CHEVY GUYS GET CAUGHT CHEATING AT INDY

While announcers make much of the "classic Chevy vs. Ford battle," the fact is the early days of Stock and Super Stock it was much more often a Mopar vs. Ford battle. I've watched the Chevy favoritism over the decades and can only say that despite NHRA's bias against anything not Chevrolet, Mopars and Fords have continued to embarrass the bow-tie guys by being quicker and faster. It just has not always translated into wins. NHRA has chosen the path of factoring the superior brands to the least common denominator - the Chevrolet. Reward mediocrity. It's the Robinhood syndrome - take advantage from those who have it and give it those who don't - unless it's a Chevy with the advantage (almost never). But I've always seen Robinhood as a villain regardless of intent, and more a socialism enabler than a hero :) And if you associate that with a certain American political party, that's just you <wink>.

You guys all know the history... When the Hemi cars dominated in the early days of Pro Stock, they got weight slapped on them. Same happened to Bob Glidden's 351 Clevelands, and the rules and weight breaks got increasingly complex. We're seeing the same today in FSS (which much more resembles the intent and spirit of Pro Stock than the cars they call that now) with different blower overdrives and weight requirements for different models based on different model years. It gets really messy. But the Mopars have been forced to run heavier than most for the duration of the class. Despite that, a Mopar was the first in the 7's in FSS.

Wally Parks was a good man and in an interview later in life - when no longer president of NHRA - said one of his regrets was factoring the Mopars so heavily in Pro Stock's early days to the point they were no longer competitive and Chrysler withdrew from the class. They did come back in the 2350 lbs/ 500 cu in era and won a few championships, but the rules changes in 2016 effectively killed the Hemi. Even Chevy racer Chris McGaha said that, and fought his own battles in Pro Stock by supplying all fuel for everyone for a full season to keep guys from cheating.

So in light of the current cheating being inconceivably rewarded by being given more blower overdrive, (more power for those in the back of the room) I would suggest a spec pulley system where pulleys are purchased through a couple verifiable sources rather than allowing anyone to make them. I will admit it was pretty slick how they cheated, but if you have to cheat to be competitive, work on your stuff! Or make your case to NHRA based on facts, like in the spreadsheet in a previous post.

All that said, I hate to see Turk out of FX, as that leaves no one to cheer for.

Sorry, long post, but this subject has bothered me for decades.