Story Behind The Monstrut Controversy (1 Viewer)

[Bobby Bennett]

Susan Wade has penned another winner here...

Torco Racing Fuel's Competition Plus.com - Drag Racing's Internet Magazine - (MONO-)STRUTTING THEIR STUFF

 

[r2]

Rutro!!

 

[Just Paul]

Oh man... good read...

 

[CrewGuy]

It seems that the new wing has already been approved for competition.

 

[woody]

1320 TV has video interviews with Mike Kloeber and David Powers posted on the National Time Trials page. Click here to view:

1320 TV

 

[Bobby Bennett]

We finally have a photo up. It's at the top of the story.

 

[Mooseman]

I wonder what Garlits thinks of it , technically its just a carry on of his design

 

[Sully]

If Dan Olson does not know that the wing has been approved for competition then I sincerely doubt that it has, regardless of what any team ower might say in an attempt to impress possible sponsors. And I feel that Kloeber got the royal purple shaft in this deal - that team went to a lot of work and expense to develop the plans for the wing only to have NHRA abruptly slam the door, purportedly because the other Top Fuel owners didn't want to introduce anything new that might add to their already-high costs and give some teams a technical advantage.

Now, if the door has truly been opened behind Kloeber's back, that's a double-slam to that team by NHRA. Not a very nice way to welcome Kloeber and Millican to full-time NHRA competition and another tweak of Evan Knoll's beak to boot. This could blow up into a major storm very easily given the past history between Knoll and the NHRA.

Strange that a team that far down the pecking order should be the first to get the "okay" to run the wing - another factor that makes the story so far very hard to believe. I feel that a lot of what has been said so far is more spin than hard fact and the real story remains to be revealed.

That's strictly my personal opinion, I could be wrong.

 

[Just Paul]

Ok.. I listened to both interviews. I really feel bad for Mike Klober. He did the design in benefit of driver safety, and performance, and that's the way it should be done. Powers pretty much admits he just fronted the money to get it first, becasue he knew he would be getting it back with this "new sponsor" that he already has lined up for it.


P.S. Hat's off to 1320 TV for not only this, but for all the great work they do.

 

[r2]

1320 TV has video interviews with Mike Kloeber and David Powers posted on the National Time Trials page. Click here to view:

1320 TV

WARNING FOLKS!! These conversations are very long...
My video quit on Kloeber at 20.55 minutes and Powers take was about 12 minutes long... So if you have a short attention span, don't bother... For those of us who give a (BEEP!)... It is a very very interesting set of videos... I'm not taking any sides here what so ever... Kloeber!!
But I lost my first TAD because I did not sign a contract...
A hand shake and a smile will get you in more trouble then you could ever imagine... If you ordered pickles on your hamburger, you better get that receipt...

 

[----NONE----]

Ok.. I listened to both interviews. I really feel bad for Mike Klober. He did the design in benefit of driver safety, and performance, and that's the way it should be done. Powers pretty much admits he just fronted the money to get it first, becasue he knew he would be getting it back with this "new sponsor" that he already has lined up for it.


P.S. Hat's off to 1320 TV for not only this, but for all the great work they do.

I agree with ya Paul. That sucks for Mike Klober.

 

[ReactionTimes]

After watching both videos it's pretty damn clear that the man with the most money got the "prize" first. Sad, but that's how this world works.

“One of the truest tests of integrity is its blunt refusal to be compromised.”

 

[rocketman]

Excellent story by Susan Wade

Rich Bailey
AKA mR. tWiSter

 

[Greg]

I agree with Larry, especially since Powers is being so adamant about having that wing to "seal the deal" with his potential sponsor. It's all a bunch of hype for publicity. "It's an approved deal" as Powers put it....yeah right, I can almost guarantee that wing won't be on the car for at least the first 5 races of the year. I'd be surprised if it's allowed at all this year. Not unless some other team with some clout steps in and pushes NHRA for it. I think more than anything else, Powers knew this would create controversy and controversy gets a relatively unknown team a lot of press. Nothing against them (not looking to get flamed), but to the casual follower of the sport Fuller is still pretty much a nobody. I'm probably wrong, but in the end, I don't see this giving them the press they were looking for. They want their team to be seen as "the symbol of cutting-edge technology", but they are already being conveyed as a team that stabbed someone in the back to basically steal that technology. Whether that is true or not doesn't matter, because that is how it will be represented. Granted, if the wing was for sale he had every right to buy it. I mean somebody put a price tag on it, he didn't just walk in and take it. It just sucks for Kloeber.

 

[.]

Excellent job Susan and Bobby!

Sheesh, Mike had so much invested only to get sold out .

"....I'm not sure what it says about us as people..."

"...Hello, Happy New Year..."

LOL!! WTH??!!

 

[sparky]

Fuller won races last season and should not be looked at as a "nobody." What that team has lined up for the future shows that they are serious about what they're doing and with Lee Beard at the helm they are championship contenders. The same is not true for Kloeber's team. I mean zero disrespect to him or his team but it seems that Powers has got the $$ to get it going and on the track.

On the other hand, it seems that he was a tad bit "sold out" by the manufacturers. He probably should have been "in the loop" sooner, so to speak. We all know that money talks and Hadman and Jones should not be slammed for moving ahead with the project.

Its a tough deal for all involved but lets face it, Big Daddy was first on the block as he always seemed to be. Now there is a real trendsetter if there ever was.

 

[Doug in the woods]

Boo hoo hoo get out the towel

Mike and company had 18 months to get the mono strut on a car. He (Mike) knew Powers was interested in the wing 18 months ago!
Yea I feel for Mike and company but what would have happened if Garlitts did same when he came out with rear engine car.
Oh wait you can't run that car, thats my idea and I say you can't run it.
Yes Mike wants to see a safer car so why is he crying foul if someone else wants to actually try out a mono wing on their dime.
And in the interview Mike mentions that there are several other areas of TF dragester design that need to be addressed (refering to CDF?). Well why not bring this info forward and perhaps pervent another casuality.
If Mike has info that would prevent another casuality, I can just imagine how he would feel if a driver is killed due to a car design flaw that Mike knew about now.
Instead of crying Mike should be helping as an advisor to the Powers team.
Yes Hadman should have confered with Mike that Powers wants to purchase a mono wing. Mike could have then purchased a mono and ran it on their car.
But Mike then would have to buy several new shoes as draging them would wear them out.
Lets all play good together and don't be throwing the sand out of the box.

 

[handsome]

not trying to pick on mike, but if he wanted to be the first, DON'T TELL ANYONE ABOUT IT! not to mention, nobody has talked much about the mono strut wing in a while so i figured it was a dead prodject and with werner pulling out along with koretsky looking to sell the team for the past year made it sound like extra prodjects needed to be shelved till the team had a solid foundation. powers simply picked up the ball and ran with it. i would also agree that mabey nhra was biased because the klober/milican team was from the other side of the fence and gave team powers more lee way on the wing. o well it done and out there.

 

[Too many to list here]

Powers says

The way in which I did it was different than the direction Mike was going to go. I wanted the wing to be over-designed so there wouldn't be any failure out there and ruin the wing design for the future.

So Powers had some input into the design also????

Cant wait to hear more.

 

[Too many to list here]

After watching the vids kinda
Looks like some behind the scenes sh!t going on between NHRA, powers,hadman eh.
When was the ban on mono strut use lifted?