Slow Progress?

5/7/04

few years ago, while contracting work for the not-for-profit organization on the West Coast, I had a conversation with someone way up (and I mean Way Up) on the decision-making chain. Given my station within the organization, this wasn’t something that happened with any sort of regularity, so it definitely captured my attention. The topic? Top Stock. I was (and still am) very much on the Top Stock bandwagon. Aside from the obligatory small talk, the fundamental question presented to me was this: “Is it really necessary to have such a category?” My response was pretty clear: “Do it as fast as you can.” Truthfully, “fast” isn’t in the vocabulary of most bureaucracies (and the Glendora bunch is no exception). I didn’t think much more of it.

Turn the pages forward to today, and guess what? Top Stock appears at the reborn Sportsnationals, and is now a regular fixture in NHRA Division One “National Opens”. The progress might be slow, but at least it’s progress. What’s intriguing to me though, is the rules structure used by Division One:

TOP STOCK

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One Class:

• A. NHRA A, B, C, class Stock Cars
• B. 8.25 lb. weight break + 170 lbs. for driver
• C. NO FUEL INJECTED CARS
• D. .500 Pro Tree will be utilized

Modifications:

• A. NHRA STOCK ELIMINATOR rules and guidelines will be enforced.
• B. The ONLY modification allowed will be the removal of the front passenger seat to make minimum weight.

Time trials/Eliminations:

• A. All cars must be entered in the open race to be eligible to race Top Stock.
• B. After the entrants complete their initial qualifying for the open race, they will be given a time run using the .500 Pro Tree.
• C. First round will be random pairing, a ladder will be generated for all other rounds.
• D. A turnaround time will be instituted based on time restraints of the track.
• E. Random fuel and weight checks will be instituted

Entry Fee:

• A. Initial entry fee will be $50.00

Horsepower:

• A. Horsepower is based on the NHRA factor.

THERE WILL BE NO HORSEPOWER ADJUSMENTS BASED ON TOP STOCK PERFORMANCE

From my point of view, someone got it right. The rules are extremely simple, and there are no extra gizmos or modifications needed to compete. Basically, if you have an A, B or C Stocker, then you can play. I can see this being rather attractive to both the racer and the spectator.

From the racer’s perspective, it’s a matter of juggling weight (and come on folks, we all know that more than a few “legal” Stockers do in fact carry quite a chunk of “changeable” ballast), and tuning the combination from there. If you have a legal B/Stocker, then the game is pretty much cut and dry. For example, a ’69 Camaro B/SA car with an iron head L78 (396-375 factored to 390 HP) weighs 3315 plus 170 pounds for the driver. In Top Stock trim, that same Camaro tips the scales at 3217.5 pounds, plus the driver. That’s 97.5 pounds that can be removed from the car. Pull the passenger seat (see the rules) and you’re almost there.

From the spectator position, what I imagine is plenty of cool heads-up racing – and all of it by equally cool vintage musclecars. They’re loud. They’re obnoxious (OK, for the politically correct: “colorful”). For the most part, they do healthy (and routinely smoky) burnouts. They yank the front wheels with regularity. Some even drag the back bumper. It’s Chevys versus

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Fords versus Mopars versus the rest. And most important, the first car to cross the finish line wins. What a concept! Giving credit where credit is due, my hat is off to the powers within Division One who put this entire thing together. Ya’ done good.

But a burning question remains: If this works in Division One, why can’t it work throughout NHRA-land? It’s not as if you need extra tech cops to get the job done – the cars and the “technical police” are already at the event. It’s not like there are any special rules to adopt – pulling a seat and running a race within a race on a .500 Pro Tree isn’t any major change. It’s not as if you need much more time – the whole thing is run off before the actual race, and within the above rules structure, there’s even a “turn around time” forewarning. And finally, it’s not as if you need to put up more money – with the above structure, a small purse is pretty much covered by the extra entry fee (although I see the Division One program now has a purse sponsor—Sunoco Race Fuels will award a $500 bonus to the winner of Top Stock at each of the five Northeast Division One Nationals Opens in 2004. (In addition, Sunoco will pay the season- long points champion an additional $500 bonus).

Likely the only thing lacking might be potential racer participation. Division One is, and always has been thick with “legal” door cars, and because of this, they can probably support such a program with ease. Can other NHRA Divisions pull off a similar program? I’d like to think so, but it definitely needs racer support. The trouble is there could very well be a chicken versus the egg mentality out there. NHRA won’t adopt a new program for fear of poor racer turnout. And the racers certainly can’t race, won’t build cars to race or drag out sleeping racecars if there’s no category to race in.

So what’s the answer? I think it’s straightforward. Take an itsy-bitsy chance, NHRA. Add Top Stock to your entire National Open program. If your “marketing department” beats the bushes, who knows? They might even find a series sponsor or two. And what have you got to lose? Some happy racers? Or some equally jovial spectators? The ball is in now your court Glendora.

wayne@racingnetsource.com

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