PRO STOCK RULE CHANGES TAKE AWAY VALUABLE TUNING TOOL
Sat, 2010-03-13 14:00
If there ever was a race when the NHRA Pro Stockers needed their full complement of four qualifying runs,
it’s likely to be this weekend’s NHRA Gatornationals, the third of 23-national events this season.
Last week, the NHRA handed down the edict forcing all teams to adopt a talledr wickerbill and install a mandatory splitter. Those rules, according to many of the teams, were relatively easy to adjust to. The third rule mandating all cars must weigh 1,090 pounds on the rear has proven anything but a simple adaptation.
If there ever was a race when the NHRA Pro Stockers needed their full complement of four qualifying runs,
it’s likely to be this weekend’s NHRA Gatornationals, the third of 23-national events this season.
Last week, the NHRA handed down the edict forcing all teams to adopt a talledr wickerbill and install a mandatory splitter. Those rules, according to many of the teams, were relatively easy to adjust to. The third rule mandating all cars must weigh 1,090 pounds on the rear has proven anything but a simple adaptation.
According to three-time NHRA Pro Stock champion Greg Anderson, the mandatory weight minimum on the back half of the car, takes away one of the most effective tuning tools he has available. He tested in the days leading up to the event in Bradenton.
“It wasn’t a rousing success for us and just watching the other cars, there were other teams who had problems too,” said Anderson. “You are going to struggle with this as conditions change. We lost a valuable tool [moving around weight] in tuning the car.
“In the first day of testing, we had real good air and all kinds of power and the cars were trying to flip over backwards and no one could get down the track. Then the air went away and everyone was able to make it down the race track. You can’t count on the weather at every race you go to.”
And when that weather changes, Anderson believes the fuel cars will be better adapted to the conditions than the Pro Stockers will.
“The fuel cars can adjust through their clutch,” Anderson said. “We can’t do timers on timing or anything with a lock up clutch. We already have so few tuning devices and then one was taken away.”
Pro Stock qualifying was limited to one session on Friday because of a rain-delay. Compared to a year earlier, the No. 1 qualifier was .01 slower and the 12th qualifier was .011 off.
“We have to change around our combinations had made the adjustment a
real challenge,” added V. Gaines, driver of the Kendall Pro Stock Avenger. “We’re very concerned about it and there were a lot of us in Bradenton trying to get a handle on it.”
The rule adjustment was intended to create more downforce on the car at the top end of the run, but for many of the teams the issue lies primarily with trying to get off the starting line.
Adam Lambert, a technical rep for Penske Shocks, a leading supplier for the Pro Stock division, was busy for most of Friday assisting teams with finding a better combination.
“The rule changes affect the Pro Stock cars more on the starting line than at the finish,” Lambert explained. “That’s not what the NHRA had in mind when they created this rules. Everything we’ve seen, the car isn’t affected on the top end.”
For Anderson, he believes the rules were implemented with the purpose of improving safety at the finish line based on what transpired at the NHRA Arizona Nationals in Phoenix, Az. However, once the culprit for the crashes was determined to be a combination of track prep and the racing surface, the rule changes became unnecessary.
“I think we jumped the gun,” Anderson said. “I think it was going too far and is going to hurt the performance of these cars. We just don’t have the tunability that we used to have.”
Anderson believes there is no foreseeable future time when the teams will effectively get a handle on a new combination utilizing the new rules.
“I have no idea when we’ll get a handle on it or if we ever will,” Anderson said. “They took a huge tool away from us. I spent two days testing and I don’t know that I am any closer today than when I started.”
For Gaines, for a while, the Pro Stockers might demand a new skill for some.
“We don’t pedal much in Pro Stockers, but we might have to learn how to,” Gaines added.
it’s likely to be this weekend’s NHRA Gatornationals, the third of 23-national events this season.
Last week, the NHRA handed down the edict forcing all teams to adopt a talledr wickerbill and install a mandatory splitter. Those rules, according to many of the teams, were relatively easy to adjust to. The third rule mandating all cars must weigh 1,090 pounds on the rear has proven anything but a simple adaptation.
If there ever was a race when the NHRA Pro Stockers needed their full complement of four qualifying runs,
Greg Anderson believes when the NHRA made their rule change enacting a minimum weight on the rear of Pro Stockers, they took away one of the class' key tuning tools. [Below] The new "splitter" is one of the three rule changes intended to create additional downforce in the last 320 feet of the drag strip.
Last week, the NHRA handed down the edict forcing all teams to adopt a talledr wickerbill and install a mandatory splitter. Those rules, according to many of the teams, were relatively easy to adjust to. The third rule mandating all cars must weigh 1,090 pounds on the rear has proven anything but a simple adaptation.
According to three-time NHRA Pro Stock champion Greg Anderson, the mandatory weight minimum on the back half of the car, takes away one of the most effective tuning tools he has available. He tested in the days leading up to the event in Bradenton.
“It wasn’t a rousing success for us and just watching the other cars, there were other teams who had problems too,” said Anderson. “You are going to struggle with this as conditions change. We lost a valuable tool [moving around weight] in tuning the car.
“In the first day of testing, we had real good air and all kinds of power and the cars were trying to flip over backwards and no one could get down the track. Then the air went away and everyone was able to make it down the race track. You can’t count on the weather at every race you go to.”
And when that weather changes, Anderson believes the fuel cars will be better adapted to the conditions than the Pro Stockers will.
“The fuel cars can adjust through their clutch,” Anderson said. “We can’t do timers on timing or anything with a lock up clutch. We already have so few tuning devices and then one was taken away.”
Pro Stock qualifying was limited to one session on Friday because of a rain-delay. Compared to a year earlier, the No. 1 qualifier was .01 slower and the 12th qualifier was .011 off.
“We have to change around our combinations had made the adjustment a
real challenge,” added V. Gaines, driver of the Kendall Pro Stock Avenger. “We’re very concerned about it and there were a lot of us in Bradenton trying to get a handle on it.”
The rule adjustment was intended to create more downforce on the car at the top end of the run, but for many of the teams the issue lies primarily with trying to get off the starting line.
Adam Lambert, a technical rep for Penske Shocks, a leading supplier for the Pro Stock division, was busy for most of Friday assisting teams with finding a better combination.
“The rule changes affect the Pro Stock cars more on the starting line than at the finish,” Lambert explained. “That’s not what the NHRA had in mind when they created this rules. Everything we’ve seen, the car isn’t affected on the top end.”
For Anderson, he believes the rules were implemented with the purpose of improving safety at the finish line based on what transpired at the NHRA Arizona Nationals in Phoenix, Az. However, once the culprit for the crashes was determined to be a combination of track prep and the racing surface, the rule changes became unnecessary.
“I think we jumped the gun,” Anderson said. “I think it was going too far and is going to hurt the performance of these cars. We just don’t have the tunability that we used to have.”
Anderson believes there is no foreseeable future time when the teams will effectively get a handle on a new combination utilizing the new rules.
“I have no idea when we’ll get a handle on it or if we ever will,” Anderson said. “They took a huge tool away from us. I spent two days testing and I don’t know that I am any closer today than when I started.”
For Gaines, for a while, the Pro Stockers might demand a new skill for some.
“We don’t pedal much in Pro Stockers, but we might have to learn how to,” Gaines added.
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