The Pro-Stock circus continues.

LOL. If you can't beat them, join them. People love smokey burn-outs.


http://www.competitionplus.com/drag-racing/news/nhra-to-stage-pro-stock-burnout-contest-indy

Did NHRA end up buying Ringling and Barnum and Bailey circus after all
Anything to make a $ and help fill the stands, correct

If they'd try a little harder at filling the pits, the stands will fill themselves.

Maybe this a contest the Dodges can be competitive in. lol

good grief

I'd rather watch a burnout contest than a
Chevy prostock race.. with 1 Mopar

Naaaah... the NHRA will mandate a lower RPM limit during the burnout contest that'll keep The Lone Mopar from being able to keep the tires spinning fast enough.

I've stated for a number of years that NHRA will end up the way of the monster trucks. A private firm will buy the National Event portion of the show where they own the cars and pay the crews. Drivers will be personalities with rivalries abound. NHRA will maintain control on a divisional/ local level as the sanctioning body.

In this particular case, I'm all for it! If this goes well, a wheelie contest for height and distance to follow.

Not all people.

Sounds to me like maybe they were trying to give the fans another opportunity to head to the "Nitro Mall" without missing anything "good".

When the stands are still empty during the burnout contest, nhra will have to resort to stripper poles on starting line, or maybe tanner gray and Erica in a steel cage death match. (Bet on Erica.)
Can greg anderson Juggle ?

Does it get any dumber,,,,,oh h*ll done lost my head again,,,,forgot boom box audio systems and air suspension jumping jack contests,,,not to mention let's blow an engine loud exhaust run-offs.

I've only been to the NHRA events at Norwalk so; I have nothing else to compare it to but, both times I went, it was azzez to elbows with people. Is the attendance really that low at other NHRA events?

Next is dry hops for the FC class.

seen one burnout ya seen em all

And they give me a headache.

A couple- three weeks ago a friend of mine was telling me about something he read about spectators attending sporting events. He said that (as we all know) the NHRA and NASCAR spectator attendance are very low but also the sporting events like baseball were off too- but what was interesting was that monster truck events were very high in attendance -off the charts??
He also said the article was referring to the average age of the attendees of the events -NASCAR & NHRA have increased to an average 55 plus as well as the baseball attendees have done the same. It showed the average for the monster truck events were much lower say 25 - 35 average age??

I'm not sure about the exact numbers but I think you all get the idea.

Maybe the public is out growing some of these events and a new era of sporting attendees (younger) are out there attending these newer(different)events.

is monster trucks a sport?? i always thought it was more like pro rasslin

It is, but the trucks all have names, wild paint jobs, most of the drivers have some character and there is a lot of action. My grandson is four and loves monster trucks.

They should make it interesting and do fire burn-outs! What next NHRA a wheelie contest - I would think the pro-stock teams would pass on this kind of stuff - only tears up the equipment.

I read this yesterday.
Valve springs anyone?

I lit a fire burnout for Big Daddy once. What people failed to tell me was what was going to happen when I lit it. I was young. Wasn't thinking. I was excited. Well, when I lit it Bigs did the obvious thing and floored it. My hands were outstreached to light the fire. My fingers weren't in my ears and it was very painful.

I agree with a couple of posts above. Parents are taking their kids to monster trucks because it's an "extreme" sport that's relatable. Truck names, driver personalities, huge air, back flips, additionally, it can be held indoors during the winter months and it's an entertaining recipie.

Burn outs do nothing for me, so doesn't interest me at all.

Next they will pay drivers to wreck, because that's what people like to see.

NHRA looks desperate...

Sorry, wasn't paying attention.

I have been to BIR nationals 2 times, 2 weeks ago and in the mid 90's, the crowd in the pits was close to what I remember but the stands had a lot of empty seats to choose from.

I've been to Norwalk for both nhra and ihra events. Norwalk draws crowds for most any event it has. Back in the ihra days, the stands were still packed for the ihra mountain motor prostocks.
Nhra prostock is called hot dog time and bathroom break time.

They still have a pathetic "burn out contest" at our Mopar Nats, what a waste of time when we could be having more track time. As said, once you've seen 1, you've seen them all at the track.

I remember when I was running my old 440 '69 Cuda and we had a TV channel filming the meet in 1990, I did an extended pro-mod type roller for a bit of show but stopped before the beams....could've sat there at 5k rpm smokin 'em up the whole length of the track...it achieves nothing and wastes everything.

I gotta admit that watching Pro Stock even with big burnouts makes me wanna

They had a burn-out contest at Keystone this year during a street event and used the regular burn-out pad. Next thing you know it will have ruts in it and ruin our slicks. Put a 2 inch steel plate out in a field and let the kiddies have a good time.

wait till a ps hits the wall

The dumbest thing I've seen in recent years was a starting line burn-down by a couple of Pro Stockers...when the cameras panned to the stands many of the spectators were screaming encouragement and fist-pumping the air. Getting that excited about a burn-down? Gimme a break.

In an existing ridiculously expensive class lets just add burning seriously expensive tires to the mix....

SMDH

Honestly I think it is pretty cool, i know my almost 4 year old boy would LOVE it. Getting the young people involved is what will keep this sport going. It won't kill you old geezers to sit through a few long burnouts, sit back and listen to the sounds of naturally aspirated horsepower, it won't be long before its gone from the pro-classes at this rate.

Look at the RICER events!! Packed and plenty of FEMALES!!

the ricer events are less about the RACE CARS and more about the party.

It's a rave w/ some cars parked around.

Silly me. All these years I believed the explanation given by the announcers that the burnout was a critical procedure calculated to bring the tires, clutch, and engine all to the correct temp by the time the cars are ready to go. I never once concidered that it's true purpose was to entertain the 4 year olds and the adults that act like 4 year olds. When will they bring back BIG WHEEL races between rounds? Oh, I know. How about if the loosing car in prostock gets run over by a monster truck. Yea, i'd pay extra to see that.

Maybe the winner in each pro class should turn around, drive back to the 330 and do Nascar style donuts.

Seriously if the prostock teams actually participate in this rediculous burnout contest I predict there will be more wrecks and greatly reduced life to the most expensive engines on the property.

The pro stock cars already act like 90 year old guys with arthritis taking forever to stage and get down the track. Thank God we don't have 30 car fields. Now add half track burnouts to the mix and instead of grabbing a burger we can have a sit down meal.

And have time left over to stand in line at the icecream stand. Mmm, maybe that would be a good thing.

Just shows NHRA is ran by imbeciles.

Ever been to a track where the Street Outlaws show up? People packed 100 deep, noise, trash talk, betting like Vegas, simple racing heads up and fast, inexpensive to get in, usally around $10-15 not $200 like at the National events and done in one day. Burn outs have always been the biggest joke and useless. Goodyear just loves you burning up those tires, laughs all the way to the bank.

I'd rather watch one PS car run than a hundred SO cars run. The new tattoo, trash talking, vape piping,drag scene looks like the trailer park to me.

The entire collective knowledge of SO couldn't qualify a PS car if you gave them one that could.

What has always been the high water mark for drag racing tech is now off the radar,in favor of cartoon character antics.

Maybe so Darren (I agree w/ you somewhat), but street outlaws resembles the normal guy building a car in his garage to go fast. Not multi million dollar corporate sponsored tube cars that have no character whatsoever.

Next will reverse racing for the pro car's. Back up to the line stage and let her rip, more crashes than NASCAR......

Or maybe NHRA could put a big pile of dirt at the eighth mile, now that might be exciting.....back flips and big air!
Monster truck crashes+. Lol

I think NHRA has to do something to make things a bit more interesting. Go sit for a day in the stands at a National Event and then go to something like the night of fire at Norwalk. National events are all business. They do nothing to get the crowd fired up. Just all business and play the same 4 boring sponsor commercials during breaks. Other venues play music during breaks to help pump up the crowd, put on a few exhibitions, burnouts, wheelie contests etc. I know to the hardcore racer burnout contests or wheelie contests aren't that exciting, but it at least breaks up the boringness of the event. I don't think a burnout contest is just going to pack the stands, but I kind of get why they are trying.

And all along I thought going to watch the races was about...... Racing.

I guess I'm just a purist.

Hard to argue with any of that. I've always considered Pro Stock to be the top of the heap for naturally aspirated gasoline race cars. I guess I'm to old to start drinking the "boosted" kool-aid.

Although, the PDRA events are hard to beat from a spectator point of view.

I agree 100% but.. It's getting soooo slow for each pair to go down the track. I was down at the Dinwidde divisonal race and even the Stock and Super/Stock cars are getting that way. I personally want to see racing, not long smokey burn outs and pre-staging duels with 24 crew members all over the cars adjusting everything.

NHRA prostock isn't, nor ever was there to relate to the average guy building in his garage. That class was on an up swing in money. and tech advances from the first pass ever made in the class.

Prostock should be the thing that fascinates, inspires, and trickles tech down to the normal guy. The way it is now, people disregard it as generic racing. Nothing is further from the truth. What a PS car does is an almost unbelievable feat of technology. Turbos, nitrous, blowers, fuel, ect are fun to watch for sure, but nothing like a PS car in terms of tech. Anyone who has ever struggled for a hundredth with an NA combination should feel very small when seeing what 500 inches can actually do.

I have to disagree, at least for the first 10-15 years. There WERE local Pro Stock racers being run out of people's personal shops without big sponsor deals. That's why a National event really did need qualifiers to whittle the field down to the final ladder.

Sure, the guys with the factory connections and more advanced R&D programs were still on top of the heap, but there was a much bigger heap to have to climb. Morgan & Clark's Pro Stock Camaro ran out of Joe Clark's auto repair shop that was next door to one of my best friend's body shop back in the '80s. When they parted ways, Jim Morgan's son Matt went on to be a hitter in the Top Stock events, before GM threw a sh!tload of $$$ at the sanctioning body(s) to make it into a crate motor showcase.

Jim Yates was another LOCAL Pro Stock racer long before he finally got connected w/ Dick Maskin & Joe Gibbs w/ the McD's sponsorship. Jim got into Pro Stock after Dyno Don befriended him (Jim was bracket racing a fast 4-speed 460 BBF Maverick and Dyno thought that was a pretty cool deal). It was Dyno Don who told him to give up a lifetime of Fords and go GM if he wanted to get anywhere in Pro Stock 'cuz there wasn't enough Ford to go around if your last name wasn't Nicholson or Glidden.

Hell I'm so far behind I still miss the Pro Stock Trucks. Man I loved that class.

I understand what you're saying, but all the people that were winning then, won for years, and years, or were in the hunt. Practically every race the ets went down and the speed went up. I don't see that as any part of the ordinary guy in his garage. Most had machine shops, and or factory connections, ect. There were plenty of classes for the ordinary guy, that aren't there now.

I used to work with a guy who was a local P/S racer back in the '70's running out of his corner gas station. He was normally 3 to 4 tenths behind the big guys, but he had a lot of fun match racing.

You can still buy a used PS car for not much money, and go give it a shot.For sure, like before, most of us would be several tenths off the pace at best.

I still have a bucket list item of making a PS pass that at least lands me in the 16. Would only happen if there were only 16 in the field.

Elite has 2 Dodge Darts for sale....

Thats a cranky old rich guy comment, heck im amazed you can stand to live in the state of GA with that outlook.

Im not overly hyped about it either, but the overwhelming proof is one has been failing for a long time and one has been on the upswing for even longer.

Street racing has never been on the decline.

I don't think people understand or appreciate the parts and technology that has trickled down from Pro Stock over the years and what we would have to work with without the class having existed. Early PS guys had to use junkyard and/or OE parts like the rest of us. Cylinder heads and other engine parts, transmissions that you stick guys have available now, rear end stuff, chassis development. Does anyone think the money would have been spent to develop this stuff without Pro Stock?

I do, I have a W2/Early race block combo in my street racer, but no mastic for me.

So Larry Morgan is back in a Chevy renting an Elite engine. HOW ORIGINAL.

Sat, 02 Sep 2017, 19:54 PM

Pro Stock Qualifying, Session #3 Order




BROWNSBURG, Ind. - Order after 3 rounds of qualifying in Pro Stock at the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series, 63rd annual Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals:

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

1 2 Greg Anderson, Mooresville NC, '17 Camaro 6.561 210.11 210.31
2 15 Tanner Gray, Denver NC, '17 Camaro 6.566 209.88 209.88
3 6 Drew Skillman, Greenville IN, '17 Camaro 6.570 209.33 210.18
4 4 Bo Butner, Floyd Knobs IN, '17 Camaro 6.572 210.34 210.34
5 40 Alex Laughlin, Granbury TX, '15 Camaro 6.576 210.01 210.01
6 7 Chris McGaha, Odessa TX, '17 Camaro 6.577 209.95 209.95
7 31 Johnny Gray, Jupiter FL, '15 Camaro 6.596 210.11 210.11
8 666 Matt Hartford, Scottsdale AZ, '15 Camaro 6.598 209.62 209.62
9 8 Allen Johnson, Greeneville TN, '17 Dart 6.601 209.43 209.43
10 9 Erica Enders, Houston TX, '15 Camaro 6.604 209.10 209.10
11 3 Shane Gray, Denver NC, '15 Camaro 6.607 208.78 208.78
12 1 Jason Line, Mooresville NC, '17 Camaro 6.610 209.07 209.65
13 5 Vincent Nobile, Dix Hills NY, '15 Camaro 6.615 209.46 209.46
14 10 Jeg Coughlin, Delaware OH, '17 Camaro 6.625 207.88 209.20
15 52 Deric Kramer, Sterling CO, '14 Dart 6.628 207.21 207.21
16 150 Kenny Delco, E. Setauket NY, '16 Camaro 6.661 208.68 208.68

------------ Not Qualified ------------

17 29 Shane Tucker, Hope Island AU, '15 Camaro 6.668 206.89 206.89
18 128 John Gaydosh Jr, Baltimore MD, '14 Camaro 6.681 207.24 207.24
19 106 Alan Prusiensky, Rockaway NJ, '17 Dart 6.724 205.79 206.20
20 37 Larry Morgan, Newark OH, '15 Camaro 6.772 206.07 206.07

Alan Prusiensky has Jeggie Dodge from last year.

Larry Morgan has a McGaha engine..

I think he hurt you hat engine. The team I mentioned surrounded the car the next pass. Larry Morgan used to build his engines

The press release said Larry was using a MaGaha engine...I guess if that one goes boom...then whoever got one..LOL

I would be so proud leasing an engine to make the field. Lol. Yaaa right

Probably right about the old cranky part lol.

I can tell ya something else that's on the decline,,, Intelligence...

Prostock isn't popular because it's not understood, or appreciated by the "lets see a crash" enthusiasts. Any drag racer should be awe struck by the slowest one in the field.

How about driving one? How many racers are running low 6's in a 2300 pound car with almost zero downforce, that you only have one hand to steer, while the other is jamming gears? Not to mention the absolute precision timing of shifting required.

I get the fact that the class has gotten so tough, and expensive, only a few can compete. Like it or not, it's the absolute top of the crop.

I watched Pto Stock from the start because Mopars where running, I'll watch grass grow instead of watching a sea of Camaros run. With the stoke of the pen, NHRA wiped out Mopar, Twice!

It's one thing to be impressed by a pro stock car, which I am...very much so. It's another to actually care enough about the class to want to go watch it (or even really follow it) when it's full of multi million dollar operations that I can't relate to in the least.

x2. I couldn't explain it any better for myself.

How can you guys not relate to 8 cylinder, NA, manual with a clutch, rear wheel drive, 4 link cars?

The multi million dollar effort is WHY it's so cool to watch. The normal stuff we all do we can all see every friday night, at every local strip, or in our own garages.

Can you relate to Top Fuel?

I definitely agree they are the pinnacle of n/a technology, and it is incredibly impressive what they're getting out of relatively small displacement engines.

However, it is difficult to relate to them. They are behind in automotive technology, most of the modern performance cars are supercharged or turbocharged these days, and everything is moving to direct + port injection as well. (like the factory shootout and super stock cars). Even other expensive series like WEC/IMSA start with production cars and powertrains, then turn them into race cars.

They are also well outside of any normal human's budget. I'm not saying a super stocker is cheap, but I personally know 2 people who have had Cobra Jets, and were able to compete without an incredible cash outlay. I don't know anybody who can afford to race a P/S car.

I would rather watch the super stock and factory shootout cars, but also haven't been to an NHRA race in years, so my input likely doesn't matter at all in the grand scheme of things!

Nope. But I can to Super Stock and the faster Stockers.

I used to enjoy Pro Stock and would attend the annual Pro Stock Open at MDIR... it's been years, though. I can tell you the first time was 1977 and Roy Hill won it driving a Hemi Duster. At one time PS was my favorite class of all, but now it really doesn't do much for me.

Never gave a rat's a$$ about the nitro classes, but was friends with John Paris who used to run the Yankee Doodle Dandy alcohol funny car. I kept my Challenger at his shop for a couple of years before my wife & I bought our home in 1999.

SS is for sure a great class, stockers too, and I appreciate that everyone has their own take on all the classes. The thing I just can't see is PS being regarded as boring, or generic, and less interesting than than any other class, when in reality it's still the highest tech in the sport. The refinement required to be competitive in PS is staggering. I'll always feel the reason it is losing ground in popularity is that the complexity either isn't conveyed, or understood by the audience.

Reminds me of being a kid, and people being bored with the later apollo missions. Never once understood the loss of interest in something so overwhelmingly complicated, and fascinating.

Top fuel is for kids and people (usually not car guys) who just like to see it in person for the wow factor.
I like small tire street type cars. Pretty much anything else doesn't get much attention from me...save for a few exceptions.
The "normal stuff" at local tracks is much better IMO.

Maybe it's just me, but I like to keep up with racing that at least looks like it's something I could get into and compete.

After all these years I still enjoy Top Fuel and Funny cars IF both lanes are equal. Throw a bad lane into the mix and it turns into Nascar part II and I usually take a nap.

I love Pro Stock. I don't follow the drivers, teams or even the brands so much. What I love is the technology that makes these cars so fast. The first time they mentioned tire shake I thought of how that was once a discussion point for for fuel cars only.
But, there has been a word used in previous posts and that word is "relate". In the human psyche, relating, identifying and belonging is a powerful force and that is the predicament that faces NHRA today, not unlike NASCAR. Pro categories are "The Show". They are there to entertain, thus the long burnouts. I'm afraid those of us that appreciate the technology and actually know what's going down the track are too few.
Back in the day (I'm really old) the stands at the US Nationals would fill up for the Jr. Stockers. Why, it was that "relate" factor. I loved watching Don Garlits make his first sub-seven second pass. I loved watching Willie Bortz try to make a complete pass but they were still a bit of an oddity. Stockers and Super Stockers, that's what we had and drove if only in our minds. There can be great appreciation for the pro classes but only a very small percentage can relate. Relating is a powerful calling card.

I finally watched the Indy show last night.

I gotta say....... I was shocked at how empty the stands were.
I've only been there once, 2004 or 05 I think...... The stands were packed.
The pits were packed.

More scooters and golf carts roaring around the pits than I'd ever seen!!!!

I understand the "relateable" thing.
It's not all that interesting if you don't really understand what's going on.

That's how pretty much all ball type sports are for me. I don't know the rules, don't follow the teams or players....... So I don't really care who wins...... So I get bored watching it.

I go with the "relate idea" I watch MOPARS not other "cars" in any class, if the Mopar is done, so am I. Been that way since 1963. Doesn't matter who's driving, I'm rooting for the car! (Plymouth). I have one pro football team, baseball team and one college basketball team. If they're not in the championship game I don't watch it. Same with pro stock. Has nothing to do with technology (whitch I appreciate but it doesn't relate)

I wish there were something I could say to reignite the interest in PS. Losing it as a class would be the worst dumbing down of the sport I could imagine.

A quart of fuel and 200 mph... Don't know what else to say.

Pro Stock evolved from racing and winning on Sunday selling new muscle cars on Monday, correct Same thing as NASCAR, neither of those race cars look like or have any stock car parts on them now, do they
No easy solution to either dilemma
As far as paying spectator in the stands, the kids today are not car people like us

Cab, you're right about the dilemma and today's fans. My take on the evolution of Pro Stock is a tad different. Stockers escalated to Super Stockers and they escalated to Pro Stockers but I'm talking about the early Pro Stockers that still had a recognizable body. In my mind, today's Pro Stock along with all the "Pro" classes is the creation of some marketing people that don't know about cars and only care about the money. After all, we already had Pro Stock, Top Fuel Dragsters, Funny Cars etc. It was the creation of the "Pro" category by NHRA that segregated itself for the grass roots racers and turned it into what we see today.

Myself I grew up in the 60's and 70's and loved the factory wars as it was so cool. But most were using their brand of eng which made it even cool when a Mopar beat a Chevy or an Olds beat a Ford or whatever. You could tell what the car was and you wanted the car like what you had to win. Honestly on TV I never cared to watch Top Fuel and I hate to watch bikes and even Funny car now. And thats because I just dont like any class that I cant relate to what kind of car it is. Top fuel and bikes all look the same so I am bored with it and I guess its because I grew up loving muscle cars that all had their own look so you knew what you were watching. I am also one of the ones who never cared who was driving the car because I voted for the car I liked to win and not the driver. Heck if my own brother was driving a Camaro and someone else was in a Mopar I would want the Mopar to win because I like them best. I also would much rather watch Stock and Super Stock then the Pro classes. But my favorite is Nostalgia Super Stock because they are all 60's and 70's cars that I love. I am also not a big fan of the Stock and SS classes where they put V/8's in front wheel drive cars and I like the naturally aspirated cars the most. Nothing wrong with the other classes that others love I just happen to love what I grew up with and cant help it but thats what I love.
I am the kind of guy who at a car show will walk right buy a car thats all customized with alot of chrome under the hood or a muscle car with a modern eng just so I can look at the all original looking 68 Cuda 383 car or a Max Wedge era car that looks original or like a Super Stocker from back in the day kinda like how I did my car. I know I am really stuck with the things I love from the old days but I have never cared much for any racing class where all the cars or bikes look the same. But I also do respect them classes for the hard work the people put into them and I respect the people who do like them. Ron

Fixed

Not that there's anything wrong with that. It sure beats a tire melt down of any kind

Bring It... Grab a lane bitches !!!!!
http://www.matchracemadness.com/