BIG'S 2002 TOUR ON HOLD

The Agent talked to Don Garlits at the PRI show in December and asked about his rumored return to the NHRA tour in 2002. "Big" said he planned to run maybe three or four NHRA events and that those races would probably include Gainesville, Englishtown, the U.S. Nationals at Indy and maybe a couple of others if he had the funding to do it. He also told the Agent that he would be driving his own "mono-strut" car.

"I wanted to run it this year (2001) but the NHRA tech department had a few items about the strut that they wanted me to fix and update," Garlits explained. "They were mainly worried about the structural integrity and strength of the strut but I made some changes and updates and NHRA has said the car would now be fine to run."

Garlits went on to say that he still thought the mono-strut design was superior to the traditional wing-mounted devices and that it would make his car handle better and run straighter, and was possibly safer than the current method used to attach wings because the mono-strut was much less susceptible to being broken by debris. He pointed out that when one strut of a twin-strut mounted wing is broken it allows the wing to tilt down one direction or another, which can drive the car to veer right or left or cause all of the downforce to be suddenly lost.

His reasoning makes sense and, besides, who among us is going to argue with the man responsible for most of the innovations that made Top Fuel cars what they are today? Unfortunately, we may not see Garlits at the wheel in the coming season as NHRA decided that Garlit's (among others) practice of running fuel through the frame rails would not be allowed even though Swamp Rat XXXIV had passed NHRA tech in the past with the fuel lines as they are. A complete interview with Garlits on the subject is available on www.nitrofan.com.

NHRA PRO MOD PROGRAM ON TRACK

Agent 1320 has learned that the NHRA Pro Mod program for 2002 in on track and on schedule. As previously printed here, look for a 10-11 race schedule with added races in Texas and California. The Agent's phone has been ringing off the hook with calls from frantic Pro Mod racers wanting to know one thing above all others: "What about the rules? I've got to order parts! I don't know what to do."

The Agent can't guarantee this information, but his most reliable operatives have told him that the rules for the Pro Mods will probably be close to what they were in 2001 with a possible weight reduction from the 2700 lbs that NHRA rules mandated last year to 2600 or 2650 lbs. Our best information indicates that gear ratios and blower overdrive will stay the same.

The Agent could get no information about intake valve specs. Considering that Bob Rieger's '57 Chevy (which is powered by a Brad Anderson blown-hemi using 2.400 intake valves) went4.04 in the eighth and 6.25 in the quarter, even though the weather was nearly perfect for blown cars with temps in the low 70's and corrected altitude near sea-level, the Agent figures it will be tough to get NHRA tech to give the blown racers any more intake valve area.

The only other rules that could be changed would be in the area of safety since NHRA has a reputation of being very thorough in the safety area. The best information the Agent has is that everything should be worked out in a week to ten days.

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