Where are the MOPAR's in NASCAR

64ragtop said
It seems that no matter how cynical I get, I JUST CAN'T KEEP UP!!

Like an earlier post said, I'd like to see real stock cars, too. Gut the interiors, add safety equipment, run stock drivetrains, NO GROUND EFFECTS or obvious aerodynamics! Make the cars on the track look like the ones on the street. The competition would be just as tough, maybe tougher, 50 mph slower and the wrecks wouldn't be as deadly. NASCAR factored the 426 hemi out and banned the wing cars, but now it's anything goes. For that matter lets make it WORLD ASCAR and let the furriners in. Just make the cars look like ones you and I could buy.

ATB

BC

Ragtop,

You will never see "real cars" in NASCAR or drag racing because the OEM's are trying to push their grocery getters. How many 2 dr Impalas, Fusions , or Chargers have you seen? That and the fact they are all uni-body cars that fold up at 5 mph. Can you imagine a 200 mph crash in one?

Today's NHRA new Super Stock cars are a good start but they are considered sportsman racers so there is no big money put out and very little factory support. To buy a Drag Pack Challenger and have it legal and competitive for Super Stock racing you might as well build a SS/ AH car. Pro Stock is starting to see new Camaros and Mustangs. The new Challenger has all the aero qualities of a brick so it might be a while before we see one that's remotely close to competitive without major body mods.

Go to a Chrysler dealer and ask for a 2dr Avenger. The salesman will give you a double take. I know I did this last fall.

NASCAR and NHRA try to maintain a level playing field to prevent whining from all the OEM's. It appears to Mopar lovers that the sanctioning bodies favor the GM and Ford boys and maybe they do.

The current NASCAR tracks can't hold much above 200 mph so there are safety factors to consider as well. Any and all NASCAR related car engineering is mostly done on handling and braking. What little engine work is done on keeping the block together at 10K rpm for 5+ hours.

I stopped racing in NHRA in 1967 because the sportman racer was treated like dog - chit and from what I hear and read nothing has changed. I've only raced once in IHRA Super Stock B (2004) and it was much the same treatment. I paid $380.00 entry fee and got to make a whole 5 runs. Never again!! Now, I'll race when I feel like it and where I feel like it and it won't be at either sanctioning body's event.