It’s no secret, numbers are down in the Pro Stock. At almost every race, there hasn’t been a full field of 16 racers. There were 14 Pro Stock cars at the Mile-High Nationals.

There have been a lot of people with different opinions on how to improve the health of the class. One rumor circulating is NHRA is asking about including mountain motor Pro Stock cars at some point in the future, possibly weighing 2,700 pounds. The Pro Stock cars now weigh 2,350 pounds.

Greg Anderson, a four-time NHRA Pro Stock world champion (2003-2005, 2010) addressed the rumor. Anderson finished second in the points last season. He pilots the Summit Racing Equipment Chevy for Ken Black Racing.

“I heard people talking and I guess rumors start to spread around the pits,” Anderson said. “I hadn’t got that officially yet, it’s interesting. I don’t know about 2,700 pounds they make a whole lot more power than 250 pounds would take up for. It would have to be a little more than that I guess if they did try something like that. I can’t sit here and say I’m against it. We absolutely need cars, so maybe it’s something we ought to look at and we just have to figure out what the right handicap is but 250 pounds wouldn’t quite do her. Those babies run like 6.20s and we run 6.60s, so 250 pounds wouldn’t cover that, but I’m sure we could figure out how to handicap it and make it interesting. I’m not against the concept. It might (work). Obviously, it would take a little while to get it ironed out where you had an even playing field and it would be a constant checks and balance deal to keep it in check. I guess I would consider it.”

Bo Butner, Anderson’s Summit Racing teammate, also wasn’t opposed to NHRA making changes to the class. Butner came to Denver atop the points standings.

“I’ve heard the rumor (about mountain motor Pro Stock cars weighing 2,700 pounds),” Butner said. “Whatever they need to do to keep the class going because there are some teams out here that do this for a living and they have a lot of employees. Whatever it is the team I’m with will adapt and I think we will end up dominating. So, I’m happy with whatever they do. I think they are going to have to really study it, and it’s going to be tough. Hopefully, they will think and do it in 2019 and maybe try some runs through the year. If they let us know in a month, then we have four months to change the world again. You can’t do it. I do believe it will bring more cars in because those guys want somewhere to race. I don’t know if you would get cars going 24 races. You might have four or five of those guys who will chase it. It would be fun and if that becomes a true statement, I’m all for ordering a big motor. Whatever they can do to keep NHRA alive, I’m for.”

Drew Skillman, who grabbed the provisional No. 1 qualifying spot Friday at the Mile-High Nationals with a 6.925-second time in his Ray Skillman Chevy Camaro, offered his thoughts about the possible changes to his class.

“You might as well put us in Pro Mod,” Skillman said. “What’s the difference. I don’t know it is their (NHRA’s) decision and we play in their ballcourt. If you want to play ball, you have to come to their court. I don’t think it’s a combination issue. I think it is amount of money it cost to race issue. To me cutting races is the only way you save money, less races less money spent. I think you get a lot of those guys who run eight or nine races will go to 10 to 18 races. They will be likely to go to more. They will stretch things a little further. They should cut races, or go to production cars. The production cars are awesome. You can make those things run in the 6s. They would have to lighten them up, but they could run something like that. I would like to see them cut some races or go to production, but it’s tough there are a lot of guys who have a lot of money invested in engine shops and I get it from their aspect because they don’t want it (Pro Stock) to go away. I just have a car and if I owned an engine shop, I’m sure I would have a different feeling. They need to think this thing through before they make a decision.”

Back in 2015 at the Mile-High Nationals, NHRA announced it was making wholesale changes to Pro Stock class.

On Jan. 1, 2016, NHRA required all Pro Stock teams to equip their cars with electronically-controlled throttle body fuel injection systems, making engines more relevant from a technology standpoint. In order to reduce and control costs for the race teams, an NHRA-controlled 10,500 Rev Limiter will be added to the fuel injection systems.