The NHRA is leaving no room for Pro Stock rule improprieties during the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals in Norwalk, Ohio. The sanctioning body has dispatched its tech officials to look over the cars of the eight drivers in the K&N Horsepower Challenge, a special $50K race within a race contested on Saturday.

“They [NHRA Tech Officials] have been living with us all weekend,” Roy Johnson, crew chief on the Pro Stock Dodge Stratus driven by his son, Allen Johnson.

Are the inspectors looking for anything in particular? According to the  drivers CompetitionPlus.com interviewed, the areas being checked range from wing angle to engine displacement and the largest infraction for a Pro Stocker, the use of nitrous oxide. NHRA’s Tech Department Proactive in Checking Pro Stock Teams This Weekend …

The NHRA is leaving no room for Pro Stock rule improprieties during the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals in Norwalk, Ohio. The sanctioning body has dispatched its tech officials to look over the cars of the eight drivers in the K&N Horsepower Challenge, a special $50K race within a race contested on Saturday.

“They [NHRA Tech Officials] have been living with us all weekend,” Roy Johnson, crew chief on the Pro Stock Dodge Stratus driven by his son, Allen Johnson.

Are the inspectors looking for anything in particular? According to the  drivers CompetitionPlus.com interviewed, the areas being checked range from wing angle to engine displacement and the largest infraction for a Pro Stocker, the use of nitrous oxide.

Johnson has seen his fair share of technical inspections over the decades and as the racers get more innovative so do those ensuring a level playing field.

“They get sharper and we do too,” Johnson said, pausing to laugh. “You have to stay in the gray area. I don’t think we’ve been in the gray area but sometimes they [NHRA Tech] think we are. We have to have issues every once in a while where they question us, sometimes. All of us do. We all know that. It ain’t cheating. We just take the rules and make the most out of them.”

Greg Anderson has no problem with the inspections. In fact, he welcomes them.

“We’ve been getting it every run and I suspect we’re not done,” Anderson said prior to Saturday’s first round of the K&N Challenge. “But that’s good. We don’t want anyone pulling anything but then again, I don’t think anyone is doing that anyway. I’m proud of the tech guys doing their jobs … it should be this way at every race.”

K&N Challenge No. 1 seed Mike Edwards was on the receiving end of the technical department adjustments both Friday and Saturday; whether it was justified remains to be seen.

NHRA officials measured the angle of his wing and instructed Edwards to make adjustments to which he obliged. Edwards contends he didn’t touch the wing angle and on Saturday, the tech inspectors once again made him adjust the wing to fit their measuring device.

Upon further inspection it was discovered the measuring level the NHRA had used was inconsistent, at least to Edwards it was.

“We went and got three others and the NHRA’s was different,” Edwards admitted. “But we set it the way the NHRA wanted it so there’s no issue.”

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