Event Coverage Gasser Reunion 2013, Changes more Hamb Friendly!

A fan favorite for sure, Lew puts on a great show, one of my favorite cars there. I hope that he comes and competes in Hot Rod (modified gasser class) and tries to three peat!

 

That is how we are doing it! Looking forward to seeing your Falcon!

 

We call them old school Gasser or modern day Gasser. My pro mod could run with some of the rules that are out there it's a 1963.

 

Thanks! Well said too.

 

John, again they are not being left out, they will be in a class that fits them better....

 

Don:
You have a tough job. Just have to keep Abraham Lincoln's famous quote going through your head.
Anyway when I first read this was a little concerned for this reason.
A friend just bought Larry Gardinier's Valiant. Beautiful car. Hes so excited about it and wants to hit some races as he can.
Not having raced at any of the Nostalgia races myself was not sure how his car would fit . I can tell you this. Its his first hot car in about 40 years and he wants nothing to do with bracket racing if possible. So you having the heads up class works for him. Myself included I personally love it.
I will have to drop you a line sometime and make sure we can fit into your program somewhere. Right now hes geting the car to pass tech.
Thank you very much and Happy Holidays
Luke

 

I would not build the Hart car to fit (nose up)rules, I would restore it how it was, which was never nose up. It can run in the AA stuff that I do or one of the others. Not all gassers were nose up and they all didn't have straight axles either but that how people interpret it most of the time.

Your the right guy to figure it out, running the AA stuff it won't really effect me anyway but if your going to set it up running index eliminators it really shouldn't matter if they are high or low. I like the idea of more heads up instead of a dial format.

 

I fail to see WHY someone can't use an N.H.R.A. rule book from the event's cut-off year and just add the current safety rules. Example, if the event's cut-off year is 1973 then use the 1973 N.H.R.A. rule book rules versus making up rules that will alienate some and piss off others. Rules form an old rule book will be "actual" old rules as they were back in the day and not someone's rendition of what they think the rules should be.

Oh and as a matter of fact, I do have that photo of the Gasser that was bounced from the Gasser class for not having a straight axle. You tell me that this is not a "traditional Gasser".....

 

Luke, your buddy's car looks pretty cool! Hard to tell from the picture, but looks like the rocker is pretty close to the spindle....Either way, he will be able to run it at the Gasser Reunion.

 

Micky, you are right and my new car will not be nose up, more like level. The old picture of your car is spot on. ( and this is not to say I don't like your car now, I do, it is beautiful!) Like I said in the article I know some people will not like this rule. I am not sure why. They still get to race at the Reunion. They will still get to race against cool cars. They still have a chance to win the purse. They will still be on the video and possibly be in the magazine. They will still time trial against the older style gassers. Most people do identify gassers with a nose up attitude. There are always exceptions to the rule, but we are going with the majority. Last years final 4 included an MGA, Jaguar, Corvette, and a Chevy Truck! Only one car was not low to the ground.

 

I guess we can agree to disagree! I would say that by 1973 the gasser class was dead. Tires were better and aerodynamics started to come into play. I believe that rear engine dragsters were coming out too not to mention the Funny car craze. The 73 cut off is a track deal, I would cut it off earlier if I could, but the reality of the economics is they need to make money. No matter how you slice it, someone is not gonna like something. Lots of people complained last year. I personally heard it. Many people voiced their opinion. Majority rules.

As far as the Zieminick Bros. Henry J. I love this car too! I hope he comes to race in the Modified Gasser class. Another example that makes this a tough decision. I can go and find old pictures of a bunch of Anglia's that are not going to fit this class either. They too will just be racing in another class. The only rules that may keep a car off the track at the Reunion are safety rules.

 

I think I know what Don is trying to do here. I know I've been to a lot of "nostalgia" drags, and you go and you are all pumped up thinking..."I can't wait to see the cars run like they used to". Then you go, and most of the so called "nostalgia" cars are stuff you see run all the time when you go to your local track. I'm not saying cars like the white 'Vette above aren't cool to see, but when they are low to the ground, and have modern wheels, it kind of takes away from the vintage look. Now, when I went to the Meltdown Drags, that is why I go to see vintage drags. The Jalopy Showdown is a close second. I think what Don is trying to do is re-create an era where 99% of the cars were nose up. Take a look at the Gasser Wars book by Larry Davis. You won't see very many low nose cars until the very late 60's, and like Don stated above, that was when the tires got much better. Remember, Don says EVERYONE CAN RACE....you just wont be in the vintage gasser class. Merry Christmas everyone!!

 

x 2

 

Guess the '65 World Champion would be a bit iffy.

 

Couple questions. What are acceptable ways of running the index? You say "no sandbagging" so what does that mean? Adding weight (i.e. sand bags)? Some sort of throttle stop? Pulling off a plug wire? Adjusting the brakes real tight? Running up against a rev limiter?

Just wondering because if you are at a 10.15 for example, you have a couple choices I guess. Get beat first round in the 10.00 class because you can't run the index or maybe add about 350 lbs and try to hit the 10.50 index. I just worry about guys trying to safely add that much weight to a car (proper attachment) to make it run the number.

Also, what happens if you run 10.49 on the 10.50 or 9.99 on the 10.00 index? I assume you "break out"? If so... it sounds like a bracket race with pre-determined dial ins to me.

Not trying to slam you here... These are some real issue you will run into trying to run this race like that. You may as well try to come up with answers now rather than at the track when someone is pissed about how you want to enforce your rules.

 

Great looking car! Would you be the guy yelling at me if a car looked like that and have a lazer to point out that the center line of the spindle is 3/8 to half an inch above the rocker? If a car has the dated look that this car does, there will be a grey interpretation of the rule. This is a show guys.

 

congrats on the new gig Don.......always the showman

 

Rusty, great questions thanks! You have been to the Reunion in the past right? There is ample time for time trials to dial your car in. We encourage it! My interpretation of sand bagging is having a car that is faster than the index, then hit the brakes at the end of the track to finish just in front of the car next to you. So if your nose dives down before the finish line, you loose. Yes, if you break out, you loose too. The point is both cars will start together at the starting line together. Lets face it, most every track, where are the grand stands? They are at the starting line! So with the cars starting together at the same time, in the same index it will make for some very close racing. We think it will be fun to watch! Personally I would like to leave it at that, but most guys still want to try and win a larger purse, so we will have to run the index champs against each other for the overall winner. That will require staggered starting times.

As far as dialing your car in:

"Adding weight (i.e. sand bags)? " NOOOOO unless you have a pipe bumper you can fill! Safety is a problem with this one, if something bad happens and your car is in a roll, you don't want weight bouncing around inside your car with you!

" Some sort of throttle stop?" No throttle stops or two steps allowed period, just not nostalgic at all!


"Pulling off a plug wire?" I don't recommend this as it can't be good for your motor, I would also caution having all that unspent fuel in that cylinder.

"Adjusting the brakes real tight?" NOOO another no no, we don't need to get our brakes nice and hot just to run a number!

" Running up against a rev limiter?" I guess this would work, but I hope this is not the way guys try to make their cars fit into an index. Rev limiters are a great tool to protect your investment under the hood, but for the sake of what we are trying to do here, it won't sound very good having cars go down the track sputtering!

If your car is in the middle of an index, simply adjust the timing and or the fuel mixture to dial it in. I have slowed my car down a couple tenths with just a little timing.

Rusty again thanks for the great questions! Keep em coming and hope to see you there!

 

Don-

Whats the year cut off? There was alot of Opel Kadetts in the gasser wars and I have a surviving one that I am racing now, its a 1969.

Dave.

 

Dave, bring that Kadett to Thompson, cant wait to see it!

 

This car had a arms! I have spoken to Fred lots of times. He would be pissed if someone said his car wasn't a gasser!

 

Dave, cut off is 1973 so your good. My buddy Martin runs Space Kadet and it is a 67.

Don

 

No problem here with a arms!

 

Good luck, Don. You are on the right track. Racing will be good & everyone will get to race. Your idea is the most fair to the largest number of racers while providing the track owner & fans with the best turnout of cars.

 

Do you mean,, as long as they were original to the car, or can a guy crank up a Mustang 11 setup?

 

I hope not!

 

I think you will have a tough time enforcing this one. Too subjective

To me someone needs to fix this. Move the stands to the finish line. Every other racing sport on this planet has the fans where they can see the finish. Why can't drag strip owners see this?

Weight bumper works fine on slower cars but once you get over about 120 mph this can become very dangerous as well depending on the balance of the car. Not to mention uncontrollable wheelstands on higher powered cars.

So no adjustable bolt under the throttle pedal even? Wouldn't that be a throttle stop?

Honestly I was joking with these two but thanks for answering them anyway..

Actually, I wasn't serious with this one either because it is illegal in NHRA and IHRA to run a down track engine rpm limiter. The reason is that it will make any car very consistant to the point it is unfair. This MUST be ruled out or this will be the method of choice eventually.

You are right in that this will work on cars probably mid to high 10s and slower. However, cars in the low 10s or quicker have a much harder time regulating E.T. nearly 1/2 a second. It is just a matter of physics. They spend less time on the track and any "adjustment" to E.T. is obvious to to the observer. The quicker the car, the more intrusive it is to slow it down that much.

I used to run a car that went 9.0s in the 1/4 mile. I could run it to the 1/8 mile and simply lift on the throttle and it would coast through the 1/4 mile in the 9.90s. Coasting from 1/2 track on.

Just saying maybe a uniform 1/2 second spacing isn't the right number. Possibly consider the incriments get closer the faster you go? A tenth of a second is many more car lengths in 2 cars running 9s vs 2 cars running 12s.

Just food for thought.

Don... Don't take my posting as derogatory in any way. I really would love to have a great competitve way to run these old cars. I am just trying to be the devils advocate to help iron out issues before they are real at the track.

 

My Oldest kid and I went last year for our first time. It was a very nice show but I thought the car count was a little low making new rules that might keep some guys home is not a good thing. If you can get more cars and have to gasser classes that might be cool but you will need it get more cars to show up. Just My 2 cents and we will still be taking the 6 hr dive this year.

 

Good luck Don. You're in the eye of the hurricane, but you knew that going in. Stick by your guns. It sounds like that race will be entertaining.

 

Don't like the change, start your own show/race. LOTS of other drag races all over for 'your' car.