All you need to beat the GM teams is alot of $$$$$ and time.Hey Fabman,do you think Leevon's pockets are deep enough to beat GM,Mopar, or Saturn?I hope so.Good luck .It's a money game,if you have an unlimited budget than you need to be in profwd. There is alot of shop owners that want to race,but can't afford to keep up with the corporate dollar.We built a car to run under the hotrod rules,won the shreveport La. race with a 9.08 @151. With more fine tuning, hope to be in the high 8's.But to be almost a second quicker DAMN!We are still going to the first NOPI race weather we have the quickest car or not,anything could happen thats why its called racin'.See ya there.

 

camp is right, hell gas is 2.35

 

next week are all you dicks going to be crying after gary post a 8.00 or 7.90

 

I liked the idea someone else proposed to have a small payout for those that at least qualify. Maybe their entry fee back plus $50, I don't know. I certainly don't want to spend $50 a day or whatever to watch half filled brackets and half of those guys not race due to breakage at the line.

We all know Honda isn't going to fork up the money. Its up to us to start calling other corporations, not necessarily auto manufacturers, for some scrilla.

This is a youth market, so think of what youthful products would like you to market them.

Soft drink companies, wireless carriers, Sony, Nintendo, and fu@k it maybe even Tide for you poor college students doing your own laundry! Viren Singh did a very smart thing and went after JL Audio. I thought that was awesome he thought the same thing I was thinking.

 

Hello From Team Mopar here. I have read all the posts and believe me we feel your pain. The class went further this weekend than we all expected. We came out to run 8.30's this weekend and were doing back flips when we went 8.26@178. Every one thinks that all the domestic teams have million plus budgets but I will tell you first hand we are running with ALOT LESS than you think. Our car is a STOCK NEON BODY, in fact if you pulled a production srt-4 next to our car EVERY SINGLE PIECE would match up inch by inch. If the situation ever came about at the track regarding the body and other stuff we could use a spectators car to put ours together so we are not far off from you guys. Not to hate but I remember us getting beat in the first round by one of your own this weekend and hearing F*** that mopar car by the beating team after we shook their hands to congratulate them. GUESS WHAT GUYS PROFESSIONALISM GETS SPONSORS!!!!!!. Gary has to be one of the most hard working UNDER FUNDED people I have met and he is running right there with us. ALL OF US INCLUDING GM wants the hot rod class to grow and your right cubic dollars plays a HUGE PART but you have to look at the big picture here. If I was a honda guy and I wanted to beat someone running faster than me Id use getting my A** handed to me as a drive to work harder. Yes we have an automatic but it is MANUALLY SHIFTED as is Marty's car. GUYS bottom line here is that ALL OF us are competing against ROUSCH RACING HELLO!!!. They will be tough but not impossible to beat. I know we do not want to go out and race 10 sec cars and blow them away. I want someone to race and beat me at the tree or by a fender. All the import guys laughed at domestic cars especially ones with an automatic. Now we are faster and winning and everyone runs away. Its YOU the competitors that decide not to run. Will Kenny Quit because he got beat??? NO! You can build a HOT ROD car and run a program for less money than you think. You may not be at every race but you will do well if you know whats up. Want a GM or MOPAR automatic in your car???? Well put it in. Nothing is stopping you. If Gary G runs as well as us than there is no reason others shouldn't be able to do the same. You do NOT need a 35000 dollar gear box either. Our blocks are stock and our trans parts all come off the MOPAR shelf. You Guys should use GARY GARDELLA as a role model. I PERSONALLY give them the utmost respect and credit for the FA-NOMINAL job they do. Gary,Jon, And Gary's father are top notch people representing you guys amazingly. Use them as an example and step it up. There are alot more of YOU GUYS then us. If you all put your heads together instead of turning your backs you could do it. Maybe NON OF US will beat GM but eventually they will run out of improvement and every one that is there to catch up will begin to shine.
MY 2 Cents
Anthony (Team Mopar)

 

yes the sport of import drag racing has seen better days.. where the participation level of the racers was high, where million dollar quick cars were not in existance, where racers came out to the track to have fun and be competitive against the fastest cars in the country...

the IDRC has re-geared its series this year to cater more towards the "Grassroots" crowd and the weekend warriors.. we have been producing IMPORT drag racing events since 1998 and have seen a huge decrease in participation in all the drag racing associations... costs are too high for people to build a competitive car and no one has the drive and motivation to battle against the GM's and Mopar's because its virtually impossible.. the IDRC is looking to bring the QUICK class back to what it use to be with the popular PRO-AM classes.. We feel the need to have a affordable and competitive place for the import racers to go and thats the road we have chosen...

to me i would rather go out and race my street car then watch as some "Sport Compact" racecars go down the quarter in 8 seconds.. a low 10 second daily driven honda is more impressive to see then the million dollar saturn go 7's... import drag racing is all about having fun with the car you put your hard work and time into and the IDRC gives those racers a place to go..

Hope to see you all out at our Maryland International Raceway Event.. the ATI Performance East Coast Nationals on MAY 30th.

"By the racers, for the racers"
IDRC

 

I think what we need to do is step back and look at this from a different perspective. I am a honda guy just like most of you guys but think about this. GM is not doing anything different than we are doing they are just doing it better. Everything on the car works and its been proven and tested to do it pass after pass. They have no magic pixie dust or mojo they just have a car that works like its supposed to. Yeah it sucks but theres more

We cant even stick together long enough to give honest advice to the younger racer but yet we complain about the same guys running at the top of a class for a few years. I know i had a hell of a time just to get some simple advice on how to set up the car for methanol (thank god for Z10). I wasnt asking for a complete tune i just wanted the basics. Then you have guys that really dont know but they will spout off advice like they actually have a clue. Then you have the guys that really do know but they will tell you something so far off from the truth that you would have been better getting an answer from a fortune cookie. What it all boils down to is this, if we want to get faster and be competitive then we need to work together and spread the cost out over many small time racers and pass what we learn onto the next guy. Another thing is just copy, as bad as it sounds copying has always worked. You think all the cars in funny car look like John Forces car because of pure coincidence. No of course not, let John and ford cover the cost of the wind tunnel and everyone in funny car will just copy him. There are many things that we could be doing instead of sitting in front of our computer and pour out our frustrations on a drag racing forum whining about money and sponsers but then again im sitting here reading this post

 

bottom line is we dont need to slow hot rod down, hondas are still in this, and it takes money to race pro cars.. and yes hot rod is a pro class

and displacement or not, we can get a shitload of power out of the honda motors, i have seen it personally. we have to setup our cars differently but hondas are still in this so dont get discouraged.

 

Honda's are already more powerfull thatn anyone else in Hot Rod. If I'm not mistaken Gardella has posted over 180 mph. No one in Hot Rod has done that. If Gary gets that to hook it is over for GM Period!

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Anthony B &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Hello From Team Mopar here. I have read all the posts and believe me we feel your pain. The class went further this weekend than we all expected. We came out to run 8.30's this weekend and were doing back flips when we went 8.26@178. Every one thinks that all the domestic teams have million plus budgets but I will tell you first hand we are running with ALOT LESS than you think. Our car is a STOCK NEON BODY, in fact if you pulled a production srt-4 next to our car EVERY SINGLE PIECE would match up inch by inch. If the situation ever came about at the track regarding the body and other stuff we could use a spectators car to put ours together so we are not far off from you guys. Not to hate but I remember us getting beat in the first round by one of your own this weekend and hearing F*** that mopar car by the beating team after we shook their hands to congratulate them. GUESS WHAT GUYS PROFESSIONALISM GETS SPONSORS!!!!!!. Gary has to be one of the most hard working UNDER FUNDED people I have met and he is running right there with us. ALL OF US INCLUDING GM wants the hot rod class to grow and your right cubic dollars plays a HUGE PART but you have to look at the big picture here. If I was a honda guy and I wanted to beat someone running faster than me Id use getting my A** handed to me as a drive to work harder. Yes we have an automatic but it is MANUALLY SHIFTED as is Marty's car. GUYS bottom line here is that ALL OF us are competing against ROUSCH RACING HELLO!!!. They will be tough but not impossible to beat. I know we do not want to go out and race 10 sec cars and blow them away. I want someone to race and beat me at the tree or by a fender. All the import guys laughed at domestic cars especially ones with an automatic. Now we are faster and winning and everyone runs away. Its YOU the competitors that decide not to run. Will Kenny Quit because he got beat??? NO! You can build a HOT ROD car and run a program for less money than you think. You may not be at every race but you will do well if you know whats up. Want a GM or MOPAR automatic in your car???? Well put it in. Nothing is stopping you. If Gary G runs as well as us than there is no reason others shouldn't be able to do the same. You do NOT need a 35000 dollar gear box either. Our blocks are stock and our trans parts all come off the MOPAR shelf. You Guys should use GARY GARDELLA as a role model. I PERSONALLY give them the utmost respect and credit for the FA-NOMINAL job they do. Gary,Jon, And Gary's father are top notch people representing you guys amazingly. Use them as an example and step it up. There are alot more of YOU GUYS then us. If you all put your heads together instead of turning your backs you could do it. Maybe NON OF US will beat GM but eventually they will run out of improvement and every one that is there to catch up will begin to shine.
MY 2 Cents
Anthony (Team Mopar)</TD></TR></TABLE>

the point is your factory backed....**** you got a free car and alot of parts....thats where all the cost is...but were talking money here and you guys got a chunk of it free.....you dont see honda giving out free civics and parts for the season....you guys have it so easy

 

Like I mentioned earlier in this post....just imagine the fact of lining up next to the guy that inspired you to build that HR car(IE:Kenny, Gary, Lisa)....now that's pure joy

I would like a gas and meth bracket, but it won't happen, not enough to go around. I suggest that everyone with the knowledge and some $$$ should build a HR class car, that way, in about 2-3 years, there will be enough competition and maybe split between the 2 fuel options. But for now, jsut think about teh dream of lining up next to the guy or gal you Idolized in teh late 90's and early 2000's

 

here is a thought from a middle of the road guy: we all feel the crunch of the all might dollar,when in this racing addiction.We all have valid points and where i agree with the team mopar guy , i agree with the non-corporate guys.

i think that dodge and chevy have stepped up to the plate as a buisness venture where as honda has not.honda has let you guys down,not the fully sponsered teams which are taking home the wallys.

yes the average grass roots racer helped start this great sport but now when everyone has to transition to the next level it take alot of cash to do so. i believe i did a plan 2 years ago in which i figured to go on the nhra circuit for the entire year based out of athe great state of texas, with already having a trailer and truck to pull and needing a 3 man crew it would run over 40k to just show up and run with the big boys.thats not really figuring in blowing up many trans or motors.thats with only 1 back up motor and trans.

honda of north america and there "far east side" headquarters needs to get these complaints and corporate bashing threads emailed to them along with a proposal from gary and a few others for consideration.bash those responsable for honda's not getting the chance to show gm and dodge whoes got better drivers, because in the end when the fields are level ($$) that is what takes home the wally..


just my 2.5 C regards
james

 

beleive me logic it doesnt help out that much with a free car, we were given a 28k miata by mazda of noth america and a few k's and it has been under construction for a year now,still not done....waiting on more money....yes it helps but really it doesnt mean a huge advantage.....

 

"edit" it's not just HOD ROD it's all classes.................


I didnt read all this thread, so I may have it some what wrong, but it seems to me that the sport of drag racing is getting way too corporate anyway, big money wins, the home racer loses...... Yet at the same time alot of things have been done to kill the home racers chances at winning anyway.
Isn't it about time we got back to the grass roots of racing, build whatever you have to be as fast as it can be, and stick within safety guidelines. It doesn't matter whether you have a million dollors or 10000 dollars to spend, built what you have as fast as possible and race it, quit all the BS of you cant run this and that because it isn't fair, build what you have and make it as fast as you can, get back to the racing, and cut out the ho ha politics and BS. IE as I have said before, who cares if I have 6cyls and you have 4 as long as we follow safety rules, and maybe some simple displacement rules....... And if I hear that 6 cyls vs 4cyls is unfair again, I am afraid I am going to fall off my chair laughing, I know too many 4 cyl cars that can whoop my ***, but the fact is I still want to race them, why, simple because I want to RACE, and thats it I want to RACE, and the truth is I bet all the drivers out there if they are honest, thats what they want too, to RACE......

Here's what I suggest

Pro RWD, full tube chassis, any body style as long as it is Import, class separations by motor displacement, and or # of cyls, power adders separations in the way of weight limits( think about it a 1600lb 4cyl will go just as fast as a 1900lb 6cyl when you play the power to weight ratio physics......
Pro FWD same deal
Hot Rod......ANYTHING GOES, isnt this what HOT ROD was always about.

Street classes, hey, IT has to be a daily driver, or capable of being, IE lets say it has to be registered and legal

Then how about a new setup, Pro AM, cars built in shops and garages by mere mortals with very low if any level of sponsorship, the every day racer.... Kind of like heads up classes, 9.0 to 9.99, 10.0 to 10.99, 11.0 to 11.99 you qualify for a class, and run, as long as you dont go any faster than your class you can win, down to driver skill and car.....
Only thing I'll say is again, run what you brung, suffer weight penalties for displacement and # of cyls, then get to it.....RACE

 

how bout renaming hot rod cause hot rod and honda dont belong in the same sentence. kinda like flames dont belong on a import.

 

Give it to the end of the season and a couple more Honda guys will be right there with the GM cars. Jotech and Lance Ho Lung's old car for example. Those two cars were record holders before GaryG broke them off. Another is that car from Canada that went 8.5xs, last name was Bhawan i think.

 

I didn't read the whole thread so I'm not sure if anyone has mentioned this...

But isn't TRACTION a huge limiting factor as to why the Pro FWD class can't move so much further ahead from Hot Rod? I mean... Hot Rod cars are spinning slicks at the 1000 foot mark... what do you think a similar car with another 250whp would do?

Just a thought.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Honda Logic &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

the point is your factory backed....**** you got a free car and alot of parts....thats where all the cost is...but were talking money here and you guys got a chunk of it free.....you dont see honda giving out free civics and parts for the season....you guys have it so easy</TD></TR></TABLE>

AHH I SEE!!!!. HMM all the testing, Research on our own, 18 hour days, driving non stop from coast to coast, time away from our homes and families, speaking at shows, FREE?????????? ARE YOU SURE WE HAVE IT EASY???????. OH thats right going to the race then taking home no winnings also. Yes that makes the sponsor real happy. Your Right ITS SOOOOOOOOOOOO EASY

 

damit i missworded the joke it was suppose to be"far east coast"

damn no one caught that

 

[QUOTE=autoraceparts.com]Anthony,

I must apologize for the person that shouted that this weekend, he suffers from Turrets Syndrome . Whats even worse he has an escort show car, maybe that would help you understand him a little better.

We are glad we raced this weekend. We came so close to just leaving the car sit. The Sunday before the race the car caught on fire during testing. The back motor mount broke, the engine kicked back, broke the fuel rail, and sprayed methanol all over. It ignited and burned for over a minute. It was an eye sore this weekend and hopefully it will look better in the near future.

The Hot Rod class is a good class to run, I just think it needs better payouts as an incentive to bring more cars (see the post above). I personally like to see the corporate cars in the class.

Thanks,

Bob
SEE BOB Pulled up his pants and races in against all of us. Look at him now he ended up runner up. ANYTHING can happen in racing!!!!. Best of Luck to you in the Future BOB. Keep up the passion and good work

 

The bottom line is, it will take money regardless of R&D and thought that goes into a car. To run the times of GM or the Gardella team...you will need the key parts to win/run/stay consistant. I think Garys car will take out the GM car real soon. I mean if he ran the 8.3 like he did in the make up qualifier and match that to Martys 8.1 when they raced, gary would have beat him on reaction time. A wins a win and if its done by the driver, great. Gary and crew, the car is amazing!!!! But still, it is going to take MAJOR money no matter how you look at it to be competitive in HR. We do need to get on Hondas *** to help out with parts and such. Everyone needs to realize too that sponsors are not just looking for us to go fast, we are their spokespersons as well. I do feel that maybe blocks like the dart peices maybe should be made legal to even out the bore size with the domestic cars. The sport has changed a lot from when NHRA first came in. I can remeber when we were building our crx and I asked them if it was ok that I cut out where my spare tire was so that I could run my wheeliebars through. I told them I was then gonna cover it with tin. They told me that was NOT ok and that I would have to find a junk crx and cut out the back and weld the stock peice back in. Now they allow tube back ends. I guess time is changing...and thats why we are also building a new car that will be tubed in the back...to try and progress with the times. If NHRA fails and has poor turnouts and they dont keep sport compact racing going, so be it. Then the little tracks and events will open back up. That would be fun...I know if people are half as addicted they would race where ever they can just to feel the rush of going down the track. The main difference would be is that our cars would be way more sick then back then. I might never have the money to race with a factory vehicle or have the parts and help, but god knows my love for racing cant be any less then theirs...
The guys from Mopar like Mike Crawford and Molar have both been in the game awhile. They were racing these cars before any big deal came through. I give them credit for racing cars that seemed not very popular or having many parts for them at the time...they were troupers.
One of the best things I saw all last year was John Brown win his Walley against GM. He drove the crap out of his car and was rewarded for it. That car was just a b series motor with a stock honda trans.
In sumation I just hope that NHRA figures out why there are no spectators and racers showing up at their races. I also think they should have at least a lil money for qualifying for the race...maybe even your track admitence money back...
I also think they should do a little more talking to the general public and small time racers to see what their ideas are and what would get them out to the tracks.

 

Wasnt it just early last season that Lance Ho Lung ran the fastest times in HOT ROD? Then Gardella passed him up. I think Lance was on to something. That car was sick and was running some ridiculous MPH. Where is that car? GM was still working the bugs out now they have passed all the other honda cars. So now just go back to the drawing board and r&d combos, slick sizes, gear ratios....even if it means sitting out a year just to come out right. If you know some F1 guys, BTCC guys...see if they have some technology that could help us.....can anything big blocks are doing that we could use....? The key is basically R&D and you will make progress.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Anthony B &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

AHH I SEE!!!!. HMM all the testing, Research on our own, 18 hour days, driving non stop from coast to coast, time away from our homes and families, speaking at shows, FREE?????????? ARE YOU SURE WE HAVE IT EASY???????. OH thats right going to the race then taking home no winnings also. Yes that makes the sponsor real happy. Your Right ITS SOOOOOOOOOOOO EASY </TD></TR></TABLE>

I gotta' agree with this one...I am at most of the events shooting pictures and the Mopar guys are the hardest working team in the sport. I have seen them spend many, many nights working on the cars getting them ready for the next days racing when everyone else is sleeping or partying at the local strip joint. Gary and John are the same. In fact all the top racers have one thing in common. Lots of hard work and total commitment. Yes the factory support is a huge plus and yes a bagfull of dollar bills is a factor but it still ain't gonna happen without busting your ***.
I reckon that tire restrictions are the only way to level the playing field. After all you can only get so much power to the ground. It comes down to setting the car up and driver ability....

 

i don't understand this fixation with getting factory support from honda.

how many cars does gm campaign? if honda sponsored, say, two cars, how could it significantly change sport compact drag racing?? all it would really do is satisfy some of us honda platform bigots

and of course platform bigotry is the backbone of drag racing... we want gm running with us, because most v-8 rednecks will cheer for a domestic, which means that it'll sell a few spectator tickets... how else do you expect to build up the payouts? you definitely won't see many v-8 guys paying $$$ to watch an all-honda race.

right now there are regional drag racing circuits for old-skool platforms like ford-only, vw-only, etc, but i don't know of many u.s. regional circuits for honda-only drag racing... if you want to run a real national circuit, with all the attendant sponsor priviledges, get used to mixing it up with other platforms... we have to work together for the good of the sport.

i'm not sure how that's going to fix the hot rod class, tho

 

I agree, we cannot point fingers and blame others for domestics winning. If you dont like getting beat, do something about it.. If you dont have the money to do things, find alternatives, or some sort of backing. I noe its not as easy as saying it, but nothing in life is easy.

Racing is fun, and should always be fun, if you are not having fun anymore (winning or losing), maybe you need to find something else to do. I have fun weather i win or lose, even tho last year my car was still in the 12-11 sec range, it was still a blast... The car isnt ready for the track yet, but i cant wait to get out there and just have fun...

My .02

Mike.....