What is NHRDA's future for Pro Street?

dvst8r

dvst8r

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For those that don't realize this, the current record is 8.81@157mph, this is just 3 tenth's from being a problem.

Most who drag race will probably already know this, so for those that do not, I will fill you in. The first level of NHRA roll cage is certified to an e.t of 8.50, once you go quicker than that, you must move into an SFI Foundation certified roll cage. The issue with this is the heaviest you can be for any SFI roll cage is 3600lbs. The minimum weight for Pro Street is 4500lbs.

I am sure you all see the dilemma now:

Either the class will need to become an 8.50 index, and open it up to anything with the safety requirements to run this quick.

Or

The minimum weight would have to be moved down to 3600lbs, which would mean a lot of purpose built trucks would need to under go some serious modifications.

So what say you NHRDA? Do you have a plan in place for the inevitable?
 
So NHRDA follows NHRA rules, I mean we are racing trucks, built a lot stronger than a 3600# car, and the SFI foundation is basically just a insurance company. So are these track rules?
 
My guess is that most tracks follow the NHRA and/or IHRA rules to maintain their sanction and to keep their insurance to a minimum. The completely independent (1/8-mile) tracks that I have been to seem to operate on a much looser set of "guidlines" rather than rigid NHRA rules...

Personally I think the cage rules/requirements that I have seen in a lot of diesel drag trucks leave something to be desired... But I have more experience with desert racing where cage requirements are much more serious and are weight based not simply speed based...

I have noticed that the ETs at most events this year have had a major drop over ETs in past years and speeds have gone up a similar amount. It won't be long before the 8.5 barrier is hit in the Pro Street class and I hope they have thought about the options...

By the way, I think FIA may certify cages for much heavier vehicles (like Dakar and desert race vehicles) so maybe there is still a way for certification at the heavier weight of the Pro Street Diesel Truck class...

At any rate it will be interesting, one thing for sure is that guys will continue to get faster!!!
 
Well I know NHRA makes exceptions, on an individual level at least.

The easy answer, which would follow the rule book (but be no safer than allowing them to go faster) would be to add weight to the class thats in place now.
 
Craig_C said:
Well I know NHRA makes exceptions, on an individual level at least.

The easy answer, which would follow the rule book (but be no safer than allowing them to go faster) would be to add weight to the class thats in place now.
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Only issue I see with that is they are already only 500lbs from Super Street 2wd.
 
Interesting conversation here. Kind of a quandary. There are no certs that I know of below 8.5 and what the weights of these trucks are. Seems improbable that a 4500 lb truck could go below 8.5, but over the years other stepping stones have been met so I will not doubt it can be done. So we may have to discuss with NHRA what their line is. I doubt they will re-write the rule books, but we won't know until the issue is raised.

Might need to have trucks breaking the barrier before they would even think about it though.
 
IdahoRob said:
Interesting conversation here. Kind of a quandary. There are no certs that I know of below 8.5 and what the weights of these trucks are. Seems improbable that a 4500 lb truck could go below 8.5, but over the years other stepping stones have been met so I will not doubt it can be done. So we may have to discuss with NHRA what their line is. I doubt they will re-write the rule books, but we won't know until the issue is raised.

Might need to have trucks breaking the barrier before they would even think about it though.
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Is there a class that these "Pro Street" class diesel trucks could run in a NHRA race? If they run those times at an NHRA race that would get there attention! Maybe even get NHRA to add diesel truck rules and classes to their events like they did a few years back with the ricers! I'm not comparing diesel drag racing to the ricer "Fast and the Furious" craze, but it got those guys in the NHRA show and it would be very cool and make people take diesel drag racing much more seriously if it were NHRA sanctioned and had NHRA classes and rules not just our own Diesel only rules, classes and races...

Just a thought...

I want to see diesel racing continue to grow and I think getting official NHRA involvement would help especially with public awareness!

What do you guys think???
 
This is why I started the thread, so we could have the discussion and hopefully the answer before it happens.

I realize the NHRDA is busy with world finals prep, and likely won't have time to respond until after. However that doesn't mean that we as racers can't come up with ideas. For example Chris's FIA idea is great and I would have never thought of that.
 
dvst8r said:
This is why I started the thread, so we could have the discussion and hopefully the answer before it happens.

I realize the NHRDA is busy with world finals prep, and likely won't have time to respond until after. However that doesn't mean that we as racers can't come up with ideas. For example Chris's FIA idea is great and I would have never thought of that.
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Thanks, but I doubt any current trucks would meet FIA cage requirements as they are VERY rigid with materials used, tube size and thickness per weight as well. But maybe SCORE or BITD specs would work too, but again it is way more than what I have seen for most diesel drag racers...

I am guessing than many will need to be rebuilt or build new to meet strict guidelines of other sanctions...

I would prefer to see NHRA step up and include something in their rules for fast trucks like what we see now. I think that would be the best solution...
 
TravisG said:
I thought it was 8.7 something.

Seth runs Super Comp (8.50 index) and Micah runs super gas (9.90 index) at NHRA events.
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Correct.. My two fastest passes were 8.70 and 8.74.
I think I am a long ways before I start running faster.

Problems that I am having is parts can only hold so much before they break.
 
Subscribed for educational and research purposes.
 
volljari said:
Correct.. My two fastest passes were 8.70 and 8.74.
I think I am a long ways before I start running faster.

Problems that I am having is parts can only hold so much before they break.
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That's why you rebuild it after every run.LOL
 
IdahoRob said:
With that attitude, hopefully your the next to do so.
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Easy rob, relax! It was a joke!

I stand behind NHRDA 1000000% NO QUESTIONS ASKED. Im simply saying with the parts costing so much and fuel costs people cant afford to travel so why have a money in a 80,000+$ truck sitting in your garage wasting away to nothing probably isnt a smart idea.

And at.this point in the game the trucks picking up .2 tenths is a long way off imo. I think we have seen just about as fast as prostreet is going to go. $.02
 
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