Alcohol before Nitro? (1 Viewer)

[HEMI6point1]

Don't know if this has been discussed before, but I would like to hear other maters take on this.

A couple of years ago Mike Dunn pondered the question that drivers who want to drive a nitro burner should be required to have a least 1 year of experience in the alky ranks before moving up.

I do not agree with this, as if you believe you have the determination and think that you can handle a 320hp beast, then more power to 'ya. However, I do believe ANYONE who wants to drive in the nitro ranks should have a year or two in general racing experience, even if it's just a 11 second stocker. JMO.

 

["Dr. Dirt"]

I prefer the way John Force is grooming Ashley as opposed to Hot Rod Fuller's take on it?

 

[handsome]

Don't know if this has been discussed before, but I would like to hear other maters take on this.

A couple of years ago Mike Dunn pondered the question that drivers who want to drive a nitro burner should be required to have a least 1 year of experience in the alky ranks before moving up.

I do not agree with this, as if you believe you have the determination and think that you can handle a 320hp beast, then more power to 'ya. However, I do believe ANYONE who wants to drive in the nitro ranks should have a year or two in general racing experience, even if it's just a 11 second stocker. JMO.

if you want to get hurt quick then jump right in. an alcohol funny car will definatly give you a wake up call and a heads up to prepare you for running 300. I have had some bracket racers think it must be neet to drive a f/c then they come over and i close them in my car and they hollar "let me out". Many of todays pro drivers said the alcohol fc taught them alot about what it takes to drive one.

 

[Rollout96]

I prefer the way John Force is grooming Ashley as opposed to Hot Rod Fuller's take on it?

I agree. I really think they are taking the best route.

To Sam: I don't think it should be a requirement though. I think racers have always been able to go into ANY class they wanted to (or could afford) and I like that.

 

[.]

Ya think Glendora would make this a rule?
I like the idea of going thru the alcohol class first.

 

[Toejam]

I think driver's should spend a year in the alcohol classes before Fuel. But that's just my opinion.

 

[Adam]

The idea is a great one but real tough to implement. I think they should toughen up/lengthen the licensing procedures at the very least. Alky cars are crazy fast, and would provide a real good foundation to move up. Strait to fuel is scary...

 

[Nazgul]

I don't think it should be required, but it's not a bad idea to do atleast a year in alky first. jmho.
There are many variables, like the person, the teacher/trainer, and so on.
When I reach my monetary goals, I'm getting an alky fc...

...then I'll have to find a good tuner, driver, & crew. Nitro is the ultimate goal though.

F1 isn't anywhere close to being realistic. hmmm... maybe Champ Car though?

 

[.]

Should tuners and crew guys also go thru the alky ranks before fuel?

 

[HEMI6point1]

BTW, not to drive this topic off track but why are injected nitro engines not allowed in the Alky funny cars?

 

[Toejam]

BTW, not to drive this topic off track but why are injected nitro engines not allowed in the Alky funny cars?

Because the Injected cars killed off the blown cars in dragster. NHRA won't let that happen in FC.

 

[d'kid]

Sam...
Long, Long ago in a galazy Far Far away, they were.... But it's even harder to handicap an injected nitro flop than it is to adjust the A/FD vs AA/BAD thing... Besides, why blown flops when a good injected car at 2600 pounds should run 5 flat or even 4.9's

 

[yoda]

I think driver's should spend a year in the alcohol classes before Fuel. But that's just my opinion.

Every driver I know that has made the move from Alky to Pop says the Alky car was WAY harder to drive.. lots more to do, more violent/ unpredictable, and with less opportunity to blow the tires off, alot less aborted runs due to tire smoke, but more stained skivvies due to high speed visions of perpendicular views of BOTH sides of the track ..

I think the jump is mostly made due to Cubic Dollars, not Driving Skills...

 

[NitroRichFire]

Well, seems like a good idea to me, but than again, it will depend on just how big a pile of dollars bills you have access to.

 

[Greg]

What Martin said. There's no way alky fc is easier to drive and learn from than fuel. It's almost the other way around. I would say if you can get an alky fc from a to b comfortably, then absolutely you are ready for a fuel car. Sure the acceleration is much greater, but the actual involvement from the drive is considerably less. There is so much going on in an alky car, from leaving the starting line at just the right rpm (with no 2 step), to hitting your shift points, to dealing with tireshake so violent that you nearly lose all orientation.

Now if you want to move up with an injected nitro car that's about as close as you can probably get, and that would be a good step. I really think though if you have a couple years of serious racing under your belt even in SC or SG, and your comfortable in a race car, then it shouldn't be too much of a problem to get acclimated. Just from my experience it has more to do with your mental state and how you've prepared yourself mentally than anything else. You just have to make sure your focused, picture everything about the run in your head over and over and over again, pay attention to what's going on, don't act stupid and don't let the car get ahead of you.

 

[tadwrench]

I think that moving up in steps is a good thing. More seat time in any class does not hurt. One thing that I think should be involved in the licensing process is to drop the laundry. We have many friends that race Super Comp with our daughter and they are scared to open the parachute. This is something that every racer should have to do. Just my two cents.

 

["Dr. Dirt"]

I think that moving up in steps is a good thing. More seat time in any class does not hurt. One thing that I think should be involved in the licensing process is to drop the laundry. We have many friends that race Super Comp with our daughter and they are scared to open the parachute. This is something that every racer should have to do. Just my two cents.

I agree Willie! Anyone willing to sign the license of another should see the full gamut of operation from easily managing every control in the cockpit while blindfolded and pulling the chutes on a run is vital, yet some don't require it be done and the learning process is incomplete.

 

[vegasnitro]

I agree alcohol is a great proving/learning ground ... all I know is that some day I would like to race Alcohol!

 

[wilkfan]

I agree with moving up from the alky ranks, there are alot of good drivers that have come from that direction, Scelzi, Capps, Shoe, T.J., Wilk, just a few.

 

[George.]

I prefer the way John Force is grooming Ashley as opposed to Hot Rod Fuller's take on it?

Hot Rod Fuller has been down the 1/4 mile more times than you could imagine. He could race a final with a cup of coffee in his hand, cut a 400 light and not spill a drop. He's been racing so long that it's he's not a good reference for someone who is green.

Maybe Dan Pastorini or Del Worsham are better examples.
By the way, both were extremely competitive right off the bat, and both won in a very short time.
Having said that, those guys started in the days of 5.40 Top Fuel qualifing times.
IMHO, either you got it, or you don't.
If you don't, you better take the time to get it.....