The Future Of The .90 Classes

[John DiBartolomeo]

THE FUTURE

After last week’s Blog (https://drc1254.wixsite.com/website/blog/), I am so overwhelmed with the support I received from so many. I can’t thank everyone enough.

One note however I did receive brought this to light. Jerry Duke, who saw his first drag race in 1963 has been involved in many facets of the sport since then. He asked, “I am interested in your opinion as to the future of .90 racing.”

Having been involved since the very early days of that class, I can say that a lot of things have changed since then. A throttle stop in those early days amounted to not much more than a bolt under the gas pedal to limit throttle opening and slow the car down to the class index. The problem with that is it somewhat limited horsepower which made it tougher to get a good reaction time.

In those early days, reaction time was measured from the time the last amber lit until your car broke the stage beam, as opposed to today where the reaction timer starts when the green light shines. Today a perfect .000 reaction time indicates the car broke the stage beam at the same exact time as the green light. Back then, a perfect reaction time was .400, based off a four-tenths pro tree. With the type of equipment then, a .420 reaction time was considered great. We were having to do all sorts of things in order to arrive at that number. With the Powerglide transmissions used back then, I clearly remember having cut apart numerous valve bodies to search for ways to get the trans brake to release quicker.

With Deep Staging not allowed, we’d also attempt to “bump in” a little after being staged. This meant it was sometimes a race just to get into the stage beam first to give you a little extra time to “bump in.” Eventually faster fluid-release valve bodies and better transmission torque converters came to pass, but it still was a different time.

The throttle controls we have today where it appears the car shuts off and then picks up speed hadn’t yet come into existence. This meant that for the most part, races from the starting line to the finish line were side-by-side affairs. I became pretty adept at the use of weight to not only slow the car down but also adjust the suspension. At one time, I also played with an ignition retard after the car shifted into high gear. The amount of retard used allowed me to get closer to the index and then I used minimal amounts of weight to fine tune it. In addition, I used an override in high gear to maybe make up for a late light or force an opponent to break out. Today, it’s as simple as rolling in or out various numbers on the throttle control timer.

It’s apparent today that almost everyone can cut a good reaction time along with their car repeating an elapsed time over and over again. Is it easy? No. There are still dozens of variables which can throw a monkey wrench into the fray. But it’s easier today than it was in the beginning of the class to build a winner, much like in any class of drag racing. The one thing that is harder is the ability to win on a consistent basis and that’s based on the fact that almost everyone has the capability to turn on a win light.

In those earlier days, if there were 100 cars in the staging lanes for a class, you could probably pick out 25 or so who probably had the best chance to win. Now with 100 cars, that number has to be increased to at least 99 of them with the chance of winning. The competition level has gotten that great.

So what’s the future of the .90 classes? I honestly don’t know other several years ago hearing an NHRA official explain to me that any of the .90 classes were the most populated of any of the NHRA sportsman classes. They may not be popular with the fans, but what sportsman class is? The sportsman classes are participant-driven, not spectator-driven. Will it continue? Nobody has that Crystal Ball and who’s to say what happens in the future. A little over one year ago, no one could have predicted the type year we had in 2020. So who can predict the future of the .90 classes? My thought is that as long as they continue to be populated, they’ll remain. And maybe the truth is that the NHRA has bigger things to concern themselves with than the future of a class which is still popular. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see. What’s your thoughts?

[Tom Goldman]

The "problem " with Super class racing is that when conceived Horse Power to run 9.90 or 8.90 was not easy to build or cheap.
It was a challenge that many of us embraced and rose to.
With the advent of modern cylinder heads ,cranks and blocks anyone can build a big or small block engine capable of HorsePower that Pro Stockers have !
NHRA failed to adapt the classes to the increased power at racers disposal. ....While other Sportsman classes, Comp ,Super Stock, and Stock experienced similar explosions in Horse Power ,their Class Indexes dropped accordingly while the Super Classes were left alone .
The time to lower the .90 indexes is LONG over due . ....There is no reason that all indexes could not be lowered at least one full second if not more . personally I would love to see them at 7.90 ,8.50 and 9.90 respectively

[63corvette]

Originally Posted by Tom Goldman

The "problem " with Super class racing is that when conceived Horse Power to run 9.90 or 8.90 was not easy to build or cheap.
It was a challenge that many of us embraced and rose to.
With the advent of modern cylinder heads ,cranks and blocks anyone can build a big or small block engine capable of HorsePower that Pro Stockers have !
NHRA failed to adapt the classes to the increased power at racers disposal. ....While other Sportsman classes, Comp ,Super Stock, and Stock experienced similar explosions in Horse Power ,their Class Indexes dropped accordingly while the Super Classes were left alone .
The time to lower the .90 indexes is LONG over due . ....There is no reason that all indexes could not be lowered at least one full second if not more . personally I would love to see them at 7.90 ,8.50 and 9.90 respectively

Tom, I agree with most of your thoughts except the lowering of the indexes.
I think that might hurt the participation of especially SST as there are several in that class that could not make the 9.90 et without spending more money to reach that et.
They might choose to just go bracket racing instead.
The lowering of the indexes was voted on at least 2 times in the Divisions I participate in over the past years and the vote was to keep it as is. My vote was I did not have a preference and I would go with whatever the majority decided.
I have competed in all 3 of the 90 categories over the years and I observed some in each class with not enough skill to run the class they were in to do so safely. That is one of my concerns when lowering the indexes also. I fear drastically lowering the indexes would cause more high speed accidents.
The last few years I helped with a TS car and I can tell you from my observations from the starting line in that class there are many in over their head in skills to be running that class.
Money can make you fast however, that does not make you capable of controlling that kind of horsepower. That is my concern with lowering the indexes drastically.
Maybe I am just getting old and my concerns may not be real.

My top concern with the 90 classes is the use of electronic controls repeating a programmed run. I have suspicions that is happening and is not being policed by anyone. There was another thread on Class Racer regarding that subject and how it could be done and available it was on the market. If it is available it will be used by some. That is just human nature.
With all that is going on with motor sports I just hope Drag Racing can survive.
Drag Racing has been my addiction since I attended my first NHRA race at Amarillo Dragway in the spring of 1963 or maybe 1964 which was the Winternationals with all the legends of that era. Top fuel cars on open trailers or ramp trucks. The good ole days.
Just My 2 Cents
Rick Cates
Canyon, TX. I now compete in SG and am licensed in both SG and SC

[ausby]

i hope it stays around a while. im new to the .90 stuff and like it alot better than bracket racing.

[Joe Shiver T/S SST]

I went from Top Sportsman back to Super Street and love it hope it stays around and car counts are great I say leave well enough alone. I also think that super street gives the ability for some drivers to drag race who maybe can't pass the physical to go super fast but still want to compete and have fun. So no I wouldn't want to see an index change.

[Maverick]

I think it would really mess up the class to lower the indexes. It ok if you have a mega inch motor in a roadster, and can 170. You want to change the index, then do it and I will retire for sure. The hi mph cars have the advantage most of the time, but there are a few racers that run the number at 100 mph. The problem with people wanting to change the index is they can't run without it. 9.90 hi mph car would run low 8's. They allowed the delay, throttle control boxes, which are just computers manipulating the throttle control, and release of the car. Too much politics in the class. Steve Williams. S/G 351N 1994 Ford with no throttle control, or hi moh

[Maverick]

I think it would really mess up the class to lower the indexes. It ok if you have a mega inch motor in a roadster, and can 170. You want to change the index, then do it and I will retire for sure. The hi mph cars have the advantage most of the time, but there are a few racers that run the number at 100 mph. The problem with people wanting to change the index is they can't run without it. 9.90 hi mph car would run low 8's. They allowed the delay, throttle control boxes, which are just computers manipulating the throttle control, and release of the car. Too much politics in the class. Steve Williams. S/G 351N 1994 Ford with no throttle control, or hi mph. You want to lower the index, jump move up a class. You run super gas, run super comp, problem solved