Tires for HA/GR

OLD28 i am takeing trusty durometer in hand and going to the tire store and check a bunch of tires. the sdra rules will not change this year ,we are going to clarify some of them .Feel free to pm me with thoughts on the rules L J

 

results from the tire store the softest i found was a bridgestone at 58 ,most tires ran in the 68 to 72 range .checked a set goodyear drag slicks that were on 11sec door car 50 was the number also checked a set on a junior fueler 38 was the number . by the way the speed rateing on the street radials was 130 mph. it might pay to invest in a durometer.

 

This isn't what I had in mind when I came up with the idea for the class and especially when I wrote the rules.

In fact... this is exactly WHY I wrote the rules... to combat the silliness that drag racing had become.

What he ended up with is an ugly modern drag car with an old engine in it.

Not much sense in that...

Now, that motor in a bitchen front engine slingshot?

Now, that... that would be cool.

Sam

 

Geez....that's kinda harsh, isn't it? I come from an oval track background, and over the years I've witnessed this same exact thing over and over again. Someone writes a set of rules with a concept in mind, then eventually someone builds the ultimate car , exactly to those rules. Then the bitching starts. I don't see much of anything about this car that I don't see on most of the other cars out there, really. You can't build a car to truely resemble dragsters of that era, and conform to NHRA's nonsense rule book. Many racers have no option but to run at NHRA tracks, or not run at all, so it seems that while this concept is good, in reality the following doesn't resemble the origonal intent. I hesitate to say this, but it occurs to me that it was destined from the start, to be exactly what it is, and this Jeep car is simply the latest and greatest version. It may fly in the face of what you once envisioned, but if it meets the rules, what can be said? If that car is ugly, it shows it in a most beautiful way. Just my 2 cents, and no doubt worth at least half that.....

 

David built the car himself and he is a fabricator so I would expect it to be of greart quality. If you are old enough to remember Leland Kolb, he built the rattest looking A/Fuel dragsters and then you look at the McKwen and Adams Shark car and you see something spectacular. The guys who are building mostly stock engines will always have fun but don't think for a minute that somebody can't make one go fast. John Bradley in the Gene's Brake Shop flathead hit 150 mph highgear only, I doubt that anyone today could do that and I had a flathead dragster on gas in 1957 that went 108 mph, lot of difference. AS a side note the Jeep car would have blown the doors off Cook and Bedwell's A/Fuel dragster when they set the world record for fuel in 1957 with a Chrysler with 6 97's on it. ET wise not top end and NHRA called a fuel ban because of it, said we were getting into unsafe speeds.

 

It's only natural that someone will decide to see how fast (and quick) they can make one of these things go, given the restrictions of the class. In this case the class is SDRA, not HA/GR.
There's many motives for running a drag car of this type. To name a few: Recapture the early days, as much as possible given saftey requirements, Satisfying a desire to make a certain old-style engine perform, Winning races, Setting new personal bests, Hanging in the pits with like-minded racers, Beating the snot out of everyone, Displaying one's fabrication skills, and so on.

SDRA, in my opinion has become a spirited racing series. Naturally, some people are going to build to win. Hard to knock that. Looks like it takes low to mid-11's to be a winner. But with the Big Dog/Porch Dog elimination procedure even the slowest car can have fun.

 

I am not real good with the "printed word" like some on here, but when I hear someone call that car that is well built, by the rules, that runs the numbers it does called an " Ugly" modern drag car, I got the put by 2 cents in to the pot. Both the HA/GR & SDRA cars that are being built are a lot different than first one, many with roadster bodys and as long as you build them by the rules the two classes will continue to grow.

I agree and support what (Four Banger) & (bobw) said.

(Old Jimmy Six) That is one fine looking car that David has built and I would love to have it running out this way on the coast some time.

Time goes on and these cars will change, run faster, be better built, but still be the same HA/GR & SDRA cars.

 

Granted, my car isn't out and finished yet, and I'm not one of the folks bitching but..

A few things I've learned from being involved in motorsport of one sort or another for a while now:

1: If you're bitching about a class that you haven't even built a car for, perhaps you should put up or shut up.

2: If you're cheating and still losing, who cares what you're doing.

3: Add up all the cash that you spent racing this season and subtract it from the amount you won. If the amount is a negative number, you are a HOBBY RACER and shouldn't get wound up about it.

Once I figured these things out, it all became a lot more fun.

That's what the HA/GR class is here for, no prize money keeps it fun. If someone wants to spend mega $$$ to beat you, who's the bigger fool?

Shawn

 

The workmanship on the Bridgewater car is second to none. The video listed above, it was not painted yet. But I still had the best view in the other lane.

 

When you SDRA racers brought up the jeep car and spoke of it in complimentary terms I was very impressed. No complaining about a pro-built car with a highly developed engine. Plenty of $$$ in it, no doubt. Just a reasonable explaination about how and why it was built. And the notion that with the tire rule, even the fastest car can be beaten. And you got your drag strip back too.

Wish I lived in your neck of the woods.

 

Bobw, in that video listed above, I did win on paper. And I guess you did read that it was built to beat a friends fast bracket racer, and that he will detune and change tires when racing us.

 

Well said. Always have raced for fun and built stuff that made me grin. If you aren't having fun, what the hell are you doing it for?

 

This class was intended to recreate the past.

Not only from the guy's point of view watching from the grand stands.

But also from the driver's point of view... and, more importantly from the concept of the build.

The idea is to get a bunch of guys together and do this on the cheap.

It doesn't mean it needs to look like a piece of shit.

On the contrary.

These cars can be built to run hard AND look like a higher-end car from the 50's.

It's all about the components... and the execution.

I guess I don't understand why anyone would build a car to a set of rules that uses parameters that are supposed to make the cars look old... only to use build techniques and components that are 2012... and then post it on a web site dedicated to traditional hot rodding expecting to get warm and fuzzy compliments about the AESTHETICS of the car.

It does look like a well built car, with a high attention to detail... and I guess nobody really is giving him compliments on the aesthetics of it... so maybe I should just shut up about it.

Sam