What a flagrant and dishonest violation....somebody reworking their intake in order to gain some power. Oh, the horror !!
I understand how it works but I reckon I still have a bit too much old school in me. 500 inches, 1 cam in the block, 2 valves per cylinder, racing gasoline and naturally aspirated, 2350 pounds including the driver, strict enforcement of the safety equipment - and that's it. Run a flat crank if you think it helps. (Johnson tried one). Build a set of 180-degree headers and try them (Johnson tried 'em). Run stack injection. Direct injection. Or your old dual Dominators you've had sitting on the shelf for 6 years. Design an intake made from a 3D printer with runners big enough to throw a cat through. If your oddball stuff gives you an advantage then good on you. Doesn't matter anyway; in 2 weeks everybody else will have one just like it. Ain't no secrets in Pro Stock - at least not for long.
Answer me this - was Pro Stock more interesting back in the days when racers had some latitude, or now?
Give me the early days of the class.
When Pro Stock began, it was a true representation of the original intentions for the class; to showcase each manufacturer's factory hot rod(s) on an equal footing. Bill Jenkins won the first race in the class, then the Mopars took over for a couple of years. While only NHRA knows what went on behind the scenes in meetings with the other manufacturers, they saw fit to effectively legislate the Hemis out of the class. Instead of telling GM and Ford they needed to work to improve their own products, NHRA penalized the Mopars. Chrysler pulled their factory support of racers after that.
In a complete break from the original plans for the class, NHRA now allows any engine in any car. What we ended up with is GM engines in every car, which just happens to be all Camaros. Sure, there might be a Mustang or two, but they are still GM powered.
That's why the stands empty out when it's time for the Pro Camaros to begin eliminations.
As far as Factory Stock, it is quickly becoming all Camaros. In 2018, I said the worst thing that could have happened at the Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals was the all Mopar final in the Factory Stock class. The Mopars were penalized before the week was out and they were no longer as competitive.
Long story short, as nice as it would be to see more Mopars and Fords in Pro Stock, you're not going to get those manufacturers to invest heavily in R&D.
Why should they?
As history has shown, NHRA will always penalize the Fords and Mopars in order to get the GM cars back into the winner's circle.