WORLD STREET NATS MINIMUM WEIGHTS

The World Street Nationals will be held at Orlando (FL) Speed World on October 15-17. Lest there be any confusion about the weight minimums, here's the latest from the track.

World Street Nationals Super Pro Street weight minimums. Weights listed are with clutch. Big block blower or turbo 2900; big block nitrous -injected 2800; small block with turbo or screw-type supercharger 2800; small block with roots or centrifugal supercharger 2700; big block naturally aspirated 2500; small block nitrous 2400. Deduct 250 lbs. for converter, but no combination may run at less than 2400 lbs. Questions? Call 407-568-2717. [10-1-2004]

NO WEIGHT PENALTY FOR LATE MODEL PRO MODS IN IHRA

The rumor mill has been working overtime concerning the proposed weight rules changes for AMS Pro Mods and IHRA Pro Mods. DRO has addressed the issue concerning the AMS/NHRA series and after getting many calls from racers, sponsors and chassis builders about a supposed rule change at

IHRA that would penalize not only "Pro Stock" style Pro Mods but also allow weight to be removed from pre-1970 body styles. The situation and the rumor mill is so completely out of control that racers have been literally ordering, changing and canceling cars on a daily basis.

With that in mind, DRO Editor Jeff Burk called IHRA Racing Director Skooter Peaco and asked him directly if IHRA had any plans to add weight to any body style and specifically to "late model" bodies. Peaco's answer was, "No."

He went on to say that he and his management team had just concluded a study on the Pro Mod class to determine what kind of mix the class had between pre-1970 body styles and current body styles. Their research showed that in 2004 eleven different body styles and brands had competed in IHRA Pro Mod and, counting the '63 'Vette cars, that there were more pre-1970 body styles in Pro Mod than current year body styles.

"We would like to have more pre-Seventy bodied cars in the class," Peaco said, "so we might look into having a program that would reward racers that win with a pre-Seventies body style."

He said that IHRA currently in't looking at changing the rules and that they wouldn't be influenced by what other sanctioning bodies and circuits did. "We are going to do our own thing," Peaco stated.

Pro Mod racers such as the Barklage family, Mike Castellana, Jim Oddy, Von Smith, Richie Stevens and others who either already race cars with current body styles or have just built cars with current bodies will certainly be relieved to know that. [10-1-2004]