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Since we are so traditional here.

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by lippy, Jun 22, 2012.

  1. There is an upside, if you are running alcohol in a gas class and need an edge it is nothing to dump light load nitro in the tank on the way to stages. :rolleyes:

    These days races are won or lost by thousandths. A little smell good additive in your fuel to mask the odor and a very light load of nitro could put you over the top. Not as easy to pull off with gasoline.

    Actually I have an engine that if I decide to drive it will need to be alcohol sprayed, uh to cool the combustion chambers. Eventually it will have to have a match race with a friend that has a blower car. Nothing in the world to stop me from dumping a load of pop in my alcohol tank for just one pass. :D
     
  2. Marty Strode
    Joined: Apr 28, 2011
    Posts: 8,801

    Marty Strode
    Member

    I thought you might want to see a 60's Gasser with the body off, this is the Bizio truck before I cut the cage off. Not real safe, Ron went 166 in it, Tom went 151! The good part is I saved all the cage and tin, the current owners have the option of putting it back as original.
     

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  3. S_Mazza
    Joined: Apr 27, 2011
    Posts: 363

    S_Mazza
    Member

    That's fine, as long as you change your avatar to show a scan of the most recent receipt from the gas station, every time you fill up.
     
  4. dang...not much to it is there?
     
  5. falcongeorge
    Joined: Aug 26, 2010
    Posts: 18,341

    falcongeorge
    Member
    from BC

    We had a guy try that here in our local "fast street car" program. He didnt even make it to the water before myself and half a dozen other guys outted him.
     
  6. I've have actually had a sponsor or two in my time and they don't give you a receipt. Besides what is the difference if I have a pump at home, same as if I happen to own the station right? ;)

    It has been being done for as long as people have been racing I am afraid. When I was little people would try and run fuel in the gas classes someone would notice the smell and sometimes the techs would do something sometimes they wouldn't. I guess it depended how drink water the track was and who was passing gas.

    Seen a lot of things get tried over the years. Not just drag racing not just cars. A purse will make guys do things they wouldn't have done when it was just for fun.
     
    Last edited: Jun 27, 2012
  7. Man, real history is scarry!

    I was going to ask you if you had any photos when you PM'ed me.

    Cool pics though, thanks for those shots Marty. :cool:
     
  8. Larry T
    Joined: Nov 24, 2004
    Posts: 7,875

    Larry T
    Member

    George,
    The rules I posted were for the NHRA Heritage Series, which is a whole different ball of wax than the NHRA Sportsman Drag Racing Series ("little guy"-yea, right) and the NHRA Drag Racing Series (Pro).

    I haven't been a Divisional or National Event in many years and really don't keep up with the rules very closely anymore. I do have last years rule book sitting on top of the 55 I'm working on, just to make sure I'm close to legal for sanctioned tracks. That being said, I'm building to run 10.00 or slower. You dip into the 9's and the hassle and cost of having fun go up exponentially. So there are a lot of guys that are running right now (while I'm trying to build) and running a lot faster than I'll ever go that can tell you a lot more than I can.

    But I did look in an fairly new Rulebook and I didn't see anything about being able to run alcohol in an Altered.

    I also looked in the general rules at the specs for gasoline. They're a little different than the 66 specifications I posted above.
     
  9. falcongeorge
    Joined: Aug 26, 2010
    Posts: 18,341

    falcongeorge
    Member
    from BC

    Myself and one of the other guys (Phil Ranks, RIP) that noticed were teching the class. :eek::rolleyes: Oh oh!:D Was pretty funny actually.
     
  10. falcongeorge
    Joined: Aug 26, 2010
    Posts: 18,341

    falcongeorge
    Member
    from BC

    Phew. Thats a relief. My newest rule book is 2002. Havent even BEEN to the track in about two years. Guess you could say I have been out of the loop a while.:eek:
     
  11. I think that as far as about any sanctioning body is concerned we are relics.

    I don't think that the NHRA has done things the way that we see fit. They really don't have any reason to, they are a business and we just don't fit their business plan. But differences aside they do keep a pretty close watch on whatever it is that they see fit to impose.

    My last rule book is about 4 or 5 years old. Even back then from what I recall from reading it they were pretty adamant about everyone using the fuel in the mix that they wanted it to have.
     
  12. Yep, if you crack the 9's (NHRA or IHRA) it will cost you a lot more money and grief. I know, I've got a car that cracks the 10's and a car that is in the 9's. The car that runs in the 9's hasn't left the garage in a few years because I have a more relaxing and fun time with my slower car.
     
  13. From behind the wheel you really can't tell the difference between 10.000 and 9.999 can ya.
     
  14. No, but you can bet the NHRA and the SFI Foundation count every dollar...uh I mean 10th!
     
  15. I was actually thinking cost verses fun.

    It is funny .001 can get you booted off the track isn't it. I had a tech in the '90s point out to me if I tunned and my numbers changed by .001 that I was going to be headed for the house. :eek: then he wrote it down real slow because I don't read too fast to make sure I understood him.

    I remember asking him if I looked like I would break the rules and he said no but he wouldn't even bend them and to make sure that if I think I am going too fast to lift.

    Rules is rules I suppose. I mean hell if we think that gassers should run on gas I suppose all the other rules should apply as well.

    Oh by the way Marty I ment to comment earlier that the old gas chassis looks spindly as hell. A good example of what we used to get away with.
     
  16. ^^ They have to make the cut somewhere don't they? and it's always going to be by just that much
     

  17. I don't have a problem with "the rules".

    I have a problem when (IMO) rules are there for money!

    Case in point: I just got off the phone with R.J.S. regarding my harness certification which expires every 2 years. Every freakin' 2 years?!?!

    How many of us have old street cars with the original factory seat belts in them that are 30... 40... even 50 years old without a problem?

    Why are belts and harnesses only good for 2 years? I'll tell you why... MONEY! I send my harness in with $49.00 and I'm good to go for another 2 freakin' years.
     
  18. falcongeorge
    Joined: Aug 26, 2010
    Posts: 18,341

    falcongeorge
    Member
    from BC

    I actually used to follow the Div. 6 Stock/SS points chases REALLY closely, used to hit 4-5 points races in the division a year, did for decades, '70s-2000/2001. I pretty much lost interest when they started adulterating the rules, T-bolts in stock, aftermarket heads, now carbs, ect, ect. Its really lost all meaning, and once you let the cat out of the bag, its hell getting it back in. Not just me, a whole hell of a lot of guys I know that used to really follow the whole Stock/SS thing are just done with it. NHRA has pretty much rendered those classes irrelevant, and I'm not even certain that is not intentional on thier part. NHRA really hasn't had ANY interest in having anything to do with those classes for decades, and IMO, would really like to go to a format of pro-start 10.90/9.90/8.90 bracket racing and pro classes. I think the recent changes to Stock/SS are probably leading up to that. But thats another rant for another forum that I belong to...
     
  19. yes they do. If the cutoff was @ 9.500 it would still be .001 that got you, maybe less if they start breaking time down even farther.

    Waddya care,
    The harness to someone like you and I seems ludicrous. But to the bean counters aside from the money to be made there is liability. If a 4 year belt is dangerous then a 2 year belt is twice as safe. They are not only thinking about their sponsors but also making sure that their ass is covered.

    It is the same as the deal with the hauns device and NASCAR, someone separates their brain stem, how often does that happen. Now they are making sure it doesn't happen and if it does that they can pass the buck to someone else.

    Sometimes we don't like the rules, but they are there and we have to learn to work with them, or around them.

    Life is change I am afraid. A person like myself could protest until he was blue in the face. They don't even pay any attention at all. I am probably the least important person in the entire world to anyone except the missus and she usually doesn't listen to me bitch very long.
     
  20. I've got some friends who are racing in a slightly OT Chevelle. They just swapped to alky and ran 10.06...with a heavy test pilot. The regular driver weighs 100 lbs less. They are really hoping that once they get dialed in and put the regular driver back in that they don't break 9.90 because then it's a whole new set of requirements that they don't want to deal with.
     
  21. squirrel
    Joined: Sep 23, 2004
    Posts: 55,942

    squirrel
    Member

    You can race with decades old seat belts, until you hit 11.499 and need a roll bar, then you get into the new harness every two years deal.

    Gotta love it. Mine is due.
     
  22. I really don't have a problem living within the rules, my beef is when the rules just don't fit and money is the cause.

    Harnesses in cars slower than 9.99 could go 4 years on their cert. and I would be fine with that. The rules are taylored per speed/E.T. all the time. A car running 12's, 11's or even 10's is not that fast so a re-cert. for a car in the 9's could/should be every 2 years whereas a slower car could/should be every 4.
     

  23. If you are going to go fast the safety equipment alone is a budget breaker. It is funny, let us suppose that my car runs 11.5 with a heavy driver, so it will break into the higher budget of the added safety equipment with me in it. With the added weight I can't run any faster than 11.5 so I am back where I started. Maybe I can tune it to pull that extra tenth out of it but I am probably going to have to really rethink some things to really make it worth my while.

    Hell in a 12 second car you could almost get away with standing naked on the roof.

    When I do race anymore (which is seldom) I race outlaw. I have been on some none sanctioned tracks that you can away with very little in the way of safety equipment. There has been a time or two that I was paired with some really fast cars that I had seen in the pits and was almost afraid to be on the track with them.

    You get one extreme or another any more.

    My nearest NHRA track is in Topeka now that the local track is shut down. Probably not going to worry about driving that far just to race NHRA. hell a lot of the local guys with 10 second door slammers are detuning them to run on the street or doing the clandestine thing.
     
    Last edited: Jun 28, 2012
  24. Marty Strode
    Joined: Apr 28, 2011
    Posts: 8,801

    Marty Strode
    Member

    All this talk about safety equipment got me thinking about this Dragster I raced in the 80's. It ran on alcohol, note the lack of blower restraint, the 3 point cage, and the tires, belts and chute were a minimum of 17 years old. It ran pretty good for 336 inches, 7.95 at 192.7! I am thinking of writing a story on that car, titled 7 seconds for under $7000.00
     

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  25. Although I don't think it's fair to compare what street car belts are about and something made for racing (I mean with that logic we shouldn't need any racing rules, as long as the factory stock safety stuff is in tact)

    But here IS something to think about and compare - FORMULA 1 allows SIX years on their belts! 5 years in many NASCAR classes
     
  26. falcongeorge
    Joined: Aug 26, 2010
    Posts: 18,341

    falcongeorge
    Member
    from BC

    Which should tell you something that we ALL already know...$$$
    Funny thing is, when factory stock vehicles (think Viper here) started to show up that could run high 11's straight out of the showroom, all of a sudden, it was "safe" to go an extra half second faster without a roll-bar in the car. So I guess it just depends on how much heft the lobbiest has...:rolleyes:
     
  27. Hummm....

    I did not know this. :confused:

    Exactly! ;)
     

  28. I would love to read that!
     
  29. Junior Stock
    Joined: Aug 24, 2004
    Posts: 1,891

    Junior Stock

    If you've got dated belts they have to be current no matter how slow the car runs,that's what I was told and I know a few others from areas around the country have been told the same.
    Have a Nova that ran 12.50's and had put some belts out of a friends Super Stocker that were out of date and was told not to return with them. Put the 30 year old (then) belts back in and everybody was happy.

    Several tracks around here use common sense instead of rule books. No this is not my car, and yes it would pass tech at a sanctioned track. As for motion lotion of chose, I don't remember.
    [​IMG]
     
  30. Yes!

    If it's in or on the car, whether it's needed or not, it must pass tech.

    I know a guy that put a roll bar in his car just for looks. He put it in wrong and the car wouldn't pass tech so he couldn't run.
     

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