I don't think there have been any rule changes regarding the throttle setup, at least on the NHRA side. Throttle stops have always been illegal and, as far as I can tell, SLE's have always been allowed, but not widely utilized. Is there a trend going toward on-track throttle manipulation for ET control? Everyone I've talked to just uses timing, but I could be out of the loop. Of course, being a slow car hasn't made any of that necessary on my end. Hopefully that will change soon.With the 6.10 limit everyone is going throttle stop set up like SC and leaving soft then turning it loose on the big end. When i first got into TD there were no throttle stops or starting line throttle controls allowed. Now all the cars are using some sort of one either thru the throttle cable itself or timing ramps. Just normal progression of technology. You have 5.80 cars backed off to go 6.10
Out west (D6 and D7) runs on a 48-car field for their divisionals, so the need to be fast to make fields hasn't really presented itself there yet and probably won't for the foreseeable future. In 2019, there were only two races with a bump in the sixes, but #32 can still be pretty quick. The ones who travel will have faster combos that can qualify anywhere, but if you're just regional, you can make most fields with a quicker Super Pro dragster.The Midwest are seems to be so much quicker than any other region in the country. i don’t have any numbers in front of me but I think it took a run in the 6.20s to qualify at Indy. The bump spots seem slower out west but I’m sure over time it will get to be the same way. Eventually a 6.50s setup will be obsolete.
Brad, are you running a roots or a Procharger?Out west (D6 and D7) runs on a 48-car field for their divisionals, so the need to be fast to make fields hasn't really presented itself there yet and probably won't for the foreseeable future. In 2019, there were only two races with a bump in the sixes, but #32 can still be pretty quick. The ones who travel will have faster combos that can qualify anywhere, but if you're just regional, you can make most fields with a quicker Super Pro dragster.
6.50s pretty much is obsolete in the middle of the country. Last year at Joliet, I was #31 with a 6.57. There were 31 cars there. Just two more on the property would have resulted in a DNQ (because I'm quite sure they would have been quicker). After some recent upgrades, I don't intend to be stuck in the mid-sixes any longer.
Roots. An SSI 14-71 that we got through DMPE. It should be a big improvement over the one that just came off (which a friend bought and put on his boat).Brad, are you running a roots or a Procharger?
Often, if you see that on the qualifying sheet, it's a person who would be 220+ all-out and lifted to get a legal time above 6.10. This is pretty common, especially in Q1. Then they can use the data to try and tune a better full-pull tuneup. If you know your car is going to be in the mid 6.0's, it's not that difficult to time the lift. For me, letting off at the 1000' loses about .08 in the 1/4. Throttle stops are forbidden, so you won't see that.What about the car that runs 6.12 and MPH is around 212? Are they using some type of top end cut off? I can't imagine the driver just running it to 1000' & shutting off & being consistent. I've seen that more than once, so just curious.
There are already a couple who can run 240 in 6.10 trim. Sackuvich and Kruse come to mind, and Nelson ran 240 in St. Louis on a very odd run. As for judging the stripe, a lot of that depends on the visibility out of your car. I can comfortably see over the sides and a ways behind me, even with the neck restraint, so I can at least kill some speed against someone 30-40 mph faster. When I ran Sackuvich a couple years ago, he was trapping at 242 and I was ~208 and I was able to spot drop late. You just can't commit too early or they'll blow past. Running local quick 16's, I don't have much of a problem driving the stripe against dragsters in the 170's (in the 1/4) where I can keep my eye on them the whole way down. I'd say if they're faster than me, I can comfortably drive the stripe up to a 20 MPH difference and spot drop up to ~35. If I'm the faster car, I can deal with up to about 40. More than that, and everything happens too fast to commit to anything.I guess I'm kinda amazed that T/D and T/S can run like bracket cars. Just as consistent & they can really cut a good R/T. Brad, very interesting to me what you posted. OK, question. do you think the cars will run faster, say 240? What would be the speed that would enable the driver to judge the finish line? Jeff White noted that a 15 MPH overtaking speed makes it harder to judge the finish. I'm thinking that a driver has to make a lot of runs at, say 225, to know how to judge the finish.
Hopefully I'll be finding that out firsthand next year. I've never minded being the slower car in eliminations, but being on the edge of making fields is tiresome.My wife would say that judging something at 210 mph in the quarter is quite a bit different from judging the same thing at 225.
You see world champions making slight mistakes at 225 that they'd never make at 210. It's not just the relative car speeds, its how fast you are coming to the finish line .... you may well be the exception, but you are rare if you are.
Good luck. Making those kind of changes is what makes this sport fun to participate in. One thing you might consider is picking 4 or 5 dominant TDs that run fast right now (Danny is a no brainer, probably Jeff Strickland, Anthony Bertozzi, Ross Laris). Analyze each of their eliminations timeslips from say 2018 to 2020 and watch how they change as drivers. The bar has definitely been raised .... and it greatly favors folks who run over 30 weekends a year. For the past 10+ years our rig has left the shop between 10 and 14 times a year (but for since the wreck in August, 2019) and we put between 10k and 15k miles on the hauler each year since purchased new. We greatly enjoy the sport, but its getting tougher going against people who do almost nothing but 1320's on weekends.Hopefully I'll be finding that out firsthand next year. I've never minded being the slower car in eliminations, but being on the edge of making fields is tiresome.
I do know that the faster you go, the earlier on the track you have to commit to any driving action for it to have any noticeable effect. Less time to size things up can certainly make for more mistakes.