All the racers know that the NMRA tries to even up the combinations every winter and every year after 3 races. So it is no surprise when the trophies are handed out. The surprise is which combination and how big the trophy is. Even though everyone knows it is coming the complaining doesn’t stop because someone is always unhappy. The NMRA does a good job of keeping the changes to a minimum by just adding and subtracting weight. But it is easy to understand why racers feel they are penalized for their hard work. Now lets move on to who got the lead awards and who gets a little lighter.
In Factory Stock most racers felt the racing was pretty close. Not all agreed completely, but you will never get a whole class to agree on everything. NMRA did not completely agree with the racers so they handed out a 50 pound base weight penalty to the modular 2V combos and the ported 2V gets an extra 50 pounds on top. Steve Gifford runs to 2V mod motor and has been given an extra 225 pounds in the last 16 months. Tommy Godfrey ran the fastest pass in Michigan, but I assume the rules makers were watching the 60 foot times when they decided not to give Tommy a lead trophy.
In Pure Street there is 75 pound swing between some of the setups. All the pushrod cars get to drop 25 pounds and the 4V mod cars get to add 50 more. Brandon Alsept feels like the kid that always gets picked on in school. In the last 4 rules revisions Brandon has been awarded with weight each time.
Real Street had some surprising changes. Bruce Hemminger brought out his pushrod nitrous car for the first time at Michigan and won the race. Now a couple of weeks after the race Bruce wins again by getting to take 50 pounds off his car for the next race. The 2V mod cars were not as lucky. The ported 2V cars get to add 50 pounds. The supercharged pushrod cars also get to drop 50 pounds.
The biggest weight swing was in Drag Radial. The 5.4 mod motor cars get to add a whooping 150 pounds where the 4.6 cars get to add 75 pounds. The supercharged cars get to drop 100 pounds. Will the lighter weight get Jason Lee to the winners circle or just make it harder for him to get down the track? Will Bridge Racing come out with the 85mm or put a 4.6 in their car? Could we see Kolivas show up with his old pushrod motor in the car? What ever happens Joliet should be interesting.
Super Street Outlaw only has one small adjustment. Burton and Proto will get to drop 50 pounds off the big block nitrous combos. This rule changed did nothing to convince Sam Vincent to come back and race. He still doesn’t understand the 50 pounds that was added to him last year.
Looks like the guys in Pro Outlaw, Hot Street and EFI Renegade got off without any changes for now. It will be interesting to see what the racers have to say about no changes. There is already rumblings about the 360 having the advantage in Hot Street. It has been surprisingly quiet in the Renegade forum. Check back to see when and if these rules become official.
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