Just Back From Indy - O.M.G.

Discussion in 'Drag Racing' started by Bishop, Sep 8, 2009.

  1. Bishop

    Bishop Member

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    Hi All,

    I went out on a field trip to the Mac Tools Nationals. I needed some answers as to what was going on in Competition Eliminator. The answer is simply, "Oh My God." The day of the quarter million plus Comp effort is no longer unusual. These class racers are very serious people. They can bury their Comp Indexes by 75 one hundreths of a second without breaking a sweat. A 4.3L Vortech V-6 Chevy Cobalt ran 8.75's in I/SMA. Ford V-8's both big and small looked quite good. If you pick your spots carefully you can still win in the NHRA with Ford power. 750-850 horse power Ford small block push rod V-8's of 347 to 366 cubic inches are not uncommon. Super Modifieds are among the last non bracket racing that is barely within reach of the most thrifty and hard working ordinary human being.

    I have some thoughts about an H/SMA Boss 302/347 Maverick project. The target is an elasped time of about 8.00 seconds with a trap speed of 135 plus dragging 5.86 grears weighing in at 3,700 including my portly self. Hope springs eternal even among old guys like me.

    Regards

    David
     
    Last edited: Sep 19, 2009
    Bishop, Sep 8, 2009
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  2. qicvick

    qicvick Member

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    Is the weight a requirement for that class? Seems kinda heavy for a Maverick!
     
    qicvick, Sep 8, 2009
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  3. Al Martin

    Al Martin Member

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    Yeah, no doubt on the weight.
    Better knock off 800lbs.
    FYI, keep tabs on Don Bowles. Hes running a Mav now in NMRA.
    al
     
    Al Martin, Sep 18, 2009
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  4. Bishop

    Bishop Member

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    Further Thoughts

    Hi,

    Thanks for the thoughts and advice. Running way over square on the Dart 302 Boss block with a 4.125" bore and total cubic inches of 322 the weight limit for H/SMA is right about 3,450 pounds including the driver, for F/SMA it would be about 3,130 pounds, and for D/SMA it would be right around 2,810 pounds. The cost of this project is probably out of my league. To be competitive, the car alone is in the $60,000 to $75,000 range. If you do all your own assembly, you can save a bit. But, you can be certain of one thing. If you cheap out and try to do this for $40,000 to $50,000, the car will be half a second or more slow. I am sorry to report this. You can go bracket racing for a lot less than $40K, but you are going to have to spend a lot more to squeak into the low end of class racing these days. It is nice to know that you can still be competitive in class racing with a SBF, but someone with deeper pockets than I will have to attempt it. In the meantime, small block GMC's rule.

    David
     
    Bishop, Sep 19, 2009
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