I understand your point and I don't disagree with it. But just because we have 8-71's and 14-71's and billet blocks and ultra trick cylinder heads, and carbon fiber body panels, where is it said that we have to make them legal in street classes? Let that kind of progress be permitted in the competition classes. It's too late now for the Gasser Classes and the Street Roadster classes, but it would not been a sin if the rules had been built around what street cars truly are, which is capable and legal to drive on the street (emission requirements aside). They could have stayed with factory stock bodies and frames. They didn't have to go with plastic bodies and tube frames. NHRA could have held their ground on this, but they didn't. Either they didn't have the guts or they didn't have a clear vision of what was going to happen. Nothing wrong with all-out drag race classes having all the double trick triple throw down parts, but they could had left the street classes alone. The funny thing is that about the same time that the Gasser classes were going over the cliff into extinction, NHRA realized what they had done, and introduced the Modified Production classes, which had many limits on permitted modifications. M/P is what the Gasser classes originally were, and it became a VERY popular category. Had they installed those same limits on the Gasser Classes, there would never have been a need for Modified Production. One other thing, NHRA could have created a single class for supercharged Gassers (AA/GS) merged in with supercharged Street Roadsters (AA/SR). Make the AA/SR's run full fenders (plastic duplicates permitted) like the Gassers did. Other than that, both categories are very similar, and they could race each other. Call the class AA/CS for competition street. Between the Modified Production classes and rules, the A, B, C, D/Street Roadster classes and rules, we would have had some great classes for street/strip cars. Anyway, I' done with all of this, sorry I got into it in the first place. I guess I was just feeling old and nostalgic. Like what a brilliant guy once told me, "What is, is, and what ain't, ain't...
When you make rules stipulating limitations on modifications then you have to have sufficient technical inspectors to scrutinize the cars for compliance to all the rules. Sanctioning bodies realized that the more limitations imposed on a class, the more technical inspectors are needed. What car needs more scrutiny for compliance to all of the rules - a Top Fueler or a V/Stocker? If you have to check the V/Stocker for things like acid dipped body panels, lead in the rear bumper, added "vacuum leaks" into the intake manifold, internal engine mods, and myriad other constraints then you need an army of very qualified technical personnel to travel from race to race. I think that is the biggest reason rules have become "lax" and some eliminators get axed. I also predict NHRA's Competition Eliminator (my favorite) will be the next to go - like IHRA did with Modified Eliminator - for this reason and the fact that it costs a fortune to field a competitive entry.
I can say with complete satisfaction, after I quit racing my roadster, I put the carbs back on and drove the shit out of it on the street. It started and finished as a real street roadster! Hugh Tucker was the class king, but he could never say that.
Hugh's car started out as a street driven roadster, with a non-supercharged Olds engine. Even after we put Dave Stoll's blown Olds ski-boat engine in it, it was an all steel car with an OEM frame. And then he swapped a plastic body on it (which did not have legal dimensions) and got away with it. I ribbed him about it for years...
Yeah, Hugh told me he always hoped no one ever parked a stock Chevy roadster beside his so NHRA could see his "short version".
A typical gas tank on a '32 Ford. Hugh had NHRA Techs believing that this was the standard gas tank on a '28 Chevy. Of course, having it stick way out the back and being full of lead might have given him an advantage, lol. Hugh Tucker was a very talented guy...
hey hold up a little here . halt with the controversy this thread was created imho to show the altered not to thrash the NHRA if that's what you want to do start another thread or go to NHRA headquarters andcomplain to them . my thanks to loud bang for starting this thread it takes me back to 1958 when I first started driving altereds.
Don't like it, don't read it. It's simply part of the altered history. Like street classes, the cars that helped build the sport were ruled out in favor of "professionalizing" the sport, and making it more saleable to corporate America. It's tough to get ruled out of the sport you love. Obviously it cut some of us deeper. Apparently you didn't mind. Some of us did. Sorry if sharing our opinion offends you. This isn't the first thread to veer sideways once in a while.
You were partially right. Although "Between Heaven and Hell" had nothing to do with Pure Heaven II, (Reed, Rockman, Fitzgerald) , some years later Leon Fitzgerald purchased it and it became Pure Heaven III. Just wanted to give credit where credit is due.
Yeah that whole corporate thing isn't working to well for them or any other motor sports right at the moment. Back to crazy people in high horse power, short wheel base vehicles. A survivor from the early 70's. Hemi looked and sounded like it might have been out of an early Pro Stock and yes he is wearing shorts and they did let him make a pass like that.
Shorts and...no gloves. Flip-flops on his feet ? Wonder why he chose to wear a helmet ? After all, the roll bar is high enough. Mike
As my wife often says, "Some people learn by listening, others by watching, and some people just have to piss on the electric fence all by themselves."
Didn't run it hard couldn't afford to at the time ( low 9's high 8's) Bracket racing I was most of the time chasing everyone. Stock bore and stroke / 727 with a 3800 turbo action converter / 4.30 rear gear / 32 inch tall tires. Rarely went over 6500 rpm.
I am pretty sure that this is the Chrysler powered Fiat of Joe Mazza and Jack Doyle. Both later went on to field dragsters with Mazza's car being a Turbonique powered Logghe chassis. Doyle had a series of dragsters including an SPE car that was driven by HAMB member Don Roberts. Roo
The Jalopy Journal
