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| Blasphemy
or the Future?
Is there a precedent for such a thing transpiring? You bet there is. a d v e r t i s e m e n t
. A LONG TIME AGO, IN A GALAXY FAR, FAR AWAY
The International Hot Rod Association with founder Larry Carrier as President was labeled as a drag racing sanctioning body that made decisions out of the ordinary - decisions that often bordered on the absurd. However, one particular decision made nearly two decades ago made it clear that the IHRA was marching to the beat of a completely different drum than the one their rivals, the National Hot Rod Association, was listening. At the time, one of the more popular entries in the NHRA’s Comp Eliminator division was the BB/Altered Turbocharged 1986 Buick Regal entry of Buddy Ingersoll. A serious lobbying effort was put forth in an attempt to have IHRA’s Vice President & Competition Director Ted Jones legalize the combination in their “run whatcha brung” competition. In those days, there was no 810-inch limit on cubic inch displacement. It was simply how many cubes could be shoehorned between the rails of your Thunderbird and IROC Camaro. After all, why should drivers fear cars that carried almost 500 cubic inches less than the leaders of the popular doorslammer division? In May of 1986, Ingersoll made his debut with the V-6 and despite a valiant effort from the Buick engineers and McClaren Engines, the car fell short of expectations in the early going. This was the learning curve era. As most racers will attest, there comes a time when most every learning curve comes full circle, a time when a racer finally gets his timing down and knocks the learning curve into the upper deck of the stadium. Ingersoll’s “day” came during the final event of the ’86 season when he graduated from a 7.90 pit space occupier to a 7.2-second low qualifier. The ex-Warren Johnson Olds 4-4-2 re-skinned into a Buick Regal also wowed the crowd with a reported “rear-wheel” start in early qualifying that netted a 7.0 run. The IHRA Pro Stock contingent was not impressed. In fact, they were down right ticked off. It didn’t matter if the Buick Regal V-6 combination was one of the hottest things rolling out of Detroit and could be bought by the fans in attendance, those racing the non-attainable 700 cubic inch IROC Camaro, Thunderbird or Mustang were not going to sit idly by and let the “foreign” domestic combination come into their house and take over. The end result of Ingersoll’s graduation to competitiveness was
his banishment from the class. Many of the sport’s leading figures
have always contended that this move set the class back decades as it
deviated from its original intention – to be a marketing arm for
Detroit. If Ingersoll had remained, there’s a strong chance that
today’s Pro Stock would include fuel-injected and turbocharged
combinations. a
d v e r t i s e m e n t WHAT STARTED IT ALL
Blame it on the Internet. Since Aaron Polburn took over the leadership of the IHRA, one of his foremost goals has been to point out the uniqueness of the sanctioning body. Ironically, one of the earliest innovations that the IHRA brought to drag racing was the mountain motor brand of Pro Stock competition. Polburn says his company always looks ahead because he knows full well that improvement of the product is a continual process. “Scooter Peaco sent me an email stating that one of the Sport Compact Toyotas had run 6.40s,” Polburn said. “Scooter had written on the letter ‘???? Pro Stock.’ I immediately ran into his office and said to him, ‘Explain this stuff to me.” Peaco’s explanation sent visions of marketability and the potential open door to a huge manufacturer. “My first thought was this could be the entrée to Toyota,” Polburn said. “They are the world’s largest manufacturer of cars and trucks. They are just completely devoid of national event drag racing. Besides that…the promoter in me sees…Hell…if there’s a 200-inch car versus an 800-inch car, there’s going to be some serious hooting and hollering over it. The promoter in me says that this can be a good thing if the IHRA can control it.” Polburn admits that attracting Toyota would be a huge feather in the cap of the sanctioning body.
“The big lure is can we finally get a foreign manufacturer interested in IHRA drag racing?” Polburn said. “Look at the amount of money they are spending in Craftsman Truck and other forms of motorsports. Why not drag racing? It’s the purest form of motorsports there is. If we can find an equal playing field I think it can be an excellent thing. There’s a huge curiosity factor there.” Curiosity almost killed the cat when Buick became involved in the class. Polburn remembers the Ingersoll experiment and has put the pressure on his staff to ensure it’s not déjà vu all over again. “I think that deal was just a case where it got totally out of control quickly and it couldn’t be regulated,” Polburn said. “As soon as they found out what they had, they had to undo it. This is exactly why I preach to Scooter that this will be a good thing if we can control it. That’s got to be his job to keep it under control.” a d v e r t i s e m e n t
Peaco, Vice-President of Race Operations, is largely responsible for writing the rule book along with Mike Baker, Director of Competition & Technical Services. Peaco admits the rules are not completed but they are close to getting them done. “The largest thing that everyone needs to take note of is that this thing will be on an invitational basis,” Peaco said. “We will only have two and maybe three racers on our list. I’m thinking I’m going to handle this like the Pro Stock Truck class and run two of them and not get sued. “I’m going to monitor the progress of this,” Peaco added. “I am going to monitor the environment because the guys in the class are thinking their stuff is obsolete and they are going to have to go to turbos. That’s not the case. This is not going to be Buddy Ingersoll all over again. Peaco has basically said that if a racer has a turbo and wants to run the class, they have to get the blessing of the IHRA to race. As he puts it, “Only two, maybe three cars are getting it.” Peaco has only spoken to one of the drivers and hopes to speak with the other two soon. The only driver he has spoken with is Matt Hartford. He’s yet to speak with the two other proposed drivers, one of who is Toyota racer Matt Scranton. “It may be three and it may only be one that shows up,” Peaco said. “It’s not only the turbo concept that I want to bring in, but the foreign cars as well. Two of the three cars would be Toyotas.”
The class currently has a spec fuel of 118 NOS for the class and the cars are fueled in the lanes. Peaco says these cars will most likely run a spec methanol. “That’s what they run,” Peaco said. “The object of the exercise here is to not have them or our current competitors spend any extra money. If I change their combination drastically then they will have to go out and relearn a whole new combination.” The transmissions are expected to be the same with the weight being a universal 2400 pounds. Peaco in not so many words admitted that he’s left the tech department with some wiggle room. “There are some options,” Peaco said. “Right now, I don’t expect to see big things off the bat from these guys. They aren’t going to come out and run 6.40s. It’s not going to happen. If it does happen, it won’t happen a second time.” The NHRA first began running this style of Pro Rear Wheel drive during
the 2001 season as a means of bringing the quick elapsed times and top
speeds the front-wheel drive cars couldn’t deliver. The participation
was limited as often they couldn’t even fill eight-car fields
at the larger high profile events. a d v e r t i s e m e n t
THE NEW KID IN TOWN
Hartford is the only driver who has had discussions with the IHRA and is excited about the opportunity to run at the IHRA events. Hartford had even planned to stop in during the final IHRA event as a courtesy to the sanctioning body and make a few exhibition runs following Pro Stock. The rainout and the forced rescheduling prevented his return due to previous commitments. Hartford sees this as a chance to put his team on a larger stage. “This provides a chance for me to move up,” Hartford said. “To me, this is the top class. I have always wanted to race in Pro Stock. I don’t care if it’s 800-inches, 500 or a 213-inch V-6. To be able to run against Steve Spiess, John Nobile and Brian Gahm is a dream.” Hartford drives a Don Ness-built Cobalt that he likes to say, “Is exactly like the chassis John Nobile has.” “The difference between the two is that you can pick up my engine with one hand,” Hartford said. “Our engine without the turbos and headers is very tiny. I don’t understand why everyone is scared of this.” Hartford holds the Pro Rear Wheel drive record with a 6.52 elapsed time with a speed of 215.05. The quickest unofficial run has been a 6.44 in testing. There has also been a 6.47 in national competition but the driver was unable to back up the mark. Hartford knows his participation has ruffled the feathers of some of IHRA Pro Stock’s elite runners. “I just hope everyone realizes that I have the utmost respect for everyone and I’m not coming in with hopes of upsetting their apple cart,” Hartford said. “We just hope it brings more fans to the stands for the class. If it gets more television time or more articles in the magazine then it’s worth it. “I haven’t even been in the 6.40s and it takes one just to qualify,” Hartford said. “My run had been in the best conditions and best track. It’s going to take a lot for me just to qualify. We have to weigh the same and run a Lenco. The only difference between the two is 640 inches and I have turbos.”
Hartford realizes change is something drag racers are not keen on. In this instance, he feels it is necessary for the future of the class. “This class needs some change, especially with the Funny Cars coming in now,” Hartford said. “If it doesn’t get changed, it is not going to be a very good class. The fans are there to see the fuel classes, as much as I hate to say it because I am not a fan of the fuel cars. That’s what they are there for. “I am a Pro Stock fan…a doorslammer guy through and through. Unfortunately, it’s a reality whether it’s IHRA, NHRA or divisional or whatever, after the fuel cars run the fans go to the concession stands. It’s a proven fact. We’ve got to do something to make Pro Stock more appealing to the fans.” Hartford has conversed with Ingersoll over the years and considers the former V-6 racer’s actions in 1986 as groundbreaking. “I just don’t know what everyone is scared of,” Hartford said. “I’ve run a 6.52…plain and simple…never been quicker. I think they’re just scared of what they don’t understand. We have a production block and production heads. It is a T319 alloy aluminum block. We don’t have billet blocks and we don’t have cast iron ones either. “Our stuff is beer can material. You can stick a screwdriver through it. Everybody says we blow up a lot and the truth is, yes we do break parts. We have full containment devices and in four years of running…we have never once put oil on the track. We may blow stuff up, but we’re not going to hurt the show. We don’t want to put anything on the track because if we do that then it is under our tires. Then I have a problem.” Just to give an idea of how violent the cars are, Hartford says his car leaves the line at 10,700 rpm and the average rpm during the run is around 8,000. Hartford has extended the olive branch to any of the drivers that want to talk. He will be at the Total Seal booth during the PRI show. Another one of the proposed drivers is Toyota runner Matt Scranton, as mentioned. Scranton, just like Hartford, doesn’t mind being the new kid on the block and admits that his goal all along has been to make it into the Pro Stock division. He expected to do it with a naturally aspirated motor. Scranton’s participation hinges on the IHRA demographic and whether it caters to his sponsor’s target marketing plan. It will also depend on the rules structure for his combination. Scranton knows his inclusion is bound to make some people upset and he expects such. Being a drag racer, Scranton knows that change is something drag racers are simply not keen on. Scranton has a new Camry Solara that he expects to unveil during the
upcoming Performance Racing Industry trade show. His previous entry,
A Rick Jones-built Toyota Celica brings almost 1,500 horsepower to the
table through a TRD 3.6 liter Tacoma V-6 a d v e r t i s e m e n t
THE LOCALS ARE MADDER THAN HECK
Peaco admitted the rumors prematurely sent him into reassurance mode early. He’ll quickly tell you that his staff has fielded nearly three calls per driver. “I talked to one driver in Rockingham and he was all bent out of shape,” Peaco said. “I explained that it wasn’t going to be ten cars but just two with a controlled environment and that I wasn’t going to let the class go upside down. I assured him he wouldn’t have to buy a turbo. “It’s time that Pro Stock gets some notoriety and the respect it deserves because it has become a good class,” Peaco said. “But, to go to the next level it is going to have to get a little bit more exciting. It can’t be the Sonny and Kaase crate motor class any more although currently it’s my favorite class…truth be told.” Peaco says the introduction will come in baby steps. Robert Patrick, the current IHRA E.T. record holder with a 6.36, says the IHRA has lost its mind and seems content to screw up one of their best classes. He contends that if the racers within this division wanted to race with power adders they’d be over in Pro Modified going a whole lot quicker and racing for a lot more money. “Nobody that I have talked is in favor of it,” Patrick said. “Right now, the IHRA has something that nobody else has. They have the quickest and fastest naturally aspirated cars in the world. That’s what IHRA Pro Stock is all about. Why they would want to bring turbocharged six cylinders in, I don’t have a clue. Why they have contemplated this without talking to any of the racers or engine builders is beyond me. No one bothered to have a meeting in Rockingham to get our input or to show us how it could benefit us. We have to hear it through the grapevine. What kind of a smack in the face is that? “I’m hearing talk of demographics and a younger crowd, they had better think about how many diehards they are going to lose. I’ve been watching the NOPI stuff on television. I don’t know how many people they think they are going to get because every time I see those races, the grandstands are empty. If they want to copy those guys they had better start scheduling bikini parties on Saturday night. That’s the only thing I’ve ever seen that anyone goes to.” a d v e r t i s e m e n t
Torco’s CompetitionPlus.com polled a significant number of current drivers in the class and none were in favor of the program. Many of the those drivers questioned how the class can be any stronger with an abundant number of entries and an influx of recent performance programs such as the 6.40 club sponsored by Rick Jones and his Quarter-Max company, the 220 Club sponsored by engine builder Sonny Leonard and most recently the Lenco 6.30s Club. Engine builder Jon Kaase has also backed a special program that rewarded competitors for their consistency during qualifying at national events in 2005. “Is the money they’re hoping to get for doing this going to trickle down to the racers?” Patrick asked. “What are we going to get out of these guys racing with us; the guys who have supported this program? They have a class for power adders already – it’s called Pro Modified. If they have such a hankering to run turbos, let them run with the blower and nitrous guys.” “This goes against everything the class was built on,” said Frank Gugliotta. Gugliotta is the first of the IHRA’s Pro Stockers to exceed 220 miles per hour. “We race the big motors here. It’s called mountain motor for a reason. There’s no place for them in here. They’re running fuel injection and we aren’t allowed to do it. This is a naturally aspirated class. “They are looking for something to improve the class and I will tell you now there’s no one with any junk here. These are top notch race teams that have invested a lot of money to have the best stuff. New engines…multiple powerplants...look at the rigs…nobody has junk. This class is not hurting. Who in the world told them this class was hurting?” Gugliotta has said his team owner Steve Thodos is ready to call it quits if this proposal becomes reality. Of course, the sharp-tongued John Nobile is never reserved in his opinion regardless of the subject. However, this situation has lit a fire under him. “I think they’re all <blankety-blank> if you ask me,” Nobile said. “This won’t sell one extra ticket. I just don’t think they can keep up with us no matter what they are going to do. How long before these guys get tired and go back. The only way the will keep up with us is to put weight on us. “I don’t think it’s going to help us or hurt us. I don’t see how you can make the class any more exciting than it is now.” If you think the racers are the only ones disgusted, the leading engine builders are upset as well.
“I really don’t want any part of it,” Kaase said. “I hate to queer it up with something like that. Any time you are going to have more than one set of rules in a class you are going to have trouble. Look at Pro Modified – it never ends. If you have someone like Ken Duttweiler involved, they could really get after it. There’s so much electronics involved that it is going to be so tough to be op top of the rules. There’s a lot of ways one can cheat in it. “I don’t know all the details of this deal but I know enough to hope that it fails miserably,” Kaase continued. “Obviously there’s the potential for some money for the IHRA somehow or they wouldn’t be doing it. I really don’t want any part of this. I am completely against it. I don’t even want them in our staging lanes. I don’t want them in the track taking up our space and breathing our air. I don’t like anything that’s boring. It would be bad enough to have GM or Ford in it, but when you bring in a foreign combination…I just despise that. “It’s hard enough to make power when you are working with Mother Nature only. When you bring in the power adders and they run quicker, it is a slap to those guys who do it with normally aspirated engines.” Kaase admits that if the new combination were to take over that the current racers would more than likely pool their resources and build one he says would be so <blankety-blank> fast they’d have to outlaw the combination anyway. “I’m not saying we’re smarter than anyone else because we don’t know a thing about them,” Kaase said. “I don’t know that we’d really do that. We’d be spending a lot of money just to prove a point.
“I’m really down on this because 100% of our business is tied to this class. If you want to screw it up and some of our guys quit over it, that won’t be good business for us. We won’t be building turbocharged rice-burners here. We’ll have to find another class or go oval track racing.” Kaase’s staunch rival in IHRA Pro Stock is engine builder is Sonny Leonard. However, this time they are elbow to elbow on the same side of this debate. “I have been in the process of writing a letter to the IHRA on this very subject,” said Leonard, himself a former mountain motor Pro Stock racer. “This is a very elite class and very competitive. I think this show has progressed more than any other style of Pro Stock racing. The Chevrolets and Fords are running quicker than ever. “I wouldn’t mind seeing that combination get its own class to start with. Who knows -that might just be the Pro Stock division in a few years, anyway. If they get this combination in there and enough people spend a lot of money, it will end up dominating. “If they are going to do this – why not Pro Modified? It
is such a versatile class. They have blowers and nitrous and all kinds
of styles. I think this class has gotten more recognition than it ever
has this season. It needs to remain an elite division.” a d v e r t i s e m e n t
IS THERE A FACTORY ANGLE?
Unless the IHRA plans to make the cars front-wheel drive, General Motors racing rep Fred Simmonds says his company has no interest regardless of whether Toyota becomes involved as rumored. “Everyone and their brother can get involved,” Simmonds said. “We are already there. We are in the places we need to be. “We have all of our eggs in an Ecotec four-cylinder basket. That goes from our 500-horsepower, low eleven-second Cobalts up to our Pro front-wheel drive Cobalts. They run 7.12 at 202 miles per hour. That’s where the brand wants to be – with Ecotec power and front-wheel drive. We have kept that situation going for about three to four years. We don’t need to change that. We are not going out and trying to race wherever we can race at. We are trying to sell cars. That has done a good job for us so far. “We do have carbon fiber Cobalt bodies in NHRA and IHRA Pro Stock. Everything is good there, but we’re not going to come up with a special powertrain and turn it rear-wheel drive when we’ve already got V-8 rear-wheel drive Cobalts racing. Competitiveness is something Simmonds and others will be watching. Some will watch from a distance and others will be closer. “I think the big picture is the mountain motor cars will go down the track nearly every time,” Simmonds said. “The turbo cars just don’t have that reliability of making consistent runs. To some degree, I think they are at somewhat of a disadvantage. “It’s doable. I think you can do just about anything to equate one combination to another just by tweaking weights and cubic inches, power adders and so on. If they can do it where it is all equal, it should be an interesting situation.” Patrick, whose family owns a dealership which backs his racing efforts, feels that if any factory gets involved, they are going to want a return on their investment. “I don’t think they are going to come out of the box flying,”
Patrick said. “If these guys, whether it’s GM or Toyota,
are putting any money into this – they are going to expect their
cars to be competitive within a reasonable amount of time. If money
is involved, concessions will be made. Really I couldn’t care
less if they are competitive or not – to me, Pro Stock is a naturally
aspirated class. There’s no place for those guys in here.”
Got a comment? Drop us a line at comppluseditor@aol.com.
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