Ford CJ's and Mopar DP's NHRA is now on the case

[GUMP]

Originally Posted by James L Miller

Why should they reflect current power levels? If you keep adding power to every engine combo, pretty soon the top class cars will be made illegal since the weight/power ratio will bump them out of SS/AA and AA/SA, etc. Pretty soon the Hemis, 427 Camaros, Shelby Mustangs, etc. would be bumped out if the HP factor was put in line with current power levels. A SS/AH Hemi is now over 1000HP in a 3000 pound car. I'm sure most of the big block engines would be in the same situation. Would you want a 350 Camaro racing in SS/AA with the big block combos not legal anymore? This would be an extreme case, but shows the potential for class creep.

I always thought that NHRA and IHRA should keep one engine combo at a constant power level and all the rest moved up and down to even the playing field. My choice would have been the Race Hemi's at 500 HP, but the SS/AH cars are now at 507. I think the 500 HP number reflected the power level of a 1964 Race Hemi when it left the factory in 1964. Food for thought and strictly my opinion (which I'm sure doesn't count for anything). Thanks for listening to an old goober.

I don't think that they should, but there is a lot of talk on here about how the new cars should be factored that way. My point is that all entries should be treated equally.

[dwydendorf]

Originally Posted by Qwikpony

They weren't 200-300 HP off though and that is the big difference. Let's face it, that would be like comparing a bogus DZ-302 Hp rating to a bogus '23 T-bucket HP rating. It is a 40 year technolgy difference. I'm all for the HP wars, but not at the expense of the older cars. A separate class is the answer and let them turn 'em loose on each other.

The difference in the old days was that you could actually dominate the whole race, instead of just winning class and an occasional heads up race. Eliminations were based off your National record at the time and you could run as much as .010 under without breaking out. At that time ( back in the late 1960's to early 1970's) you could win a few thousand dollars as opposed to a few hundred for a class win today for having a very fast car. Now you just get a class win and bragging rights instead of winning the whole eliminator.