The No Shake Zone: Last blown car out, turn out the lights

Discussion in 'Pit Buzz' started by Will Hanna, Aug 13, 2004.

  1. Will Hanna

    Will Hanna We put the 'inside' in Top Alcohol
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    Look on the main site, The No Shake Zone is back!

    post your comments here!
     
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  2. gpking

    gpking Super Comp

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    Nhra has closed another chapter.i think your correct Will.its a sad day in Gotham. :(
     
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  3. ch3no2

    ch3no2 New Member

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    Will, I certainly here what you are saying but I think it's a little exagerated. For a while in Pro stock everyone was .06 or.07 away from Anderson. They didn't just give up they worked hard and have almost caught up. I see the time slips and I do believe the a-fuel cars are faster right now, but it's not some huge gap that can't be bridged. If you think blown cars can't be competitive I think you are wrong. I would say that being #3 in the nation, (Wells), is very competitive. However, I understand the frustration. If you run a career best .29 in a blown car you can still get beat and that is very discouraging. My point is that I think parity is very close right now. It's not all the way there yet, but it's close. It's never going to be perfect. I don't think this is the end for the blown combination. Although, I would feel more confident if I was smelling the nitro fumes. Good luck to you guys with the new combo. I think you'll have a lot of fun.
     
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  4. Kosmo

    Kosmo tad

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    you have the fastest afuel car in the country in div. 2 and beat it with a blown car more than once.gunderson is the best you could ask for as a competitor, a top notch team and driver. He can still be beat with a blown car. you just have to be on your game and have someone who knows how to tune the car. ;)
     
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  5. tjenna

    tjenna Top Alcohol

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    Looking for a rule change myself.

    The fuel cars need to be slowed down to remain safe at Division events.
     
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  6. Michael Gunderson

    Michael Gunderson New Member

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    Amen Kosmo, you guys still geter done.
     
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  7. nitrohawk

    nitrohawk New Member

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    Will,
    I think by your "No Shake Zone" comments you have if anything placed the last nail in the coffin of any hope the BAD owners might have. You know that I have been following this debate for some time and I am not unbiased on this issue. However I think the class is better off with the two different types of cars. It does seem that the nitro cars have figured out how to run in the hot weather better but the blown cars are still more consistant. The BAD's should have a slight reaction time advantage because of the difference in the centrifical and pedal clutch as well as the rpm difference on the starting line.
    This said the real difference is not that great and the injected cars fought inconsistant and sub par performance for years. If I am not mistaken the et record has not been obliterated. It was held by BAD's in the 20's only a couple of years ago. Santo's was running in the 20's four years ago. What has happened to the rules since to slow the BAD's down?
    One thing that will happen in the future is that due to the quality of the teams switching to fuel
    and the tuneing information generated it will only help the nitro cars.
    Good luck with the new car and I hope you do well with it and your new home.
     
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  8. Will Hanna

    Will Hanna We put the 'inside' in Top Alcohol
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    ch3no2:

    what class have you been watching that has parity? i know its not tad you're talking about. i've lost count of the number of .20's ran by a/fuelers, just in the past couple weeks, much less this year. ZERO blown .20's. Wells has done well this year as have some of the other blown teams. Here's the formula to success with a blown car: run the best you can and hope for some breaks. As far as Wells being close, close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades... and we ain't playin either one. 5.25 to 5.33 isn't very close at the stripe. You can't compare this to Pro Stock and Anderson. They have the same tools and opportunity to bridge the gap.

    Cosmo:
    just because guy has beat gunderson twice this year doesn't really mean anything. you beat his 8.83 in montgomery. then you beat his 5.67 in valdosta. not to take anything away from gunderson, but he has a kick ass national event tune-up, but on divisionals, he's nowhere near as strong as the front runners of the a/fuel class like meyer, myers, shields, gallant, etc. yall's 5.37 in montgomery and the 5.43 in bristol were awesome runs, but wouldn't have been much against meyer's 5.29 in scribner in the same type conditions.

    nitrohawk:
    I didn't drive the last nail in the coffin for the blown cars. That was done by no real rules changes to install parity. Everyone knows the weight was a joke. Took the nitro guys about a race or two to figure it out and look at them now. Seems like a few people predicted that last year, but I'm not one to say I told you so.

    I do agree with you on some things. I think the class is better off with two classes. I think the blown cars are more consistent: consitently slower. As far as RT advantage, that argument went away along time ago. If your car don't react now, you got a tune up problem or a driver problem. Look at Snow's rt's in BR, look at Lucas, Bartone last year, Gunderson, etc. If you got much better than some of their lights you'd be red. As far as blown 20's. Santos ran the first 5.29 in late 2001 in mineshaft conditions, Shields ran the .26 in mineshaft conditions (-800 ft). The .20's Thacker and Wells ran last year were in mineshafts. So what has happened, you only get so many mineshafts in a year. The A/Fuelers have struggled in some of these conditions because they don't know what to do with the power. As a matter of fact Wells ran .20's all the way to the finals last year in Chicago, then got loaded up by Lucas' .23.

    Thanks for the well wishes and we're looking forward to being able to fight with two hands in Indy.
     
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  9. Dan Lynch

    Dan Lynch Member

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    Will,

    Don't think I could have stated that any better...
    Nice job...

    Kick some Afuel butt in Indy... wait a second... That doesn't make sense anymore... Or does it???

    Good luck with the new ride...
    Dan

    [ August 17, 2004, 02:00 PM: Message edited by: Dan Lynch ]
     
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  10. The Zone

    The Zone Member

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    So far this year there have been 7 BAD passes quicker than 5.35. (three different drivers and no 5.20 passes. Federlin, Hentges, Wells(5)).
    No runs quicker than 5.35 were run at divisionals.
    There have been 73 passes by A/Fuelers quicker than 5.35. 38 of those runs were in the 5.20's by nine different drivers.
    A total of 12 A/Fuel drivers have been quicker than 5.35.
    24 of the 5.35 or better runs by the A/Fuelers were run at Divisionals by the way.
    That tells the story of ET parity this year.
    As far as consistancy in 2004, the stats also prove that the extra weight or more data or a combination of both have given the A/Fuelers that have run quicker than 5.35 more consistancy than ever before and possibly more than the BAD's as well.

    Len and the rest of the rules makers, I challenge you to actually talk to the 75 BAD's drivers out there and they will say let us spend some of our money on new technology. Don't hamper the A/Fuelers any more, give us what we need to run at their level.

    Dean Murdoch, SpeedZone Magazine

    [ August 18, 2004, 12:26 AM: Message edited by: The Zone ]
     
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  11. nitrohawk

    nitrohawk New Member

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    Dean,
    Makes sense to me. However NHRA's priorities are not the same as racers. They would probably like to slow the whole class down! They will be looking at other things like the oil downs by BAD's and marginal tracks. We are blessed here in div IV with some pretty good tracks but as I understand it there are some div. tracks that are very marginal. This could be rectified by only running the tracks that can safely handle the speeds.
     
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  12. Mr Scary

    Mr Scary New Member

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    NHRA will have to make BIG changes if the Blown cars are to survive! They can start with the Gizmo, all these weight rules on the A-Fuel cars haven't done shit! They may also consider dropping their weight to 4.2 lb. per cube.
     
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  13. BOBBY MARTINDALE

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    HI,I SAW AN APPLE OUT RUN AN ORANGE THE OTHER DAY. BUT THE APPLE WAS IN A $200K LIMO,WHILE THE ORANGE WAS PUSHING A $10 WAGON. HOW CAN NHRA COMPARE THE TWO.LOOK,IHRA PUTS NITRO WITH NITRO.THEY KNOW THE DIFFIRENT BETWEEN THE TWO.THE ONLY TIME NITRO AND ALCOHOL GO TOGETHER IS IN THE TANK.THANKS.MY2CENTS GREAT SITE WILL
     
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  14. BOBBY MARTINDALE

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    OH,I FORGOT.THIS IS A (pro)-SPORTSMAN class,RIGHT.IT CAN'T BE ABOUT MONEY BECAUSE WE ALL HAVE PLENTY. THE ONE WITH THE MOST PARTS (marble) WIN.
     
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  15. BOBBY MARTINDALE

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    OH,I FORGOT.THIS IS A (pro)-SPORTSMAN class,RIGHT.IT CAN'T BE ABOUT MONEY BECAUSE WE ALL HAVE PLENTY. THE ONE WITH THE MOST PARTS left (marbles),WINS.
     
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  16. ch3no2

    ch3no2 New Member

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    I guess you can't make people see what they don't want to see. I said all along that the a-fuelers are faster right now, but you guys are acting like it's a half second difference. I don't want to offend anyone because I have much respect for all the guys who spend their hard earned cash to go fast. I would support a SMALL change to allow the blown cars to step up a few tenths but nothing more. It's not death to the blown cars yet.
     
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  17. The Zone

    The Zone Member

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    ch3no2, what is a small change that will pick up a BAD by a couple tenths. You are absolutely dreaming if you think there is a small chage that will change the performance by 2/10s. THe gizmo is not a small change but one that will improve the class by 4-9/100ths. That is the only one I know of that most I talk to are in favor of.

    Dean
     
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  18. Randy G.

    Randy G. Top Alcohol

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    Someone with a calculator please tell us the margin of victory at 270 miles per hour (assuming exact same reaction times) between a 5.25 and a 5.35. I'm betting it's about 25-30 feet? Yea, I'd have fun loosing by that much every weekend. After all. It's about the noise and excitement plus the big money you make doing it...not whether you win or loose.

    Yea, right.
     
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  19. Dan Lynch

    Dan Lynch Member

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    Randy,


    I enjoy your writing style. You always seem to put things in perspective with very few words...

    Dan
     
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  20. Rapid Transit

    Rapid Transit New Member

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    LMAO Randy, that was great.
     
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