DRAG ILLUSTRATED ROUNDTABLE a lot of other classes have seen huge changes in performance and technology . Is there something that should be done to kind of freshen it up and pick up performance , or is the class in a good spot as far as that goes ?
Pluchino : I wouldn ’ t touch anything . If we start changing bore space rules , cubic inch rules , things like that , all our stuff is junk . We can sell it for pennies on the dollar . Then we all have to go out and build new stuff just so we can pick up a couple hundredths and show guys that we can go 3.95 or 3.94 . I think we work with what we have . I think that ’ s the best thing for the class .
At the end of the day , we need more cars and competitive , side-by-side racing . We want to keep it somewhat affordable pro racing – the word “ somewhat ” is big there . We don ’ t need to add additional expenses to a class we ’ re trying to increase participation in .
Carr : It ’ s in a good spot , but there ’ s always room for improvement with parts availability and some different combinations . Everybody needs to remember it is racing gasoline , no superchargers , no nitrous , none of that stuff . It takes a lot of power just to move up a tenth – a lot of power . These motors , they ’ re not at their max by any means , but it isn ’ t like you can find 200 horsepower in a year . It ’ s not going to happen . It ’ s a lot like 500-inch [ Pro Stock ] – you make small gains , 5-10 horsepower , and it takes a lot of time and effort just to get to that . I think we ’ re in a good place . I think there ’ s definitely room for improvement on a few pieces , but a lot of guys don ’ t like change either . You have to be careful what you wish for .
Kirk : I think the class is in a good spot as far as that goes . We ’ ve struggled to get eight cars . Now we ’ re starting to see 10 or 11 . We ’ re inching back up . We have Dad ’ s car together now . You start getting a car here and a car there , you ’ re back up . If you change something big – the talk of a 5.3 bore space was the talk for a while – if you do that , it ’ s just going to kill everybody that doesn ’ t have the funding to make those changes . To keep the class where it ’ s at and maybe get some of the cars back out , it ’ s fine where it ’ s at .
Montecalvo : Right now , I think the class is in a pretty good spot . I don ’ t think these mountain motors are tapped out yet . You have a couple new people working on them from what I understand , and it will be interesting to see what they can do with them . I think in the past , Jon Kaase and Sonny have done a good job of keeping the class within reason as far as expense goes . It ’ s kind of a double-edged sword . We want to go faster , obviously , but we also want to keep this class affordable .
My personal opinion , I think there ’ s more in the car than there is in the engines . We just have to learn how to run these cars a little bit differently than how we ’ ve been running them .
Powers : I think the door needs to be open for other fuel injection options . We ’ re a fuel injected car . There ’ s only a couple of us . I think that ’ s the future , to go that way , being that it ’ s not a big difference in expense . I think that would draw in other guys , if you could open the door to other fuel injections , not just like the Big Stuff like we run . Holley and some of the other companies , I think they should allow them to come in .
The problem I think everyone complains about is you can ’ t really police it , but we ’ ve proven that the fuel injection ’ s no better than a carburetor , it ’ s just you always have a good set of carburetors on the car . I think that opens the door for newer guys to get on board because you can go buy it off the shelf and you have the same top end as we have instantly , and you don ’ t have to mess around with the carburetor stuff .
I don ’ t think there ’ s much else you can do to the cars . You can lighten them up more and tell people you ’ re going to lower the weight down to 2,350 . The problem is we can ’ t get there . It ’ s just impossible . So the weight is not going to help the class .
I wouldn ’ t necessarily say to go to a bigger cubic inch . I think that would be the wrong thing to do . Because of the older guys you still have in here , they ’ re not going to go out and build 5.3 bore space motors . I think that would be a bad move for the class . DI
CHRIS POWERS IS FAIRLY NEW TO MMPS RACING COMPARED TO THE
VETERANS HE ’ S RACING AGAINST , BUT WITH CHUCK SAMUEL CALLING THE SHOTS ON HIS SONNY ’ S-POWERED
CAMARO , HE ’ S AS MUCH OF A THREAT AS ANY OF THE SEASONED TEAMS .
88 | Drag Illustrated | DragIllustrated . com Issue 169