Pro Stock Consecutive Finals (3 Viewers)

[mick]

on the fsn1 early show yesterday they stated that if a fan wanted to approach richard freeman (elite) that he will have an answer on what's going on in PS rite now; also eluded to the fact they'd be ready after indy......so has richard put his opinions out there for the public anywhere?...haven't heard or read anything.

 

[ironpony]

If MOPAR was dominating with the HEMI in this fashion, NHRA would of done something already

 

[John]

My Thoughts, I like P/S, the domination is just about over in my opinion, It's kind of bazaar that Allan Johnson's Mopar is running quicker than the Factory backed cars. Shane Gray is getting very close and one has to wonder after the semi why Jason and Greg were talking with Shane. It's gong to get better soon. Just saying.

 

[ironpony]

Roy Johnson is the HEMI God, he always knew how to make them go fast. Summit teamed with Hogan, EFI experience, and got it right first try, some of the others tried to reinvent the wheel so to say. Now Johnson is working with Wilson and coming around.

 

[Sean D, shondoo]

It's kind of bazaar that Allan Johnson's Mopar is running quicker than the Factory backed cars.

Why is it bazaar? Roy Johnson is the only one in modern-day Pro Stock to make a Dodge run consistently strong and it took him/them YEARS to get to championship level, while the Elite guys have had their stuff about 6-months...... Lol!

This should surprise NOBODY.

Sean D

 

[John]

Why is it bazaar? Roy Johnson is the only one in modern-day Pro Stock to make a Dodge run consistently strong and it took him/them YEARS to get to championship level, while the Elite guys have had their stuff about 6-months...... Lol!

This should surprise NOBODY.

Sean D

Well, I chose the wrong word Regarding Mopar leaving Roy Johnson and going to Elite, probably should have used great, that's what I was trying to say.

 

[Dave]

I'm not a "Summit fanboy" , I'm a P/S class fan. I like the fact that they use what mother nature gives them, they leave R's up, and they shift gears. I am also a fan of performance no mater who does it. Lets face it, in our sport someone is going to win every race, there are no ties. But to repeat, week after week, at different tracks, & conditions, THAT to me is a true champion regardless of what name is on your door.

That point was proven again this weekend. Greg had a faulty starter/bad spot on the flywheel and could have easily not even made the call against Shane Gray. To top it off, Shane slaps a holeshot on him and only comes up .0017 short. Then you have Jason and Vincent. Vincent has been almost on pace with Jason, and had .02 in the bank off the line. Then all of a sudden a tenth of a second disappeared and Jason motored on by. What a time to make your worst run of the weekend.

 

[Bill]

Are you referring to Norwalk? Last years low ET was 6.53 by Erica, and the majority of the elimination times were in the 6.50s. This year they had an event best of 6.56 and no quicker than 6.63 in eliminations. I don't believe they have had a race yet this year that they bettered their times from 2015. I'm curious to see how Denver will play out. I'm thinking 7.0's will be a great pass with most in the 7.1x.

Dave, I qualified my ststement by saying " with carburetors.at the same race," since different venues have different capabilities. They were quicker and faster at Norwalk, Sunday, than they were a year ago. But, your information IS more pertinent; it will be interesting to see how they perform the rest of the year, for sure!

Thanks for your comments!

Bill

 

[none]

Some interesting Pro Stock facts. Courtesy of Bang Shift.
Alan

http://bangshift.com/bangshift1320/...ra-pro-stock-domination-is-a-class-trademark/

 

[FABMAN]

Thanks Alan great article

 

[Bill]

"Back in the day," before the demise of Modified Eliminator, there was a variety of modified cars that were the staple of NHRA's showcase of racing rolling stock; Gas Coupes, Street Roadsters and Modifed Sports Cars. These cars were, ostensibly, all cars that had been (usuallly) re-powered with engines that were heavily-modified and gave their host vehicles performance capabilities well-beyond their original designs and usual-displayed abilities.

This made them appealing and exciting to watch; Thr idea that a Model A coupe (or, roadster) for example, could achieve the kind of performance that was the norm in, say, A Gas Supercharged, was so foreign to the oriiginal visual concept that most folks expected of a square-bodied Model A, that its surreal appearance, going 140 mph at the finish line, made spectators do a double-take, and that scenario was repeated, over and over, as multitudes of really fast cars (that looked as though, they should never have had the kind of performance that was commonplace in the Modifed Eliminator ranks, caused fans to stare, awe-struck, at the cognizant-dissonance on the racetrack.

Fast-forward to 2016. The cars that populated the class Pro Mod's early days, emulated yhat scenario I just described. As I remember it, the currently-popular trend toward late-model (aerodynamic) bodies was not too much in evidence, with a large variety of "fifties" (and, earlier) bodies populating the class.

Plese correct me if I am wrong, but it seems to me that, reading the class rules, these cars have a lot in common with the Gassers and Street Roadsters of the early days; Both were/are mandated a 10-percent engine setback, both use and used 4-wheel, sprung, suspension, both require(d) "door-car" bidies, and, both have/had heavily modified engines with a conventional transmission setup.

These are, more than anything else, the "Gas Coupes" of the new millennium.

The only difference is, they make a LOT more power!

I think that if NHRA would offer some kind of performance-based incentive to these racers to encourage the utilzatuin of "early" body shells, it might increase their visual-appeal and the already-popular class might become even MORE popular...

Pro Stock is not looking good right now, and the possibility exists that someday, Pro Mod could be upgraded to a "Pro category" status.... but, I am not holding my breath...

 

[Jimbo]

Bill Dedman wrote the following,

Pro Stock is not looking good right now, and the possibility exists that someday, Pro Mod could be upgraded to a "Pro category" status.... but, I am not holding my breath...

Bill for what it's worth I am thinking the same thing you are !!!

I look at the entry list for each National Race and see a full field for Pro Mod and then I look at what the NHRA Pro Classes with between 14 and 16 entries and to me it looks like Pro Mods are wildly popular!!!!

It's only my opinion but trying to save one class which appears to have seen it's better day's.
When you have these kinds of numbers week in and week out just go with what works !!!!

Jim Hill
http://www.nostalgicracingdecals.com

 

[Sean D, shondoo]

The main reason you see the high car counts in Pro Modified is the fact that they DON'T race week in and week out.....

I love Pro Mod as much as anybody, but like has been discussed before, replacing Pro Stock with it and making them run the full schedule WILL kill the class. Not overnight, but it will happen. And if a lesser schedule would help Pro Stock, maybe it's time to split the schedule (not even necessarily 50/50) between the two.

Sean D

 

[Jimbo]

Sean DeWitt:

Are you saying that because Pro Stock runs week in and week out that is what is killing off the class?

Jim Hill
http://www.nostalgicracingdecals.com

 

[Sean D, shondoo]

Sean DeWitt:

Are you saying that because Pro Stock runs week in and week out that is what is killing off the class?

Jim Hill
http://www.nostalgicracingdecals.com

It certainly has to be a factor. As things advanced over the years, spending got out of control. So now if you hope to be competitive, you'll need to have a budget that is probably closing in on some nitro programs. Nitro, or near nitro level dollars, with the exception of the independently wealthy will have to come from marketing partners. But the marketing partners aren't likely to spend near nitro money on a class that doesn't get the exposure when they can spend nitro money and get the exposure.

This is just a very short synopsis of how I see it, but the results speak for themselves. Whether you agree with me or not, the participation level is low when compared to Pro Mod. For me to break that down, I wouldn't need to know the yearly budget of a top-level Pro Mod, but the budget per race. If Pro Mod ran the full pull, would they be spending Pro Stock money? I don't know. I realize it's not a direct comparison because they spend their money in different areas. But the bottom line is it can be broke down to a per race amount, and I would be interested to know if that amount is close to the same. If it's nearly the same, then I believe the argument can be made that the race schedule is a factor.

Sean D

 

[Jimbo]

I sure hope the NHRA is listening to what you are saying.

Maybe only running Pro Stocks at certain events would not only help their car counts but also save them money.

Why not give it a try and let the Pro Mods fill in for Pro Stock at the events they do not run at.

Think it sounds crazy? Just might turn out to work.

Jim Hill
http://www.nostalgicracingdecals.com

 

[Sean D, shondoo]

I sure hope the NHRA is listening to what you are saying.

Maybe only running Pro Stocks at certain events would not only help their car counts but also save them money.

Why not give it a try and let the Pro Mods fill in for Pro Stock at the events they do not run at.

Think it sounds crazy? Just might turn out to work.

Jim Hill
http://www.nostalgicracingdecals.com

They're not listening to me, Jim. Lol! I'm just one of thousands of fans that has an opinion.

Sean D

 

[Carl Lewis]

Well, this might be my 1st post but I have been hanging around this web site for quite a few years now, So that being said I come from the hydroplane racing sport, have been involved as a driver, owner crew chief from the outboards to the unlimited hydroplanes over the years BUT always a NHRA fan. There is no doubt that the past few years in both sports world wide have hit a slump mainly for fanatical reasons that we have all seen major teams hang up their helmets so to speak, in boat racing in the 90's when the Budweiser was taking every race they even tried to make them start on the outside lane and it did help but every fan ( that did not like the Bud winning every race ) was getting tired of the "same old boat" winning and started not attending some races except for the diehard fans. Well the powers to be have changed some rules and now I wont say every boat can win but it is way more competitive than it has been in years past. So moving forward I do not follow all the rules that NHRA puts out for the PRO classes as I am busy with my form of racing but I do see that in PSM they have in the past put weights on certain MFG's bikes to keep the competition fair to at least the spectator's in the stands and us TV type people who follow the sport> so with smaller fields this year so far and from what I see on Sundays when I watch it on TV the stands are not full as in years past they could do something similar to Pro Stock to keep it interesting I think it would equal the field and keep the racers in the spotlight as well as sponsors. If I was spending 1-200 thousand on sponsorship a season and getting about 6 sec's on the track and the same on TV I would be pissed and would find another sport to spend my $$ We Just lost V. Gaines who is next ? Oh and by the way at the National meeting for unlimited hydroplanes they told one team not to bother showing up this year, hmmm that gets them down to about 9-10 boats at best, not much of a show I know Mr. Haddock does his best as well as the Greek but they are part of the show and sometimes make rounds. Where would NHRA be without them ???

anyway thanks for listening..... Carl

 

[Jimbo]

Carl Lewis:
I agree with the things you said and your comment "Where would NHRA be without them ???"

Jim Hill
http://www.nostalgicracingdecals.com

 

[ironpony]

Well from what I am seeing, 10 "guaranteed" cars. 7 of which are made up of 2 teams, 3 one car independents, the other six, which may or may not be there, are little teams.