Sad that this is happening
 

Re: Sad that this is happening
 

It does appear to be the end of an era, but I don't know if it's what I would call sad. Lots of things have come and gone in drag racing, and the sport just moved on. I don't think anyone would disagree that Pro Stock has lost its way, but I think the sport in general has become far less relevant to the average young American man or woman that it used to be. What's been lost is the history of drag racing, and from that, the ability to put the sport in context. None of the young people participating today have much of a sense of where the sport came from, so it exists in the present, rather than having any historical foundation. The average 60 year old vividly remembers the beginning years of Pro Stock, and that memory "connects" today to the past. When a Pro Stock race takes place today, the 60 year old is unconsciously thinking "Oh man, I remember when Grumpy raced Ronnie Sox, and this is still a lot like that", where the young person of today just sees two Pro Stock/Pro Mod/Top Sportsman/Everything Looks the Same cars fly down the track, oftentimes driven by young people who never actually even work on the car. In the hero days of Pro Stock, it was man against man, hero against hero, because each car literally represented the brains, creativity, hard work and driving skill of the owner. Those days are gone, never to return, and the guys that miss them most are the guys who remember how incredible Pro Stock was.

Re: Sad that this is happening
 

This is a great post....Thank you !

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X2 Sad, but accurate.

Re: Sad that this is happening
 

Pro Stock used to be my favourite class, especially back in the the early to mid 1980's. The glory days of Reher-Morrison-Shepherd, Iaconio, Glidden, WJ. There seemed to be more personality involved, I guess you could say that about the other Pro classes as well. Personally I loved the dry hops, hood scoops and carbs, but the sport must evolve.
Now my favourite class is stock eliminator,like many I grew up with these 1960-1990's cars roaming the streets.They are cars I can relate to and dream of owning one day. I will be sad if P/S ceases to exist.

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You may see FS in some form or another take the place of Pro Stock. You already have the big 3 involved and big name drivers competing.

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What I find encouraging is that Drew Skillman finds "value" in staying involved esp with S/SS, after being at the supposed "pinnacle"

Butner, Jeg, have roots in S/SS and with FS growing it seems to me as if our universe is expanding which can't hurt.

To me....as classes get away from wheelstands, be it COMP, HEMI SHOOTOUT CARS, Pro Stock etc.....the repeated sameness looses fan appeal

Someone somewhere posed the concept of no wheelie bars.....hmmmmm

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Cannot forget that the trickle down affect of PRO STOCK ENGINE DEVELOPMENT is found in all the new FS cars as well as Comp, Superstock, Stock and every other class. I for one do not want to see that go anywhere. So they loose some names in PS..... Not the end of the class and hate to see the talent leave but hopefully they can be replaced.

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"Enders said last week that her Elite Motorsports team isn’t going anywhere: “As far as I know, myself, Jeg Coughlin, Vincent Nobile, Alex Laughlin . . . our team will remain intact. Richard [team owner Freeman] will be a fifth car at times. Matt Hartford, I’m not sure of his plans, but I would assume that he will continue to run off of us. We’re doing our part. We’re trying our best to make it happen. I wish Drew wasn’t leaving. I hope that Bo’s not leaving. But we’ll just have to see what happens in the silly season."


In Top Fuel @ St. Louis: 5 MLR cars and 6 DSR cars for 16 spots.
A Pro Stock team with 4 or 5 cars...
Hard to compete against that much of everything.
Mike A114

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I still think the FS motors in Stock body but with a pro stock chassis is the way to go. Do away with the aero bodies and use factory built NHRA sealed motors. They could start by transitioning into the motors first for a year or two while they develop the chassis for the stock body.

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"The average 60 year old vividly remembers the beginning years of Pro Stock..."

I am that guy, and I do! The only thing resembling that excitement, interest, and energy in today's racing is FS.

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Agree 100%... gsa612 (a 62 yr.old guy).

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It is sad. I've always liked Pro Stock and considered it the top of the food chain for NA, gasoline engines. The GM vs Ford vs. Mopar days were great.

The cost of the technology, hardware, people and organization to do it, and be competitive, has gone way beyond what most can spend. And the ROI for sponsoring teams, when the class gets little airtime and is treated like a step-child by NHRA, makes it look like a charity case instead of smart business.

It's hard to put the genie back in the bottle once it gets to this point. I don't know the answer, but I hope they figure out how to keep it viable and interesting.

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Think nhramni nailed it. At 69 I fondly recall the beginning and watching first hand how hard WJ, Grumpy, Buddy Martin, Glidden etc shaped the class that was based on hard work more than $$$. Didn’t even mind the NHRA meddling (thought the four door Maverick was kinda cool but then one of my all time favorites is a 62 Dodge so that gives my perspective). The current Pro Stock Camaro Class is hard to watch, wouldn’t mind one bit seeing Jason Line, Bo and others concentrate on classes that we enjoy.

Re: Sad that this is happening
 

when PS was great. I'm older but I remember PS match race. I would travel many miles to see them, Sox, grumpy, dyno don, Landy, ETC. The old days are gone and they not coming back. Will they incorporate pro mod?

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Not sure much prostock stuff is crossing over to factory stock, all cars are supercharged and most automatics. Ford is 4 overhead cam motor.

Bottom end maybe but factory cars had EFI before prostock and maybe that is why factories are pushing Factory stock. I bet Big 3 sell significantly more factory stock parts to racers than they sell to prostock racers also

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Jim you remember the Chrysler imperial pro stock my crs is kicking in on his name

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Larry Peternel Imperial Pro Stock

Re: Sad that this is happening
 

I unfortunately lost interest like many when you couldn't compare a stock bodied car to the cuppies we now see. I come from the time of Jr Stockers era( you can follow us on Facebook Jr. Stocker)to the Super stock and finally to the jump of the Pro-Stock era. Now NHRA has made a mistake allowing all those multi-teams to take over the class, allowing no small budget team to even have a chance to move up. Competition eliminator was an incredible talent pool in engine builders to drivers but how the mighty rich, short sighted even myopic team owners have ruined this class.I'm a sportsman racer and spectator that love stock,super/stock,competition eliminator,s/g s/c etc etc I leave on Saturday type guy.Bracket racing is where I now swim in and love it and will always continue to compete until I can't.put a fork in it, P.S. is dead.

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I just hope before this season ends, Erica and Jeg Jr., Jason, Greg, and Bo, plus Drew and Vincent, Deric, Chris, Alex, & Matt, all rain on Tanner's parade before he goes over to Nascar! Hopefully the last two races will go better for those who're in the opposite lane to Tanner, than Dallas did. Moreover, I still want to see Erica give Tanner a parting shot (i.e., trip to his trailer w/o a Wally in hand). I know she can do it, and I'll be rooting for Erica, and all the above mentioned guys the remainder of the season!

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Exactly , and make that FS/XX. I had a thread on this a couple weeks ago.......
I USED to be , a big Pro Stock fan.......................not any more. Not when it became the "all Camaro" show.
More than that , it "mirrors" the fuel teams in the respect that no longer is the driver the engine builder , tuner.
That , to me , is a turnoff.

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Tell us how you really feel! I don't see a thing wrong with Tanner. He is good for the class. I hope he runs the field at the next three races.

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Everything evolves including drag racing. Pro stock is no different. In the quest for more power better aero and faster ET the racers do what they always do. Push the envelope. This is what racing is all about. Pro stock is as good as it as ever been. This year there have been more winners than ever. Several first time winners. Really close races where the driver was the deciding factor with the reaction time. I know some don’t like that it’s mostly a one brand class now and that is probably not healthy for the class. If you like car racing and close competition then Pro Stock gives you all of that. I have been racing for over 40 years and I enjoy it as much as I ever did. The classes will never go back to what they used to be.

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Looks like G.M., Ford and Mopar no longer have any interest in Pro-Stock as they did. Surely Mopar and Ford have none. An automotive sport should have way more attention to this. Factory stock, as I said two near years ago will take over this part of NHRA's focus. Not every fan wants to watch 16 Camaros go at it. I'm guessing you'll see Bo and Drew driving Factory Stock next year.

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I've been saying this since the factory stock cars hit the track. Next year will be the end of Pro Stock and the NHRA will reboot for 2020, the 50th anniversary of the class.

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I think the 1st P/S show I saw was the Summernationals at York U.S.30 in July 1970.I was working alot and just didn't have much time to get to the track. That was impressive to see all of the cars and crews I had read about, and I learned the quick way to change gears in a Dana 60 from watching the Sox&Martin crew. Not much longer than it took to change slicks.Next impressive show was at a wed. night P/S at e-town after the Summernats. and the sound of Butch Leals' 16 plug beast crossing the finish line as he won, I will never forget.Hope someone can straighten this mess out. John Kissel K242

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With all the legal issues they had with PS truck they won’t discontinue the class. They spoke about maybe incorporating Carb pro mod’s big cube motor with current PS tire size, which sounds like a Band-Aid to me.

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I was thinking something along the same lines but a slight twist on the engine.

I would like to see that the outside dimensions of the OEM engines be used, but the racer can run any bore / stroke combo inside.

Then use a cubic inch to weight ratio.

I do believe the bodies should follow factory body panel templates so the shape of the car is still relevant to the spectator.

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Suspect they have a bigger legal department now and can demonstrate things they've done to "improve" the class and yet they have a hard time filling the class, and with PS garnering less TV time they will argue they are losing $ on the class, hence the need for a 'refresh' with mountain motors, etc. Rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic comes to mind.

Re: Sad that this is happening
 

Tanner reminds me of a guy named Eric that I raced against in 1981. He came up to Bandimere Speedway with his Nova, and proclaimed to some other racers he was going to mow down the field and take the Street Eliminator seasonal championship. a racing bud of mine came and told me that, and I approached Eric and asked him if he in fact said that, and he admitted he did. I told him that in order to be the champ he was going to have to get past me (since I was in 1st place at that time). He said "we can settle this in the first round", to which I replied "I'll be there, you make sure you're there"! We lined up, we raced, and I sent him packing afterwards! I didn't win the whole race that day, but I didn't care, I beat him, and stayed in 1st place from June to August. Sadly I had a cylinder head go bad on me, and I missed a race or two, and when I got back to racing, I lost in the first round that 1st time back. He had the psychological advantage over the rest of the field, but not me. He was arrogant (similar to how Tanner is/was against Erica and (I believe) Alex), and I get amped up to race people like that! The last race of the season all I had to do was win one round that he lost, and I'd pass him up, so I tried to line up next to him, and every time I did, he pulled his car out. After doing that a few times, the tower got wind of it, and pulled cars out of one line, and laddered us so I could only race him in the finals. Sadly I went red by -.011 to the guy that finished 3rd, and Eric ended up winning the race and the track championship after-all.

Eric may have won the battle, but the war was the Division 5 ET Finals, and he didn't do so good there, losing in the 2nd round at that race in Marion, SD. I however, ended up having the best laugh, because I won the race and became the 1981 Division Five Street Eliminator Champion, and all he could do was watch! I will also thank some of the team members of other tracks, who made the comment to one of my teammates, "what's he doing out there with that car"? I knew good and well they weren't talking about my car, they were talking about me after cutting three straight .023rt's in rnd's 1-3. That gave me even more mojo to hit a pair of .051rt's in the semi's and the final to win, and an "Elton John" "I'm Still Standing" moment on the starting line with John Bandimere Jr., and Darrell Zimmerman (Division Five Director)!

I'm hoping that Erica or Jeg or any of the others with a mathematical chance to catch him will and have such a moment as a send off to his future Nascar career, and I also hope Alex will get him back on the track as well! As one of my friends says, "he who laughs last, laughs best", and I hope when one of them passes him, and/or beats him in eliminations like Greg, Jeg, Matt, and Deric had a lucrative chance at doing last wknd., in Dallas, they will enjoy their "I'm Still Standing" moment too!

Re: Sad that this is happening
 

Yup Mountain Motors... run whacha brung

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If you take all the 'personal' or 'feelings' out of the equation - Tanner will be Champ. (I'd put a coupla sheckles on it)

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As he should be, he's the best driver in the class and exactly what all of pro motorsports needs rather than corporate sponsored parakeets.

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After what I saw yesterday in eliminations, it's hard to disagree with you on that especially since only there's only 8 remaining rounds of competition, and Tanner has 130 pts over Jeg Jr. (136 over Vincent Nobile). I think all Tanner has to do is when 2rnds in 'Vegas, and he'll probably clinch the title (perhaps not even that much)?

At least it appears that he's not being full of himself like he was last year, which is better. However, I am glad that Jason Line kept him out of yesterdays winners circle!

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Was glad to see Jason finally get a win in the Pro Camaro class, broadcast even talked up the 300th PS win for Camaro, duh? Really? Makes it a bit easier when they legislate competitors to the sidelines. I normally record the Sunday finals on the off chance they actually show a few runs that interest me but of course PS gets far less coverage than interviews of Todd, Force and Schumacher teams. The segment on Jason’s career was cool. Also from the linked article it appears NHRA has abandoned the Mountain Motor experiment so it would seem they have to announce some changes for 2019; perhaps some sort of event rotation between Pro Mod, PS and FS. MUCH better watch FS than PS, sevens on a 9 inch tire is amazing (Kevin is the man BTW). If I see one more plug for how much a driver owes success to a Chevy or Toyota in their fuel car I will probably barf. MJ is right, John Force, Don Schumacher, Keith Black and Connie Kalitta say they’re too old for this crap the big tent will probably fold.

https://www.competitionplus.com/drag...-for-pro-stock

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Did anyone notice? 300th win for Camaro with Jenkins winning the inaugural NHRA Pro Stock race in 1970 with a Vega. Had to play it back twice to make sure I heard it right. Wonder where they got their stats from.

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The inaugural Prostock win was in a 69 Camaro. He won with the Vega in 72 and changed everything in prostock

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On the broadcast they showed the exact stats by Model, I deleted it but will record their “encore” show and capture a screen print because it is pretty interesting. May try to email Lewis Bloom since he will no doubt have the complete list. Whatever Mad Dog ran has to be on the tally, always a MOPAR guy but Bob was always my favorite. As I recall Vega had a good number and don’t recall Shepherd ever running one so guess Grumpy (with Lombardo) had quite a few. This is where the GM fans can jump in and correct me.

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Exactly! The Vega wasn't released to the public until 71 anyway if memory serves me right.

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If you are talking about the first NHRA pro stock win it was Da Grump in a "1968" Camaro at Pomona in 1970. Then it was the "1968"car again in Gainesville Fla. that same year for the 2nd NHRA win. .
Dave Strickler of "Old Reliable" fame drove the "1969" Camaro a lot later on but never won a major NHRA event with it. .