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All the makings of a television mini-series…
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The new NHRA Pro Stock beadlock
rule has a lot of people stirred up; is it justified?
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By Bobby Bennett Photos by Roger Richards |
The NHRA officially handed down their beadlock wheel and 16”x16” tire rule combination in late October, but many suggest the regulation took on a life of its own in June when two Pro Stockers crashed in the lights at National Trail Raceway in Columbus, Ohio, during the NHRA Pontiac Excitement Nationals. Following that dark Sunday afternoon, the NHRA reportedly began studying a way to make the cars more stable, and thus safer, on the top end. In the meantime, however, the tour made it through a portion of the schedule where tracks offered conditions that were traditionally less ideal than those at Columbus, and when the Pro Stock cars run with no problems, many people just brushed the earlier incidents under the rug, chalking up the problems to a bad track and rookie drivers. Rumors permeated throughout the summer of impending change, however, and sure enough, the new rule was passed down on October 23. The decision immediately met with significant resistance from the majority of Pro Stock teams, but it didn’t deter the decision making process in the least. Probably the most vocal supporter of the entire program was none other than Warren Johnson, who was one of the first to start testing with the new beadlock combination. He is adamant that this rule could have prevented the crashes that Jason Line and Taylor Lastor suffered. “I have always felt that the rule was long overdue,” explained Johnson. “It probably could have prevented some Pro Stock accidents had there been a more stable rear tire and wheel combination early on. I’m sure the two going on the roof early in the season was a combination of a track being marginal, two rookies with minimal seat time and two really powerful cars. When you put those three ingredients together you sometimes get a disaster like that. Fortunately, no one was hurt except in their pocketbook.” 
And while safety was on the minds of the rulesmakers when it came to introducing the new regulations, newly crowned World Champion Greg Anderson emerged as one of the more outspoken critics. Even though one of his team’s cars was destroyed in the crash, he doesn’t buy into the reasoning behind the change. Even though he used to work for Johnson before embarking on a driving career, he and the “Professor” are miles apart in their belief that the rule was what Pro Stock needed. “I’m not impressed with it so far,” explained Anderson. “The tire is a lot stiffer and the wheel is heavier. They are very susceptible to tire shake; much more than the old combination. I haven’t been able to make more than one run without shaking them in testing. Obviously the idea that the NHRA had, which came from Warren, is that the new combination would settle these cars down and make them safer so they wouldn’t have to treat their racetracks. He’s full of shit…absolutely full of shit. This is no better tire than we had before. There’s no way that it will be a safer and more stable tire. Every one of us has broken more parts than we did before. After a year’s time, we might get a handle on it then.
“They are so different than what we had before. We’re not running the tires that the cars were built for, so it has everything screwed up. So far there are a just few guys that this has worked well for.” So what exactly does the term beadlock mean? Essentially a beadlock wheel encapsulates the bead area of the tire in a mechanical lock from the inside, outside and inner diameter, preventing movement in any direction. The old procedure of screwing the tire to the rim left racers depending on an interference fit between the two sides. Johnson explained in a prepared statement by his publicist, "One of the potential problem areas in the old design was the screws not penetrating the bead bundle adequately, which could lead to the bead separating from the wheel due to the centrifugal force, with the tire eventually coming off the wheel. Over the last two years, both Kurt [Johnson, teammate and son] and I have had five incidences of tire and wheel separation, and we know other teams with similar experiences. We're all fortunate that no one crashed because of it"
The most significant shortcomings of the new program include a heavier wheel, stiffer tire and the cost of learning how to make it all work. “You can adjust for the weight, the improved tire wear will help offset the increased cost, and quite frankly, you can never put a price on safety. Whatever the cost might be, it is insignificant as opposed to the safety margin we will have." But, the key factor in the deal will be the learning curve. Anderson cited Johnson and Rickie Smith as two of those that don’t mind the switch because they have past experience. He also added that the parts they have now are not strong enough to stand up to the large tires. Parts attrition such as the driveline disintegration that Anderson suffered in his first test outing could be commonplace until new combinations are developed. Fred Simmonds, Marketing Manager for GM and a longtime supporter of the class, is all for any rule that makes the class safer. “The feedback that I’ve gotten from the teams we have testing is that from mid-track to finish, the car is much more stable,” explained Simmonds. “From a safety standpoint, that’s a huge plus any way you look at it. I think the idea all along was to make it safer for the drivers. I think the early results signify that the mission has been accomplished.”
Simmonds is not sold on the idea that the rules amendment makes the playing field level. “I wouldn’t call it leveling the playing field,” Simmonds added. “I think anytime you put a new wrinkle in the rulebook, in any given class, you are going to have a much wider qualifying range. For instance, they run anywhere from .04 to .05 from one end to the other in a sixteen-car field. You’ll probably see that stretch to .07 at Pomona, but as more races are run and the racers get dialed in, that number will tighten. The first cream will rise to the top in the first few events for those teams that have the wherewithal to do some testing and get the cars dialed in. You will also see some teams that get lucky and hit the combination right out of the gate. It will be interesting in Pomona.” At this point is where the water gets muddied. Reportedly, Goodyear took the initiative to begin development of a tire to work with a beadlock wheel, working with teams and the NHRA to ensure it all became reality. Sources indicated that once the tire was finished, steps to implement the rule began to materialize. That led some of the other tire manufacturers cry foul because of a lack of dialogue, much like the Top Fuel tire ruling. The interesting part is that companies like Hoosier and Mickey Thompson found out about the proposed changes via the grapevine.
One of the manufacturers that saw this as an unfair practice is Faron Lubbers, Motorsports Manager for Hoosier racing Tire. “Goodyear has been entrenched in the NHRA for a while,” explained Lubbers. “With them being involved with several of the classes, they seem to get a head start. We certainly don’t like to be left out and left behind. That’s exactly how we feel sometimes. I guess we have to do an even better job of trying to keep up with things.” Rumors have suggested that Johnson has been testing the combination for a while, and while one industry source pointed it out, Johnson denies any head start in learning the combination. In fact, he pointed out that back in 1994 in Sonoma that he actually tried a larger set of Hoosier tires on beadlock rims and had relative success on a racing surface that was marginal at the time. According to Johnson, he took notice of the combination of something for the future. “Maybe people should have looked back to that as a way to get down a less than perfect track,” said Johnson. Hoosier is active in attempting to gain a market share in NHRA Pro Stock, and representatives from the company were down in Bradenton, Florida this past week testing with David Connolly. Lubbers remains confident that his company can be a player in NHRA Pro Stock in the years to come.
“We have made some pretty good progress in our last few visits to Bradenton,” Lubbers said. “Basically, we are running elapsed times equal to that of the cars on Goodyear tires. Testing has been kind of hard to do because of all the factors involved. We’ve made quite a few runs in the last few sessions that will enable us to go back and refine what we already have out there. “We certainly have a good opportunity to become a player in the class. I am very confident that we have found a team in Connolly that is willing to work with us and stay with us until the completion of the project.” While one might think that mountain motor applications would be helpful in development for the beadlock combinations instituted at the NHRA, Lubbers points out they are two different animals. Hoosier is active in IHRA mountain motor Pro Stock as is Goodyear, and Mickey Thompson recently joined the fray. The trio is also doing battle in Pro Modified. “You can apply some things you have learned, but they are certainly different,” added Lubbers. “Different horsepower does different things to tires.” If the air was already polluted by manufacturers claiming unfair advantage, it became really dirty when rumors leaked out about a situation where a crewmember had quit work for Johnson and accepted a position with Anderson. That wasn’t the bad part of it. Allegedly the wrench carried not only his belongings with him, but beadlock testing data from the Bradenton test in December where Johnson posted a 6.70. The rumors permeated the message boards and bench racing sessions across the country. Simmonds commented that these rumors make the rule seem more like rocket science than drag racing technology changes.
“It seems that we have a 12-month silly season in drag racing and people thrive on any kind of dirt that they can get their hands on,” said Simmonds. “That’s just a general comment. The reality of it is that 16-inch beadlocks are not snake oil. They are just a bigger tire and a bigger wheel. They have a longer circumference than the 15-inch tire we were using. It’s just a matter of applying your own team resources and finding out what the right combination is.
“I’d be willing to say that we could take a Pro Stocker that was set up properly last year, bolt the combination on and then use a pocket calculator to tell us what the gear ratio would be to compensate for the larger circumference on the tire. We could then go race and be relatively successful. I don’t know that it is so much rocket science as it is racers just didn’t understand what they were getting. They didn’t have a tire to touch until the World Finals in Pomona. The fear of the unknown was the largest factor. Once they get some laps in, things will be back to normal.” Simmonds points out that the beadlocks are no different than if GM produced a new cylinder head or a new transmission was introduced. As he puts it, “You just have work at it for a while and let things settle in and you can adjust for each track you go to.” Johnson confirmed the aforementioned incident. He called the police and filed a police report on the grounds of intellectual property theft. One side claims that the allegations are much ado about nothing. The other stands firm on the belief that this was nothing more than an underhanded theft aimed at gaining an advantage in sorting the combination out. |
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| Farron Lubbers of Hoosier says that his company is getting involved in 500-inch Pro Stock but thinks its unfair that Goodyear was given a heads-up on the rule change while other manufacturers had to find out through the grapevine. |
Johnson pointed out that he called the cell phone of the former crewmember and left a message informing him that he only had 45 minutes to get the book back or he would inform the Gwinnett County Police that a theft had occurred. He intended to have the individual arrested and prosecuted.
“He didn’t return it until he was coaxed by some people to do it,” added Johnson. “They let him know that it would be a good idea to return it or he could be in some serious trouble. An hour and a half later he returned it.”
Johnson filed a report with the police alleging theft of intellectual and company property. According to Johnson, an investigation is underway. He points out that it does not create any animosity on his behalf towards the rival team, however. “I wouldn’t have any because I wouldn’t stoop to those measures to be competitive,” explained Johnson. “If they have to proceed in that kind of manner to be competitive, I don’t think they will be much of a factor anyway.”
As for Anderson, his side of the story differs.
“The kid had been talking to us for a while about coming to work,” explained Anderson. “He would come by every few weeks and talk to us. He wasn’t really happy over there. I was told that no one really liked him and that he’d been fired and rehired by Warren a few times. What was he to do? He got to become friends with Jason Line, but the more I talked to him the more I didn’t think I needed to hire him because of the perception that it would create. I knew that I would never hear the end of it from Warren. I refused to do it for the longest time.”
In the last six months, Anderson admitted that he had tried to hire help for Line’s team.
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| NHRA World Champion Greg Anderson's first experience with the beadlocks resulted in an obliterated driveshaft. In fact, he ran the Cavalier because his Grand-Am had to be modified to accept the larger tire. |
“I had hired two guys already and I needed a third one,” Anderson continued. “I interviewed about twenty people and couldn’t find one I wanted. I called down to Warren’s and talked to Kevin (Kurt’s crewchief) and he gave him a bad report. I thought to myself, if I hire the guy they aren’t going to miss him anyway, especially after the stuff I was told. I hired the kid and he called to confirm the next day. Warren was told and according to the kid, was fine with the resignation.
“He told me that he went and got a few things after Warren informed him that he’d make a decision in the morning if he needed him around. The kid told me that he went and took care of business and came back to see ten missed phone calls from Warren. He had a message saying, ‘if you don’t get your ass over here with the book, I’m going to call the police.”
Anderson was then told that Johnson confronted the ex-employee and accused him of stealing the notes of the racecar and that it was intellectual property of the team.
“He told Warren that it was notes that he had made himself,” Anderson continued. “It was his way of keeping track of what they were doing at the time. His contention was that he only left with the notes that he had made himself. It had engine name, clutch notes, low gear ratio and rear-end gear ratio and wheelie bar height. It had nothing to do with tires. The bottom line is the kid didn’t think he was doing anything wrong by taking his own notebook and once they called and wanted it back – he returned it.”
When told of the incident, Anderson confronted the crewmember and asked to hear his side of the story. He then made a call to the Johnson shop and was told that the kid had tried to rob them of the information. Anderson further claims that he was told that Goodyear that if any confidential information was compromised that lawyers would become involved.
Several calls were made to Goodyear’s Motorsports division, but as of the posting of this article, no calls had been returned.
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| David Connolly is helping Hoosier Tire to develop their program. |
“You’d think if the kid was going to steal something, he wouldn’t do it on the day he was going to quit and then walk out there and get it. He would have had to know he’d never work in the business again. It was just one of those young kid stupid punk mistakes. He’s only 23-years old.”
Anderson and Johnson have reportedly made amends of the situation since the article first appeared.
Simmonds just doesn’t understand how the book for one team could benefit another with all the different combos in place.
“Does everyone use the same exact combination?” Simmonds asks. “Do they have same power torque curve? Does everyone use the same chassis manufacturer? The answer is no. I could go through so many variables. Even with the same chassis manufacturer on the same team, you will still hear that one prefers car ‘A’ over car ‘B.’ One car always seems to run better.
“It’s a whole lot of hooey about whatever really happened. You still have to dial in your own specific parts with the book you already have and what you’ve learned over the years. Then there’s the factor of atmospheric conditions and it starts all over again.”
From a tire manufacturers standpoint, Lubbers holds steadfast to the belief that some idea of where to begin has to better than not having a clue.
“I think it would put someone miles ahead in finding a good starting position,” added Lubbers. “There are a lot of variables here and the more you can get started, the better off you are. You at least know gears, rod heights and places to start at.”
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| Larry Morgan was in Bradenton testing the beadlock combination, but didn't produce any pace-setting runs. |
Johnson points out that some think he has an unfair advantage over the competition. He denies any such allegation and pointed out that he began in the same sandbox as they did.
“I was in no better shape than anyone else out there when the rule was handed down, I had to go out and figure out how to get my car down the racetrack just like everyone else. We figured it out relatively quickly to get good numbers. Now whether we can do this at a national event on a regular basis – we don’t know. At this point and time, we feel comfortable with where we are at.”
Anderson’s gripe is that the rule makes no sense whatsoever.
“Just bolting these on is not going to make the class better,” explained Anderson. “They are saying this will make the class consistent and safer…they are full of shit. I don’t mean to sound like I’m whining because I know it will be the same for everyone. I just don’t see it stabilizing these cars and making it safer. I just don’t see it.”