to see how they are going to make a positive impact on Pro Stock....either in the pits, or the on-track racing product. I don't see how anything here is going to encourage more racers to come into the class, nor do I see anything that's going to help brand identity, or provide any type of real link to the "stock" cars available for purchase today.
Backing the car into the pits, and unshrouding stuff? Really, who cares? In case you haven't seen it, the between rounds work on a Pro Stock car is pretty tame compared to what the Nitro cars do. Plus....and God knows I love the motors in Pro Stock......a naturally aspirated gas motor warming up in the pits isn't quite the same spectacle as a Nitro car, even with throttle whacks now gone from Top Fuel and Funny car.
Fuel Injection? Yeah, way past time for this. But slapping EFI on the current motors will likely result in very little performance change. Yes, it will cost some serious dollars to develop and implement in the short run, but should actually reduce costs over a few years once they systems are figured out. Still, I don't see new cars coming into the class based on this change alone, and simply adding EFI to the current motor configurations won't do much for the average fan interest, either.
Hood scoops. I don't know about the rest of you, but growing up in the Seventies I had always associated hood scoops with fast race cars. I don't mind the current scoops on the cars, and I'm not sure how removing them is going to do anything but provide drivers in the left lane better visibility of the Tree as the starting line. Again, how is this going to improve class entries, or keep butts in the stands when Pro Stock comes to the staging lanes?
10,500 Rev limiter. Personally, I don't like this one at all. Let 'em spin these motors as hard as they want to! I'm on the fence as to how this will affect performance overall, but I'm willing to bet the fast guys will still be fast, because they have the resources and personnel to make the cars fast at a lower RPM limit. Will this rule bring more cars into the class, or impress the spectators?
Shorter Wheelie Bars might provide more excitement at the Hit. They also might result in a pile of aborted runs, if the cars get too far out of shape when they shock the bars on the launch. We'd all like to see a little more "wild" in the class, and a little more unpredictability. What we don't want to see is a bunch of single car passes, or worse yet, "pedal fests" in Pro Stock.
Bigger windshield stickers? Really, NHRA? I honestly laughed at this one. These new stickers are nothing more than a knee-jerk reaction from NHRA to the OEM's in an effort to provide more brand identity to these bubble shaped cars. Do we really need to be told in bold letters the difference between a fake Camaro, and a fake Dodge Dart?
NHRA Pro Stock is in a tough spot. They'll never be as exciting as the Fuel cars, either on the track, or in the pits. Plus, now Pro Mod has taken over as the "ultimate door slammer class", so the Pro Stockers can't claim that title. It would seem that the only way to really save Pro Stock for the long term, as well as encourage new interest in the class from racers, fans, sponsors, and OEM's would be to return to much more stock appearing vehicles, based on current production cars. As to power, they need to get serious about returning to some sort of production car motor basis, being them naturally aspirated 500 cubic inch race motors based off of the LS, Hemi, and Coyote platforms.......or else just give 'em blowers and turbos on stock based engines.
As was stated above, NHRA should have come out with a 3-5 year plan for Pro Stock, instead of a handful of new rules that will do very little to create more fan excitement, reduce racer costs, or encourage more racers to get into the class.
