HP added but car not built/run?

[Billy Nees]

Ya know, "long ago in a galaxy far,far away" my DD at the time "explained" to me just how this net-to-gross HP factoring thing was done. ;-)

At the time, I was running my old, faithful green Nova with a 230 I-6 rated at 140 HP with a 1 bbl carb and a "siamese-port" head. It's a good combo but not great. I had to race in V/SA against good, old friends of mine one who was running a Chevy 229 V-6 rated (at the time) 140 HP (net 115) and the other running a Buick 231 V-6 rated 130 (net 105). Both combos had (relatively) big 2 bbl carbs and real cylinder heads and intake manifolds compared to my stuff.
So, one day I asked my DD how NHRA came up with these arbitrary factors for these combos and was told (this is an exact quote) " 230 Chevy and 229 Chevy are the same thing and everybody knows that Buicks make less horsepower than Chevys".
Ya can't make this stuff up!

And now I'll fast-forward to the 21ST Century where the Tech Dept. (hi Pat! remember me?) sees no problem with putting a Chevy 262 V6 with fuel injection and a roller cam in the guide at an at the time 140 HP (net 140) and they can't see a problem with this.

I've been asked why I don't bring my green Nova out-to-play anymore by a few Racers. Doug Hoven brought out my blue Nova with the 230 in it last year and figured out quickly that it was no-longer competitive and put a 350 in it.
I've been asked why I don't request a HP reduction (Doug did) but the way the system is set up, I would be lucky to get a 2-3 HP reduction per year IF I play the "game" right which would mean running a non-competitive combo for 4-5 years to (maybe) be competitive again.

Maybe I'll just stick to "playing" with my junk. I don't have to (or am I expected to) take it seriously.