When I first got interested in heads up racing in 94' the payouts were better than bracket racing. Entry fees were waved when you qualified or when you lost first round. So anything you did was a payday of some sort. The national level stuff paid $1,500 to win. Then there was contigencies out the yeng yang.

15 years later the payout is the same unless you are running outlaw 10.5 which is out of hand. Let's say you find a class of some sorts paying $1,500 it will take 10 times the car it would have taken in the mid 90's to win. The same class that would have been slaughtered with a 9.0 will take a 7.50 just to get in the field. You can even imagine, (with a bottle of jack) coming out even at a race weekend. You are sure to go in the hole 100% even when you win.

Like Donald said we ran KOTS this year. I need to clarify it is not KOS. Donald ran overweight with no choice the rules are built around fox bodied mustangs. He still came out good thanks to reliable power and outstanding driving.
In my case there was only a $500 payout to win. There was no way to come out on this. If you were to win you still came up about $300 short for the weekend when you figure wear and tear. Make no mistake I did not win the first race. Came in second several times due to misfortunes. If I had taken the deal seriously and quit screwing with the car, every single race could have been won with my car as, all but one round was lost due to bad judgement or driver error. Index racing is challenging as you can't just run what you run you are faced with the index that is predetermined. But, I have a heads up mentality and I screwed with the car week to week to try and make the car better when running all out. Made little progress LOL. I played around in a quick 8 domestic heads up class on Fri nights and really enjoyed running heads up. Would like to do more next year if I still have the same engine. Just need to stay on top of the valve springs more when turning 9,500 on a regular basis. Running the 5.95 we shifted at 8,200 and pulled a lot of timing in low gear. 5.50's are obtainable on motor but you can't win against nitrous and big displacement with 900 HP. Especially when you throw the little tire in there. They are fast when things work out but can go up in smoke a lot easier when you miss the setup.

Leon

is it dead in my mind
NO !
im building 2 cars for N/A heads up racing

alot of the heads up racing draws more brand X cars because of the rules in most cases, especially when there is a weight brake for stock suspension.
IMO it dont get any better than the Mustang for that, 4 link and strut front stock !

i plan to go up to canada next year flyin the Mopar banner for some OSCA racing in there pro stock class with the small block car ( its weight to cubic inch ) and should be one of the players as long as i can get the weight off.

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alot of the heads up racing draws more brand X cars because of the rules in most cases, especially when there is a weight brake for stock suspension.
IMO it dont get any better than the Mustang for that, 4 link and strut front stock !

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maybe a Mopar in FOX BODY IS NOT THAT CRAZY

Scott and Leon both make valid points.
Just got home from the PSCA Street Car Super Nationals at Las Vegas...precious few Mopars to root for, but I applaud the efforts for sure.
55 6 second door slammers on the property, absolutely nuts!!

Enjoyed spectating, however, the cost of not only building, but racing a car in one of these ultra competitive classes is insane, not to mention that the tire and chassis limited classes that should theoretically be more affordable seem to have rules that make running a later model rear wheel drive car more advantageous...it's easy to see why the typical A,B,or E body Mopar is scarce!!

Is the question can a mopar car have success in the heads up classes or can they have an all mopar heads up class?

yes a mopar can run in some heads up classes
no way can you have a all mopar heads up series.

I don't think its dead. There def aren't many mopars out there running heads up stuff but there are a few of us. We are usually the only mopar that shows up at the races we go to, but the great thing is that we consistently qualify at least in the top 3 or 4 every time out and a lot of times #1. We've won several of these races being the only mopar. There are so many people out there that think a mopar can't compete in heads up racing buts apparently its because they aren't trying or they just plain aren't doing it right. Our car is nothing too fancy compared to most cars we compete against...just a low deck big block with 440-1 heads and a plate system. We are the smallest big block at every race we go to and our car is more of a street car than most cars we compete against. It just takes a little bit of effort and tuning and you can compete with a mopar no problem.

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maybe a Mopar in FOX BODY IS NOT THAT CRAZY

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I've seen a couple of them at my local track, Milan.

Dennis

Mopar only Heads Up classes/series are dead....not enough heads up mopars around to even support a series/classes. We tried having a Heads Up class at the MIR Mopar race a few years ago but couldnt find sponsorship or enough people interested in racing in it....I ran one of the last Pro Max races at Rockingham and there were plenty of Mopars at that race that fit the rules of the classes and could have ran in it. Most of them choose not to, either due to they would rather bracket race or they thought they couldn't hang in the class so why bother trying.....I remember a few didnt want to spend the few dollars more to race in the classes. I think Pro Max was even going to cover the extra cost for some racers just to get a full field and they still wouldnt do it....As for Heads Up Mopars, they are a few out there. I should have my engine back soon for my Dart and we need to do some engine repairs on the other Dart we run with. There will be at least 3 or 4 Heads Up Mopars out around here next year. The Drag Radial Dakota from Florida is around this area now too....

This is the easy...heads up racing takes alot of $$$ and mopar people are cheap A$$'s...

You got the $$$$ part right, don t know about the ass thing

if i just get a racelicence this winter and my car passes tech i will go headsup racing next summer,i wont win anything thats for sure,the class im going for has plenty of 9sec cars and some may even hit the 8´s next year and i will have to try to stay on the slow side of 11.5s but with some luck i can get somewhere atleast

This post was never ment to be a no brainer!,Seems nobody that has clout(mopar nationals,that car magazine(sorry i don,t read car comic books) are willing to support heads up racing for the mopar people....So don,t hate when i put that big chief headed motor in the bird..Cause i can go twice as fast and cheaper..I have nothing against brkt raceing,Cause i could put my snow blower motor in the bird and run the same numbers every pass...

mopar is too dang expensive anything..... but there cars are the coolest