2019 NHRA rules changes (1 Viewer)

[NITRO JUNKIE]

Let's see if I can type out a good rundown:
1. complete new in box ignition system, coil, plug wires, rotors, caps, mag pickup etc. If those are "loaned out" they get replaced new.
2. fuel pump
3. all stuff to make new fuel or water hoses, crimp collars, crimping station
4. water pump
5. second set of carbs (just did this)
6. new starter
7. complete new electrical system relay boards switch board delay box timers
8. third member
9. matching/mounted rear wheels/tires
10. complete set of rocker components and valve springs
11. 3 new of each length of pushrod
12. enough spark plugs to change all 8 every run (I usually let them go two runs)
13. new transmission
14. all parts to fully rebuild torque convert (i run a Chance NSX, really nice piece ... my favorite part to mess with)
15. new set of copper head gaskets
16 replacement for all fluids that run in the car
17. complete second brake system (except we run carbon fiber brakes and the second system is normal steel)
18. 4 extra parachutes, two for short tracks (bigger panels ... only used on two bad tracks we run at)
19. 2 extra pilot chutes (we probably go through 4 parachutes and 8 pilot chutes a season)
20 new scoop (nitrous cars have this bad burping problem)
21 soon to be one complete assembled head
22. lots of Racepak new spare parts
23 nitrous solenoid rebuild kits, complete solenoid, injectors, a million nitrous jets
24. second set of Performance Weld headers

Sam that's probably all the parts that could go down the track. As long as the short block and Daily oil pump are in good shape I should generally be able to fix almost anything. My son is an excellent welder and he's had to drive 4 hours each way a couple of times .... that's before Mark built me a second set of headers. We've had a couple of occasions to weld on the frame but fortunately always an improvement at home, not a repair at the track.

My entire "racing" shop is in the trailer. Like many teams, when I work on the car in my home shop its almost all out of stuff in the trailer. Now I have quite a large machine shop at home, overhead cranes, welders, CNC plasma table, sandblast booth, powdercoat booth etc .... but all of the short block engine work is done by David Nickens' shop (10 miles away), Dan Davinci does my carbs (30 mi away) , and Wendell Dunaway does my transmissions (200 miles away) .... I'm simply not smart enough to do that stuff but i have a lot of input on what gets done. I can do most all of the stuff on the race rig and trailer. My tool collection has been growing leaps and bounds lately, but its supported by an oilfield tool job shop my 25 year old son runs out of the same facility (we really just started that business in late May). The only employees he'll ever be allowed are UR10e's so its a pretty cool place if you like automation and seeing 5 or 6 CNC's running simultaneously with only 1 guy doing the hard stuff.

Sam, I may be misinformed but i understand you are 15 years old. Is that correct? I've always been very impressed with your writing and point of view ... at my normal business I get to see a lot of writing by recent college graduates and you have good skills sir.

Thank you Jeff yes I’m 15 and about to turn 16.

 

[none]

You have any pics of your race car?

Here you go Shannon, just scroll, Spider Bite is the old scheme, White Noise is the new one.
Alan

https://www.google.com/search?q=Jen...s7jeAhXtFjQIHdD0BdoQ_AUIEygB&biw=1280&bih=606

 

[Jeff]

Jeff, you probably know this, but there is a S/C team in the Seattle area called the Dirty White Boys. The man's name is White. I first saw that car at Seattle in 1990, thought it was a cool name. Might have been named after a song or a rock group. Anyhoo, they are still racing today, same name. With todays political climate, they must get some flack. heh

Cliff, I have not heard of them, but yes anything with the word White in it is starting in the danger zone. Last year I was spending my Tuesday of this very week walking around SEMA and come across a truck named White Noise and decided I would plagiarize it (our first car, Pokerface, was plagiarized off a buddy's offshore boat ... and incidentally very well timed for the Lady Gaga song that came out shortly thereafter .... we had awesome walkup/burnout music at a couple of track, stuff like that is really fun!)

I wanted to name the car "Hot Flash" (because my wife is going through menopause and I have to life in a roughly 68 degree house all the time .... its also why she has a pretty good driver cooling system on the racecar) but the political climate within our household did not permit that.

 

[Jeff]

Thank you Jeff yes I’m 15 and about to turn 16.

Thanks for confirming Sam. I'd be interested to know how you came to enjoy drag racing. You are essentially a litmus test for the long term viability of the NHRA ... we've got to get more folks like you enjoying the same addiction as us old guys. If you are ever at the same race as us, I'd happily hire you as a crew guy for the day!

 

[NITRO JUNKIE]

Thanks for confirming Sam. I'd be interested to know how you came to enjoy drag racing. You are essentially a litmus test for the long term viability of the NHRA ... we've got to get more folks like you enjoying the same addiction as us old guys. If you are ever at the same race as us, I'd happily hire you as a crew guy for the day!

Thank you so much Jeff ! I will be at maple grove but I know T/D doesn’t race there but I might be going to more races I don’t know yet but if I’m at a race we’re your at I will definitely help out !
My dad went to the races when he was a kid and took me to my first race when I was 11 at Denver. We went there for 3 years in a row then came to the east Coast. I’ve been watching ever since and I just love it I caught the bug! Thank you again I will definitely come by and help if we’re at the same race! Hope to see you in 2019 !

 

[Cliff]

Sam, I was about 12 when I discovered drag racing thru the hot rod magazines of the time. Finally got to the drags when I was 14. Man this is a life long addiction!

 

[Cliff]

Jeff, I know you are out of Texas. Are your around Houston? I have family that lives in College Station, home of Texas A&M. Also wanted to ask if you have ever run North Star Dragway? Have never been there, it's 1/8 mile in Denton. They run AA/FA VS Pro Mod every year, & that is a wild race.

 

[Jeff]

Cliff, we are near Magnolia ... about 35 miles north of Houston. My main business in in Houston. Where we live now I'm basically half way between Houston and College Station.

Northstar was the first place we ever raced. My now 25 year old son was 9 at the time and thats what got us into drag racing as a family (coming off of motocross .... which did a great job of funding a couple of orthopedic surgeons). NorthStar has a great racing tradition. I made some stupid mistakes at that junior dragster race (our first race was the division finals ... probably not the best idea) that I still laugh at myself about.

We've now got some acreage about half way to college station (roughly 60 miles to Houston in Montgomery, Texas) that we'll move to when I retire (3-5 yrs). It's grown up a lot that direction .... really nice area and the land has a good roll to it. We are at the start of some degree of hilliness right now.... the gulf coast area is dead flat.

ps: it's great to have Sam as part of our little group!

 

[Cliff]

Thanks for the info Jeff. One thing about where you live is you're out of the flood zone. Man, Houston gets hit regularly with floods. Up in College Station, they get a little bit of flooding & a tornado or two. When I visited a few years ago, a tornado touched down about a quarter mile from resturant we were in, Went down I-6 and tore some stuff up. Also, where I live in Phoenix, the humidity is really low, under 10% in summer. I fly to Houston & then take a shuttle bus to College Station. When I get outside the airport, the humidity about knocks me d a i d, as they say. HEH Was there this year, went to Lackland AFB in San Antonio, where I did my basic training for Air Force. Hadn't been there since 1964, remembered nuthin'. Anyhoo, the air is heavier there than College Station. But it was fun visiting. Saw the Alamo & River Walk, really enjoyed it. Also, I am glad that Sam is part of our group. Who knows? He could be the T/F champ 10 years from now.

 

[NITRO JUNKIE]

Thanks for the info Jeff. One thing about where you live is you're out of the flood zone. Man, Houston gets hit regularly with floods. Up in College Station, they get a little bit of flooding & a tornado or two. When I visited a few years ago, a tornado touched down about a quarter mile from resturant we were in, Went down I-6 and tore some stuff up. Also, where I live in Phoenix, the humidity is really low, under 10% in summer. I fly to Houston & then take a shuttle bus to College Station. When I get outside the airport, the humidity about knocks me d a i d, as they say. HEH Was there this year, went to Lackland AFB in San Antonio, where I did my basic training for Air Force. Hadn't been there since 1964, remembered nuthin'. Anyhoo, the air is heavier there than College Station. But it was fun visiting. Saw the Alamo & River Walk, really enjoyed it. Also, I am glad that Sam is part of our group. Who knows? He could be the T/F champ 10 years from now.

I hope so that would be awesome!

 

[stitcherbob]

Sam, I was about 12 when I discovered drag racing thru the hot rod magazines of the time. Finally got to the drags when I was 14. Man this is a life long addiction!

When I was around 12 and living in NJ, my neighbors used to give me their Super Stock and Drag Illustrated magazines....oh yeah they also used to start their Modified Production 67 Nova in the driveway and rattle everyone's windows! Fenderwell headers blasting the pavement will always get the attention of a young gearhead in training....

Fast forward 40 years....the one brother moved into my PA neighborhood 2 houses away from mine and, lo and behold, has 2 former Pro Stock Vegas now. One for the street, and the other will be restored to compete in Nostalgia PS. This is the car when it was last campaigned in the 70's. He was just showing me the mounts for the vertical wheelie bars the other day...

It is indeed a lifelong addiction!

 

[Cliff]

This is a famous car, Scott Shafiroff. Photo was taken in Pomona, maybe early - mid 70's. Look at the tree.

 

[stitcherbob]

best part is, he's got almost all of the original stuff to restore it....never been strutted, Scott will be building the motor for him, and we are looking for the correct cloth for the original racing seats.

 

[Nick Name]

When I first saw thew Top Dragsters, I thought it would be very cool to have a heads up no breakout class with these cars.

 

[none]

When I first saw thew Top Dragsters, I thought it would be very cool to have a heads up no breakout class with these cars.

We have that, it's called Top Fuel.

Alan

 

[Cliff]

I would like to see a heads up "quick 8" T/D class as well. Run it as a special class, 6.00 index and go at it. bet we would see some racing -this- close. I think IHRA may have had this in the past, maybe PDRA too.

 

[none]

I would like to see a heads up "quick 8" T/D class as well. Run it as a special class, 6.00 index and go at it. bet we would see some racing -this- close. I think IHRA may have had this in the past, maybe PDRA too.

Cliff,
Not arguing just being conversational, but what would stop that from becoming a faster version of Super Comp? Many cars out there are capable of running in the 5's so they would put on a throttle stop and be ready to go.

Alan

 

[TK]

^^ If I may interject into this discussion, could not some incremental timing minimums/maximums be enforced so as to prevent throttle stop use/abuse? ...…. Come to think of it, this could theoretically be done for the the .90 classes now

 

[none]

^^ If I may interject into this discussion, could not some incremental timing minimums/maximums be enforced so as to prevent throttle stop use/abuse? ...…. Come to think of it, this could theoretically be done for the the .90 classes now

Tom,
Again, just being conversational, throttle stops are not allowed in Top Dragster now. But, almost all the cars are using timing manipulation to do the same thing. Some use it (Jeff, do you? I'm betting yes!) to calm the car down off the starting line, then ramp in in as the car goes down track.

I have a buddy with a 6.50 car, and he is taking 12-20 degrees timing away (depending on conditions) at the hit to get the car moving without blowing the tires off, he brings it back pretty quickly, but he NEVER leaves at full power no matter how good the track is. On a car that can run 5.70 you simply kill the timing longer, so it's not quite a throttle stop, but serves the same purpose.

You wouldn't believe how much timing manipulation goes on with an Alcohol car.

And leaving off the top bulb, you don't need the high RPM full throttle hit to get the reaction time, so leaving soft is not a problem at all.

Alan

 

[stitcherbob]

Tom,
Again, just being conversational, throttle stops are not allowed in Top Dragster now. But, almost all the cars are using timing manipulation to do the same thing. Some use it (Jeff, do you? I'm betting yes!) to calm the car down off the starting line, then ramp in in as the car goes down track.

I have a buddy with a 6.50 car, and he is taking 12-20 degrees timing away (depending on conditions) at the hit to get the car moving without blowing the tires off, he brings it back pretty quickly, but he NEVER leaves at full power no matter how good the track is. On a car that can run 5.70 you simply kill the timing longer, so it's not quite a throttle stop, but serves the same purpose.

You wouldn't believe how much timing manipulation goes on with an Alcohol car.

And leaving off the top bulb, you don't need the high RPM full throttle hit to get the reaction time, so leaving soft is not a problem at all.

Alan

just being conversational, so with all the tricks, the cars end up being identical and can run the index within 3 decimal points........
Now it all comes down to the driver's ability.....which like in NASCAR (COT) is what the sanctioning bodies want....no?

that's what I have heard for all these years....