FEEDBACK FRIDAY – DALE ARMSTRONG INTERVIEW - THE BEST PLAN FOR SLOWING TOP FUEL DRAGSTERS AND FUNNY
This is a real problem
that all of drag racing is facing. Dale has been around a long time, but this
is just one mans opinion. I don't think any one person has the right answer,
but what NHRA has done (1000feet) is a good quick fix. Give them credit for a
change. I like your website but lately you have gotten to be too anti-NHRA.
Don't be like Fox news and say fair & unbalanced then report unfair &
unbalanced. I have followed drag racing since the 50's and seen it progress to
where it is today. We all need to work together and I hope you do your part. - Dick
Smith
FEEDBACK ARTICLE – DALE ARMSTRONG INTERVIEW - THE BEST PLAN FOR SLOWING TOP FUEL DRAGSTERS AND FUNNY CARS
This is a real problem
that all of drag racing is facing. Dale has been around a long time, but this
is just one mans opinion. I don't think any one person has the right answer,
but what NHRA has done (1000feet) is a good quick fix. Give them credit for a
change. I like your website but lately you have gotten to be too anti-NHRA.
Don't be like Fox news and say fair & unbalanced then report unfair &
unbalanced. I have followed drag racing since the 50's and seen it progress to
where it is today. We all need to work together and I hope you do your part. - Dick
Smith
Dick,
We read your e-mail with interest, but would like to comment on your charge
that we've become too anti-NHRA.
On the contrary, we continue to publish very positive stories about their
national events, and provide the only real source for hard news on the Internet
on the sport.
I know you're not naive enough to believe that what comes out of National
Dragster or NHRA.com is "real" news but is, rather slanted to place
NHRA in the best light possible. There's nothing wrong with that, as that's the
responsibility of those outlets. They are, quite obviously,
"propaganda" arms of the NHRA, and please, I do not mean that in a
negative manner. It's the just the reality of things, and again, there's
nothing wrong with that.
We have not written a single negative word about NHRA shortening the race
distance to 1,000 feet because we also believe that's the right thing to do
until a permanent solution to slowing the cars down can be found and
instituted.
Our piece with Armstrong is, as you said, only the opinion of one man (although
it's hard to top his intelligence in this matter, but that's for others to
decide, not us).
If we appear to be anti-NHRA it's only because we're the only ones reporting
the stories that are impacting our sport, and these are the stories that need
to be told, from the Tony Pedregon gate incident on down to some other things
we're working on now.
We, like you, want NHRA drag racing to grow and be successful, but in order to
do that the things that are "wrong" need to be corrected, and unless
and until the negatives are exposed to the light of day, there'll be no
movement forward. - Editor
I agree with the concept
of slowing the fuel cars down a little, but would like to bring up some questions
about Dale's program. Not all teams have the same blowers; some are much better
than others. Let's say we put my blower on the dyno and it puts out X amount of
C.F.M. @ 8000 engine RPM at 40% overdrive. Now we put Team XYZ's blower on the
same dyno and we find you have to overdrive it 48% to put out the same C.F.M.
What now? Case in point; big difference from one team's blower to the next. The
same holds true with cylinder heads and the amount of air that they flow.
Dale's program would be great if all teams had exactly the same key parts, but
they don't. - Lee Beard
You are right about double
A Dale being one of the smartest guys arount. One of the neatest cars he has
was the A/FD with stack injector while he was running Pro Comp. - Jim Croyle
The 1000 foot change is a
band aid on a severed arm and personally I would not go watch 1000 foot drag
racing unless they lower ticket prices by 25% or more.
We all know they wouldn't do something so honest in lowering prices of tickets so
I won't go on about being honest and having integrity in the product you offer.
Slow the engines down or extend the tracks or both. If the track cannot be
extended run those events by slowing the cars down. Give the short track owners
1 year to comply and if it just isn't possible due not having the land to do so
find a different venue and then last but not least make that track a 1000 foot
track and lower the price of admission by 25% or more. The world always has a
knee jerk reaction when something bad happens and the NHRA is no
exception.
They have known for years of the potential problems and the "if it ain't
broken don't fix it" mentality doesn't cut it anymore, especially when it
comes to safety. They are so afraid of
negative publicity yet do nothing to get positive publicity except for the BS
filled heartwarming crap you see which is an insult to every fan's
intelligence. It is time to be leaders,
not followers and certainly not just going down the middle of the road with
blinders on. - Ric Wilson
If NHRA doesn't listen to
Dale regardless of what the rest of the racers think, they are dumber than I
think they are. The man is a
genius! Totally reasonable, cheat-proof
approach to an on-going problem. - Pat Green
In my opinion, Dale
Armstrong is like E.F. Hutton...when he talks, people listen. And for those
that don't, they will if they are serious about the necessity of slowing these
nitro powered time bombs down.
His suggestions are on the
money...no pun intended. Use a different piston to lower the compression
ratio...it's simple on it's face, and doesn't require a major reconfiguration
of the cars, tires, parachutes or braking system. Use a different pulley to
lower the blower speed...again, very simple on it's face, and doesn't require a
major reconfiguration of the cars, tires, parachutes or braking system.
Implement these two rules,
and all points that the NHRA made after Scott Kalitta's tragic crash have been
addressed, with the exception of the length of the shutdown area at each venue.
The fact of the matter
however, is that if the cars are going 20-40mph slower at the stripe, the
problem would, to a degree correct itself naturally. This would also go a long
way to making the speeds slow enough that tires would also be less of a
concern. The difficult part of his ideas are not the implementation, but the
enforcement. In this writer's opinion, after qualifying, test each of the
sixteen cars for compliance. If they are found to be in violation, devise some
sort of uniformally enforcable penalty that if they were to be hit with it
would then create pressure from their sponsors to comply or loose their
sponsorship program. Second time offenders, should be punished in a much more
harsh manner, and habitual offenders should be treated like Jerry Eckman, or
Darrell Alderman … Suspensions … Temporary or permanent. Much money can be
saved here, but more important, this could very well be the solution that would
have saved Scott Kalitta's life. - Larry Irwin
First of all, I have a
great deal of respect for Dale's arguments, as to what to do to slow these cars
down. He certainly supports his views with good technical support. I'm not in the trenches deep enough to really
profess the right answer. That being
said, I think I can add some food for thought. I've watched Top Fuel and Funny
Car racing for just about 50 years and something that baffles me today is (and
I want you to think about it) We try to burn all the fuel we can and create
this "container" we call an "Engine" to make all this
"HEAT" or
Power, then we send it to
the clutch and tell it to just use what we can put to the track......It says
(the clutch), I can do that, but you know all that Heat/energy you built in
that bomb in front me we'll I'm going to have to throw a lot of it(heat)
away. I'm going to give it back to you
the way it started,. HEAT, lots of heat...by the way I'll only be able to do
this once. then I will be used up...But you can put in another new one I guess?
While we’re minding the clutch, We need to rebuild or reload that Bomb, that’s
up front, so we can do it again. What are we doing going to a race track,
that's at 120 degrees, with 90% in the tank, first of all, 90% is harder to
light than 85% Take a little clutch out of it? You've changed the load on the
engine and your going
The envelope is very
narrow. We don't need any more power we need to refine the way we put the power
to the track. Anyway, I think sometimes we can't "see the forest for the
trees" Dale's remarks are very qualified.
Any one who loves this sport, makes a living from it and can bring something,
credible, to the table (crewchiefs) or crew should speak up. As Bernstein, said
"it's not the speed that's dangerous, it's the BOMB you have to build to
reach that speed" No I don't
have the answer either But maybe it's time we all need to start looking. - Mike
Thermos
Great interview and great
thinking from Dale. I would far rather see the lower compression and blower
overdrive implemented then going to 1000 ft tracks, I have watched the IHRA 1/8
mile races and they tear stuff up there too. As Dale says the tuners will just
shorten the fuse to match the distance. The trick is to get our sanctioning
bodies to listen and then take action. - Fred Farndon
As a former T/F and F/C
crew chief (for Jerry Ruth in the seventies) and a wrench for Lee Beard (in the
early eighties), I can tell you that Dale Armstrong's solution is right on the
money. Supercharged fuel motors love
fuel -- you take that away and they just burn up. Limiting the compression ration and blower
boost (through the overdrive) is the most simple and cost-effective method to
slow these cars down. Very easy to
police (hey, NHRA tech inspectors already check the compression on Stock Eliminator
cars) and the beneficial side effects are many -- less damaged parts, longer
component life, fewer and less severe engine explosions, fewer fireballs (like
Scott Kalitta's), lower operating costs, safer racing, closer side-by-side
racing, better show for the fans and TV, and on and on and on. The bottom line: huge upside with NO downside. This is so a no-brainer. Now, I grew up in and around drag
racing.
Made my first runs down an NHRA sanctioned track in the late sixties. I raced Modified Eliminator in the early
seventies. Was an NHRA tech inspector
with the late John Zendejas at various tracks in SoCal. Got into wrenching on fuel cars and then
worked in the industry for nearly 30 years.
I've known and been friends with many NHRA officials over the years and
always supported and defended the NHRA when other racers around me were
badmouthing the organization.
But I have little respect for the NHRA right now. I've known Graham Light since the
mid-seventies. All you fuel car racers out there need to NOT wait on the NHRA
to impose a rule, because there is nobody there right now that has the smarts
or the balls to take the proper action.
You've got your own organization -- PRO -- so now is the time to take
the initiative to improve the safety of the sport for everyone involved and
adopt Dale Armstrong's plan. Oh yeah, you
might also want to tell the NHRA that you won't race at tracks that have
concrete retaining walls at the end of the shut-off area. Just a thought. - Art Dodge
I felt the response that
NHRA gave about not having anyone who knows how to check up on what Armstrong
is proposing pretty much speaks for the state the organization has reached.
It truly is time to utilize the ideas, input and knowledge from people who were
the innovators and big names during the sport's heyday rather than an army of corporate
yes-people and bean counters.
Dale Armstrong's idea;
albeit only one opinion out of what would likely be many given the opportunity,
seems to make sense and I believe at this point it is time for the folks at the
top to utilize some rational input in the name of survival rather than constantly
sticking their heads in the sand until it blows over, hoping people will forget
the most recent issue.
The only thing people will forget after these kinds of actions is the sport itself,
and that would be a great shame. - Matt Arbuckle
Great idea, policing may
be a little problem, but make the penalty so great no one will risk the
chance. Dave Settles, wonderful
choice. I've know Dave for 35 years and
he hasn't changed a bit in all those years. (I can think of a few that would be
nice) Never lies, never bends the truth
an inch. Be a great choice and could
easily imagine he would come up with an easy way to check compression. - Mike Dakin
Very simple, cut down the
size of the Rear Wing on the T/F. Cut down the size of the spoiler on the F/C.
If you can't hook-up you have to kill the power. Very easy to police, all the
tech guy needs is a tape measure. Dale A. is very smart, but motor mods would
be a nightmare to verify. - Sam Keith
It is time now that NHRA
and IHRA start conversing with people like Dale Armstrong, Ken Veney and other
very successful people like Dick Lahaie. Dale's interview makes a hell of a lot
of sense and absolutely no true fan will give a rat's ass if the nitro cars
slow done to 290 range and become less of oil spewing derricks. Nothing bores
me more then watching 4 qualifying passes in a row with stoppage for oil downs.
I would rather sit at home and watch the grass grow. Armstrong is totally right
on when he says the crew chiefs will just shorten the wick so they start
kicking the rods and burning the things up at 800 feet. Let's put a frigging end
to the unnecessary risks and slow the cars done making it easier on Goodyear to
make a safer tire. I think reducing the fuel tank size might also be instituted
along with the compression ratio and blower drive rule to help stop these guys
from getting these rules because they need fuel to run. This article proves
again that Dale is a genius and why he is a member of the Canadian Motorsport
Hall of Fame. - Dennis Smith
I think it is an excellent
idea. Easy to administer and very cost effective. But sadly, until you have a
Bill France type leader nothing will get done. NHRA should run the association
by dictating the rules, not by the racers opinions when something as serious as
a drivers well being is at risk. - Bill Webb
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