Drag Racing Discussions > Front Engine Dragsters

The boys from Kansas are at it again

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Mr Froggy:
Out here in corn country my wife and I promote an OTTPA tractor pull in our town.  Like the Parks boys, the hard work and ingenuity is very impressive.  The budget/entry level classes that are limited to a single turbo, regulated size pump, injectors and lines are running as hard as the multi turboed, max pump tractors were 10 or 15 years ago.  But, like so often happens, the term budget does not mean cheap.  Now it'll take at least 6 figures to compete in the budget classes.

Its the Nature of the beast.

Sorry to get off topic on tractors!   Hats off to hard work and ingenuity.

longm1958:
That car and engine are killer. But it is also WAAAAAAAAAY out of my budget. Reasons like this are why I cannot class race. And I know I am not alone in that fact.

Still it's super cool.

And yes, I am also drooling.

wideopen231:
Want a challange? Name anything in motorosports that does not grow cost ten fold topayout. While you may know one or two I will bet there are 10 that do for everyone of them.

Hey I use to run headsup class IHRA TA/FC and was in top of field most weekends.Spent a bunch of money but not as mcuh as some guys not running as quick. I FREAKING love that kind of racing.Highlight of life IMO,can not do it now.Cost has gone fron low 6 figure to high 6 figure and more for some.My income went way down also.Heck its take me 4 year to get car where it is now I use to spend more in one phone call. Point is it never gets cheaper to run ay class where headsup is name of game.  Heck bracket racing is gone high dollar cmpared to when I started in 1986.
 Cost of running is aproblem thru opout this sport,but seems I have heard that for decades.

  The boys from Kanasas may spend some money, but they do a lot of development of pieces that are palin bad.They do draw some attention to nostalgia style cars especailly FED's.

RockinRobinWKR:

--- Quote from: JrFuel Hayden on March 21, 2015, 09:44:27 AM ---NHRA had a meeting last week in Gainsville to re-look at their approval of the Parks hemi heads, since NHRA tech passed them in 2008, and decided their approval still stands.
Jon

--- End quote ---

Jon, that is extremely interesting ... ? I'm surprised that the NHRA didn't recognize the glaring error in the comp nostalgia dragster categories. Most all of the other types/categories have several different breaks for head design and bore spacing. The ND classes are really based off a SBC with a wedge head and a 4.4 bore spacing. Common sense will tell you that a larger bore spacing (4.5625 early Chrysler) will allow for a larger port area, add that to a canted or hemi head, and the proof is in the pudding. Even if there was some magically approved iron hemi casting to fit a SBC or SBF, there is not enough physical room to compete with a larger bore spacing ... period. Was the NHRA just covering their butt for their previous oversight, or are they suddenly ignorant to physical limitations to internal combustion engine?

For the record, I'm playing more devil's advocate here. I'm thoroughly impressed with the Parks' effort, but I'm quite surprised that the NHRA and the Heritage Series didn't immediately bump the car to A/ND, regardless of injector size. The results would have been the same regardless of class.

Following; HS B/ND engine rule:

B/ND: 3.50 pounds per cubic inch, 1,300-pound minimum weight. Limited to OEM cast-iron Hemi; 23-degree small-block Chevy, big-block Chevy and Ford may use aftermarket cast-iron cylinder head, but stock valve angles must be retained. Raised runner 23-degree small-block Chevy cast-iron heads permitted (refer to NHRA B/ND rules)

Notice above that the early hemi is limited to "OEM cast-iron Hemi", while the SBC, BBC, and Ford are allowed an aftermarket head with an allowance for SBC RR head. The SWJFA further defines the aftermarket head as a replacement head. Logic would dictate that an approved replacement head would need a water-jacket as all the referenced aftermarket heads have. Regardless of a part number or not, these new early hemi heads are clearly aftermarket as defined by the rules. Many of us have known about the Parks' effort for years, but based on the above rule most, if not all, have assumed that the original 1950s cast heads were legal for B while these aftermarket castings were intended for and legal for A. I've read the HS B/ND rule upside down and backwards and cannot come up with any other interpretation than the one I just stated.

For those few people running an original early hemi head, this allowance has just escalated the cost of heads from roughly $4000 prepared to over $20,000. That doesn't include the associated hardware, and changes to the block to facilitate the use of these new castings. I would assume that many of the current Comp Eliminator B/ND cars will remain parked this year or longer, until the rules change or Parks move up to A. Especially if the index takes a major hit in B/ND.

Again, I admire what they've done, and if the sanctioning bodies are going to allow it then more power to the Parks'. Although, it kind of sucks for you Jon since you just got your original early hemi back in your car and you run in B.

Andy Carlson:
I find it interesting that after 10 years of SBC dominance of the NHRA Nostalgia Jr fuel class that now there would be advocacy for helping the beleaguered SBC combinations. Where was the outrage when raised runner 23 degree heads which were flowing over 400 cfm? The few Jr Fuel Hemis had a real hard time making minimum weight, and after a filled block, even harder. It is a well known principle in weight/cubic inch classes the minimum weight cars carry an advantage due to physics. I doubt any Hemi Jr fueler has ever been at minimum weight-advantage to the SBC. Hemis have also been difficult to achieve high compression, and efforts to fill a traced and profiled dome into a hemi combustion chamber has been unrewarding with flame propagation problems. SBC comp eliminator motors can easily reach 16:1 CR.

So SBC heads are available from some serious aftermarket, cutting edge head companies and now that is not good enough????

I root for the heads designed back in the Truman administration times.
-Andy Carlson

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