Has 8.50 became the new Ten flat?

N0, No, no. I'm not one of those "remember when tens were fast" guys. A 10.90 pass in 2017 is just a fun and enjoyable as it was in 1987. So to frame and explain why I'm asking that question as it pertains to street cars in general, and Drag Week in particular, allow me to give a brief history of how we arrived here from my perspective.

I'm not an NHRA historian, but I know the whole Pro-Gas/Super Gas index racing thing sprang out of the fast bracket racing scene in the early eighties, at around the same time Pro Stock went to the 500", 2350lb format. The sudden influx of fast chassis cars forced the NHRA to begin re-shaping the rulebook from a class based system of required upgrades to a series of performance based rules. It was in this tumultuous time that the words "9.99 and quicker" entered the drag racer's lexicon.

What the NHRA had done in one fell swoop, was take just about every sportsman built Gasser, Super Stocker, back halved car, or kit chassis car and legislated them into the 10.00 and up zone. It created a definite line between the "haves, and the have nots", because of the amount of upgrades required to run quicker than 9.99. It wasn't as simple as just a division of roll bar cars, and cage cars. The new certification required bar thicknesses that many felt were excessive, and were thicker than nearly all of the commercially available chassis kits and cage kits at the time. The NHRA license and required membership was also a sticking point that drove the divide even deeper.

While a large number of race cars ended up receiving the necessary upgrades and a visible Chassis Certification sticker, many more were relegated to 10.20 bracket cars, or sold off to street car guys who wanted to join the new "Pro Street" movement. Many also ended up in the hands of street racers who only frequented a track sparingly, or raced at outlaw independent tracks that were less likely to follow NHRA's letter of the law.

What emerged from this melting pot was almost a sub-culture type of street car/bracket car which became known as the "Ten Flat" cars from the late eighties on. Typical of the breed was a back halved, ladder-bar car with 12-14 inches of rubber, and a big block with nitrous. They would roll out of tech with 10.0 scrawled on the back glass by the tech director to let the staff know that was as quick as the car was legal to run. Whether it was a large event or small; test and tune or bracket event, the routine that would play out was a few motor only passes in the low tens, or thousand foot passes where the driver was clearly lifting early. Then the last pass of the day would be a mid-nine second blast, and the driver would get scolded at the time slip booth on his way to the trailer or out the gate. Spectators could often be heard laughing upon witnessing an illegal pass, and tossing out the "just another ten oh car" comment.

As Drag Week tries to define what makes up some of the quickest Street Cars in the country for the last twelve years, it's not hard to imagine that this type of car would have a footprint on the event. A simple look at the overall numbers bears out the fact that this is indeed the case. Only nineteen cars have recorded a best pass between 9.81-9.99; while a whopping 44 cars have best passes recorded between 10.00-10.20, or speeds over 135, showing nine second potential. That imaginary line that NHRA drew in the sand nearly thirty five years ago is still very much there!

Drag Week 2011
Having watched the growth, and problems associated with, heads-up street car racing, one of the things Freiburger and company recognized right from the beginning was the need for a stable rules package. Changing the rules from season to season, and in some cases race to race, had destroyed more than one fledgling promoter or association. The Hot Rod Drag Week founders agreed that the rules would only be revised once every three years, so participants could build or change their cars without fear of having them rapidly legislated out of contention.

2011 was at the end of a three year cycle, and the performance of two cars in particular that year would have a huge impact on the new, incoming rules for 2012 and beyond.
Tim Reed's amazing LSX turbo powered 79 Pinto averaged 8.23 with an 8.02 best in Street Race Small Block Power Adder, one of Drag Week's most restrictive, "little guy" classes. He covered 2nd place by nearly a second, and 3rd place by nearly two seconds. As he was destroying any competitive balance in that class, the late Jake Brantner and his driver Scott Smith were doing the same thing in the Big Block class. The pro-charged 80 Malibu averaged 8.42 to cover the field by a second and a half, but a best run of 7.82-189 was more indicative of just what the team was capable of.

It was determined that seven second cars in their lowest classes wasn't a good idea, so Hot Rod took drastic measures to restore order in the new rules package. They added four more stock suspension classes called "Super Street" to move the faster, lighter, more professional style cars into, and only allowed 8.50 cert cages into the remaining "Street Race" classes. Many opponents to this move complained that it would turn the two Street Race Power Adder classes into "8.50 index racing classes". I distinctly remember scoffing at such a notion as both of those classes were mostly a majority of nine and ten second machines, and the thought that they would feature multiple cars who could toy with the tech limit of the class was preposterous to comprehend. Six years later, that's exactly where we are at!

The birth of the "8.50 Street Car"
Much like the "Ten Flat or Ten Oh" car before it, many different factors converged at the right time to bring about these new machines. When the NHRA first devised "9.99 and quicker", they felt a need to differentiate between sportsman and professional classes, so they capped the "and quicker" part at 7.50. It was years later, after a few high profile mishaps, that the funny car cage provision was added to draw a new line at 8.50. There has been much discussion among Drag Weekers, and on Street Car forums about the dangers of funny car cages in truly street driven cars; many sighting poor visability, as well as the increased risk of head injury if in an accident without a helmet. I don't know if this is the sole reason for so many refusing to upgrade, or if like before it's simply a financial decision, but the number of cars retaining only an 8.50 and up certification seems to be growing. Another factor is that NHRA no longer requires a DOT style physical for the 8.50 and up license, making it easier to acquire.

In Drag Week terms though, we are still discussing a stock suspension, small tire car, so the 8.50 number should be plenty safe, and to the rules maker's credit it was! In 2012, 2013, and 2014, the Street Race Small Block and Big Block Power Adder classes were once again returned to the nine and ten second machines for the most part, while the fire breathing 7 and 8 second machines were battling in Super Street. The names that would lead the charge to 8.50 were already showing up though in Bishir, Flynn, Dodson, Hoke, and Vinson. The 9.30's of 2014, became the 8.80's of 2015, and when Chris Bishir's S-10 unloaded an 8.32-163 on the final pass of the heads-up shootout to end Drag Week 2015, it was clear he had the power to toy with the number at that point.

The other impetus that led to the capability of these machines is clearly modern technology. Technology gleaned from Pro-mod, from OEM sources, from small tire racing, all wrapped up in an innocent appearing street car. Typical of the breed is an electronic fuel injected, turbo or pro-charged combination and a 3 speed automatic trans combined with an overdrive, on bead-locked wheels with a drag radial. Data acquisition and a lap top, required!

I know, you want numbers to back up my observations. There were 9 cars who's best pass turned in at 2016 Drag Week was between 8.00 and 8.49. There were 30 between 8.50 to 8.83! It's a thing people, you heard it here first!