I'm done with it. Pro Stock NHRA racing over for me

40 plus years of racing for me and my favorite class was ALWAYS Pro-Stock. I'm done with it. I subscribed to All Access NHRA and watched 30 Pro Mods flying down the track. Not so much for the dam Mopars in Pro Stock.



GAINESVILLE, Fla. - Order after 2 rounds of qualifying in Pro Stock at the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series, 48th annual Amalie Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals:

Psn---Num-Driver, Home Town, Car Type---------------Qual-ET--Qual-Spd-Top Spd

1 1 Jason Line, Mooresville NC, '17 Camaro 6.476 213.87 213.87
2 4 Bo Butner, Floyd Knobs IN, '15 Camaro 6.477 213.60 214.28
3 9 Erica Enders, Houstin TX, '16 Camaro 6.490 214.01 214.01
4 10 Jeg Coughlin, Delaware OH, '17 Camaro 6.491 214.01 214.31
5 2 Greg Anderson, Mooresville NC, '17 Camaro 6.491 213.91 214.59
6 3 Shane Gray, Mooresville NC, '15 Camaro 6.493 214.11 214.11
7 7 Chris McGaha, Odessa TX, '17 Camaro 6.517 212.96 212.96
8 6 Drew Skillman, Bargersville IN, '15 Camaro 6.526 213.20 213.20
9 15 Tanner Gray, Mooresville NC, '15 Camaro 6.531 213.03 213.37
10 150 Kenny Delco, E. Setauket NY, '16 Camaro 6.562 211.56 211.56
11 666 Matt Hartford, Scottsdale AZ, '16 Camaro 6.584 211.53 211.59
12 106 Alan Prusiensky, Rockaway NJ, '16 Dart 6.609 211.03 211.03
13 8 Allen Johnson, Greeneville TN, '17 Dart 9.838 93.04 93.04
14 5 Vincent Nobile, Dix Hills NY, '15 Camaro 18.742 42.69 42.69
15 128 John Gaydosh Jr, Baltimore MD, '14 Camaro DQ

It's been over for decades. We can blame Fiat for not participating I suppose, however I wouldn't put my millions into funny cars to try to promote my street cars either.

Sheldon

Pro stock needs to back to stock bodies

ive been done with it for long time,havent watched nhra in years on tv,friends with aj on fb thats it

Its over far us MOPAR guys as is.

It should just be called Pro Camaro.

I'll watch any class with Mopars, but I'll admit this year is painful.

It does hurt...

Steve "Fast" Jackson is going to put pro-mod back on the map for NHRA I bet. For those that don't know him he has been a radial tire racer for years with a few different combos and has raced all over the world. I don't know a ton about him but from what I have seen is is extremely popular in that circuit and would give John Force a run for his money when it comes to Interviews.

Gainseville is his first NHRA Pro-Mod race and he is qualified #1 after Q2 with a 5.78 and they(NHRA) have already been over to his pits and measured bores and checked blower overdrive lol. My Facebook feed has been lit up with updates about his Q1 position. I also stepped over to yellowbullet and found a 5 page thread about him being there and several people were buying the trial NHRA access just to check on him. It might be just the circle of stuff I pay attention to but this guy will do wonders to help the already growing popularity of Pro-Mod.

Stevie Fast is hilarious. His level of trash talking is on par with the best in the grudge game, and him & Phil Schuler know how to get a car down the track. He was already running pro mod in PDRA but has decided to move over to NHRA, hopefully it is enough exposure to get the pro mods onto the regular broadcast as it definitely appears that pro stock interest is waning.

I'd like to see the top level SS cars replace pro stock. At least in the first year or two of pro stock most of the cars were powertrain combinations you could buy at a dealer. Now it's so far removed that it's hard to identify with the cars. At least the SS Camaros, Mustangs and Challengers are care you can run out and purchase, and don't look like jellybeans.

I hear ya for the Mopars. But, that fellow at the bottom John Gaydosh is from my home town and 20 years ago we were racing Friday nights at Capitol running the heck out of our cars. Kinda cool to see that. He was always a big Pontiac guy. I say lets go Pro Mod....... lovem'

Not even a 16 car field ? Pro Stock as MR. WONDERFULL says, is dead to me.

I'm finally off work for Topeka this year. And usually have tickets reserved by now. But I' dragging my feet this year. Not sure if it's worth going anymore.

They totally killed it for me when they went FI... before that, they had some of the closest ets top to bottom that I can remember seeing in a long time.

Steve's video about hossin' the gas on Keith Szabo is epic!

I might even start paying attention to Pro Mod.

Hate to say it, but the EFI and RPM limit Monte claimed would save the class seemed to have been the death knell.

I spoke to Roy at Maple Grove last fall he says the engines are making the same HP as the Bowties but they can't get their car to 60ft... He said it's not a matter of power it's in the clutch, gearing and set-up and with no other $$ or team mates helping with R & D it's gonna be a loooonnnngg season for Allen.

I usually do Topeka, but someone said tickets at the gate went from $48 to $58 this year!

I'm out!

I pretty much gave up being interested in the NHRA pro classes years ago.
The last U.S. Nationals I went to was in 2007 and it's only a 2 hour drive away.

When Pro Mod started it was pretty much the death nail for Pro Stock ... IMO.
As stated many times before, Fiat isn't interested in putting $$$ into racing programs.

I've pretty much gone to and enjoy watching the NMCA,Nostalgia and Heads Up/Radial racing.

Just happened to hit the channel while surfing last nite and "pro stock" was running, basicly the green Camero was running the red Camero the the blue one ran the white on then the yello one ran the pink one, flipped channel watched basket weaving. Semi interested in that but better than the so called racing. I ought to have my head examined for building a s/class Duster now. NHRA is in a sad state of affairs, they went so fas as to invite some no-prep cars a certain lady (can't remember her name) runs and dropped out some SS/-S cars to make room and they get in free (while SS-S pay $350) and she's pushing for a Wally for the winner.

Haven't cared for pro stock since they killed pro stock truck years ago.

Like any class Pro Stock has its rules. I would love to see more brand diversity as well. The guys that run this class are at the very top of their game and there is still some appreciation for me there. How about Steve Jackson going numero uno in his debut? Will see if he can hold on to that for the final Pro Mod session a little later...

FCA doesn't seem overly interested in Pro Stock but they are pouring plenty of money into Schumacher and Sportsman, just look at the contingency they put up this year, heck even last year.

Until Pro Stock gets all three brands back involved, and some sort of brand competition it's going to struggle. But I don't think even NHRA contemplated how much KB racing was going to spend to win. Last offseason Roy had said they make the EFI change and never touched a thing below the intakes on their cars. Yet Line had said the made 500 dyno pulls with the new EFI before WinterNats 2016. 500 PULLS!

Not sure the appeal of the mini funny cars. Look at McCoys new FC Corvette, sorry Pro Mod. That class has been on life support in the NHRA. If it wasn't for the Coughlins and especially the Whiteley's that class would have been cut 2-3 years ago. They struggle to maintain a title sponsor, and it may be popular among racers, look at the stands during a national event. Pro Stock still has more.

I will never talk crap about Mopar sponsoring anything. They paid me and paid me well above anyone else when I won at the Lucas Oil level. For example, MSD paid me $600 or $900 in product. Mopar paid me $1,700!!!

You cant blame FCA.. when there is maybe 1
team that still flies a Chrysler flag and the
NHRA made a Chevy class... FCA still pours
money into the big guys and what is there in
that area.. 2 teams(Shu or Force).. drag racing
wont be around much longer.. IMO

I had to think about why I've lost interest in P/S, regardless of the lack of brand diversity and shrinking car counts... they're boring to watch. If they shake the tires, run over. If they hook, it's like watching a slot car. No more wheelies cuz they run the bars so tight it's like the cars are just planted on the ground. And, as others have said, this used to be my absolute favorite class to watch.

I watched a bunch of Stock Eliminator videos the last couple of days, and really liked seeing the ways the different types of cars hooked, wheelied, etc., especially since many of the "traditional" cars run in the same ET range as my Challenger. And the new generation factory package cars from Chevy, Ford and Mopar are just freakin' cool to watch busting solid 8s on 9" x 30" meats.

He definitely knows how to talk trash!! Minor work warning on language:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FgnlkHr5e4E

Mike what part of the pro stock rules favor the chevy's? Do you know why Chevy is dominating? It's not the rules! It's MONEY! Period! Money to test, money to dyno, money to develop parts and money for the best minds.

No wonder Chevy and Ford guys look at us like we have three eyes.

Yeah they get more money.. the same reason that
mopar will always be last in line... they sell
50 times more parts which means MONEY
EDIT
Also.. how many Fords are out there in P/stock

I doubt drag racing will be dead in 10 years, hell we've heard that about PS for the last ten years and it's still going-however you want to take that.

NHRA though will make changes as they need, unfortunately though like the past I expect it'll only be the changes needed to keep them alive vs those that will allow them to thrive.

You have to wonder how motorsports would look right now if 20yrs ago they capped the teams at two cars. Whether that be 2-FC's or one TF, and one FC. How many more sponsor dollars could have been spread around. What a different landscape it would be.

I love SS/S and generally support the NHRA, and being 33 I can't wait til I have the time to race class. And I love the new Factoty stock cars, but look at that class already. Two engine builders are 1/2 at each showdown and one will be the first sticker into the 7's, probably before Indy. How many years before most guys just say f"'* it though.

Agree that a class full of Camaros isn't compelling to watch. Last bit of conversation I had here with Monte was about PS guys using the FS motors in existing PS chassis; if that brought back the Mopars & Fords, PS would be more interesting to everyone, and probably fill the fields at less cost to competitors. He was hinting that NHRA was looking into that.
To me, the PS cars look more like ProMods than "real" cars, and I'd prefer more realistic body shapes for any class using the word "Stock".
Then again, I miss the old MP classes, which were full of cars like we ran on the street, definitely identifiable.
I think NHRA lost the handle a while back...

Considering that current P/S cars and motors bear no resemblance to the cars/motors of the golden years of Mopar, I say "meh".

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm was under the impression that ALL the motors have been built off the Bb Chevy configuration for years. Just like a funny car might say ford and wear a mustang wrapper, but is a hemi at heart.

Mike the reason there are no fords in ps is not the rules, they got way behind in their engine program. Again MONEY.

John I agree, about the only thing on AJ's car that is Mopar is the trademark on the big M.

I'd love to see production "type" engines running in bodies in white.

Past time for AJ to get into ProMod and leave Pro Camaro

Pro Mod should have taken over from NHRA Pro Stock 10 years ago. Anyone who went to an IHRA race in the 90's got to see it in its infancy and it was fun times! Scotty Cannon vs all the nitrous guys was quite a show!
And at the same time I always liked their Mountain Motor Pro Stock class.

To quote Larry Morgan, "you can't fix stupid".

I like the pro mods fine, but to me they seem like an alcohol funny car with doors.

Funny, people said pro stock was dead when the tube chassis cars showed up.

LOL. That was GREAT.

I saw Szabo at 41 last year. His car ain't no joke. He has the back tire for life though.

3rd qualify section AJ was the 5th fastest with a 6.54...

had a shock brake during burnout of 4th session and shook the tires..

I think Roy Hill actually qualified at the Gators with a 1.016 under 7.784 ET FSS/A in Super Stock at over 170mph! Maybe the divisional last week.

Thats the reason I lost interest in Pro Stock years ago. They are like top fuel and funny car as even when a Mopar or Ford is in the pack they all look the same and like Brad says thats boring to watch. I call all the Pro classes Generic race cars. I never have liked classes where they all look the same. Thats why I dont like the bikes or top fuel and funny car on tv and now Pro Stock. Yes nitro cars are cool live to watch but boring to me on tv as any of the classes where I cant tell one car from another are just boring and no fun to watch. For me all I like to watch mostly is Nostalgia Super Stock and the FAST and Pure Stock muscle cars. Since I grew up watching racing in the 60's and 70's I always wanted the car I liked to win as I could not care less who was driving. I just wanted that Hemi Cuda to beat the Camaro. Now you cant tell what kind of car any of them are. Ron

I like the top fuel and funny car.. they arent
suppose to look like your normal cars.. just
go fast

Me too. I enjoy watching them, especially live at the track. These guys are always playing to find hidden horsepower kinda like the new header design angles that are now being used. It made these cars even harder to drive for the drivers so it added a learning curve. The interview the other day with Darrell Gwynn was great. He couldn't believe the 1/8 mile MPH is now higher than the !/4 mile speed was when he was driving. I'm sure he was kidding but he said he would have to think twice about driving one today if he could. LOL

Hey it's a great chance to "make the field" in prostock lol. When a 9 makes it in, anyone with any ps car can roll into the race. In the hay days only the baddest of the bad could even field a car.

Still, what they do is no less amazing today, than in the good days. All of it is still as close to rocket science as drag racing gets.