Atlanta fan appeal.

[John Lang]

Art ! Speaking about Horsepower! Your Neon is right up there, 1.35? under and still untested so to speak ! I have a 65 SS/CA Hemi factored at 500, which used to be the same as the SS/AH cars. Now the AH cars are I believe at 507! What i'm getting at is I feel the rating is too high in the 65 cars, as the 68 cars have a much higher hood scoop, they can run the newer, higher manifolds, that we can't. I'm not whinning, just bring up a point, and I do like the neon, I'ts just that the ring & pinion is in the wrong end of the car!....I'LL Get over It.... Later John Lang

[Ken Miele]

Mark, with all do respect and the same goes to everyone that thinks racing stock eliminator is more expensive today then in the past. Fee's being raised is not the death of NHRA. When I started racing stock over 23 years ago it was no more expensive for the money I was making then, then it is in today's money. I was working for UPS making $15.00 an hour, today UPS drivers make close to $30.00 an hour. Everything has gone up along with salary's. If someone's situation has not changed in 20 years, then yes it has gone up for them. My first stocker, the one I drive today cost me $8000.00 and was race ready. It was only a 2 tenths under car and when I worked on it, it was an index car. I needed to learn allot just to get it back to run under the index. I spent lots of money and time and had fun doing it. If you went 4 tenths under you were a top 5 qualifier. This was in 1987, my car was already 19 years old, I was 29 and thought the old cars were still cool as I think many young people still think today.

Today I can build along with anyone else a stocker for less than $15000.00 and go 8 tenths under. A late 80's Mustang 5.0 or the same year Camaro's can be built for the same. If you go to 2 nationals, 7 divisions and 2 opens you will have to take 2 days off and 1 day respectively per race, I do not see that being a problem. I spent about $1100.00 for entry fees in '87, today for the same racers I would spend about $2000.00 for entry fees. Membership and car number was about $60.00, it cost $109.00 today. You don't have to run AA to be completive, just ask Lee Zane, when he ran his Apollo.

Granted the money you can win has not gone up much, but I doubt there are many who race today that depend on the winnings to be able to race next week.

All the talk about the new CJ's and Challengers is way over blown, how many racers will be effected by the new cars? I for one, being a AA car I'm not complaining, I look forward to racing them. Even with the Challenger being able to run some of the slower classes, the effect will be small on most racers. With all this said, I do not think NHRA has priced anyone out of stock eliminator.

Choose your class carefully, and you can have fun in stock for no more then it cost 20 years ago in today's dollars.

[Mark Yacavone]

"I do not think NHRA has priced anyone out of stock eliminator."

Kenny, We'll see. Maybe you're right, but I still don't think it's a good year to be raising fees on anyone, young or old.

Anyway, the main point of my post was about getting the young guys into some sort of class racing.
I don't think many 22 year olds could afford it. You said yourself. You make alot more money now, than you did 20 years ago.

[art leong]

Originally Posted by John Lang

Art ! Speaking about Horsepower! Your Neon is right up there, 1.35? under and still untested so to speak ! I have a 65 SS/CA Hemi factored at 500, which used to be the same as the SS/AH cars. Now the AH cars are I believe at 507! What i'm getting at is I feel the rating is too high in the 65 cars, as the 68 cars have a much higher hood scoop, they can run the newer, higher manifolds, that we can't. I'm not whinning, just bring up a point, and I do like the neon, I'ts just that the ring & pinion is in the wrong end of the car!....I'LL Get over It.... Later John Lang

I have one of those hood scoops on my car. But for me its more of a parachute than a scoop. I'm sure it costs me at least one mph. Haven't gone 1.35 yet. But I'm not in a horsepower class it's cubic inches in my case.
Hoping the new mods will get it quite a bit quicker. But the main thing is I have got to get it to leave harder. Lately I can't hit the tree with a grenade. I wish I could deep stage. But some of the crybabies took care of that.