Opinion: Pro Stock is dead for us Ford Folks

I have watched Fords in Pro Stock since the 1970s up until the last 3-4 years. Glidden was the icon, even Rickie Smith ran a Ford. I believe the reason is because the manufacturers just dont think they get the bang for the buck and the statistics have backed them up. Cubic dollars has killed the class, heck even Top Sportsman is just slow promods now. I guess it means the old timers like me have been passed by. I watched parts of 2 NHRA events this year and I'[m done with the NHRA. Every category the cheapass GM craps gets top billing and everyone else is shown the door. I will continue to run index stuff at local tracks because I dont care to the outlaw radial stuff etc. I guy in staging this year I have sissy bars on my car ( i was staged beside Radial cars and I was running heads up) I told him if wheelie bars was for sissies then he needed to pull that chute off his junk to show how true a badass he was..........


and Oh did I tell yall I hate Chebbies.........

PS is a dead class IMO the brand rivalry that made it fun to watch is dead and has been dead for a number of years.

The small tire and outlaw stuff is all the rage and pulls the people. And it's a good thing for the sport imo keeps people interested unlike the NHRA corporate snooze show.

GM Performance powered Mustangs ... ?

They all flock to see the no prep carnage. I refuse to willingly wreck my car for other folks entertainment.

cool40 wrote:They all flock to see the no prep carnage. I refuse to willingly wreck my car for other folks entertainment.

X2

Until Ford decides to annie up and offer some support I'd say yes it will stay dead for us. Mopar kept their brand alive for many years through Alan Johnson, during that same time Ford had a small presence. Pontiac was pouring money into their teams and doing quite well through the 2000's until Chevy re entered a few years back. Now all the Pontiacs are gone. Mopar pulled their sponsorship. So yes It's going to be an all chevy playground in pro stock until ford backs up the wells fargo truck and dumps a load of cash and parts at somebody's shop. Throughout racing history the crowds will run with whats hot at the time. Ford has chosen to spend their marketing funds elsewhere. You have to give them credit though, Chevy has always been good at glamorizing their brand. If ford ever figures that part out they might just reverse the rotation of the earth. You really don't even see that many ford car commercials on tv anymore. Yet chevy is on every channel. Probably why they went bankrupt a few years back but hey if you're going to get a bailout afterwards then why not spend all your money on brainwashing.

Meh, I lost interest in NHRA Pro Stock when the new rules axed the traditional hood scoops in favor of the stupid giant bulged/ballooned looking hood-cowl crap they have now. They look like a giant cyst about to pop.

If their aim was to make the Pro Stocks look "more stock" I think they kinda fuuked up.

rmcomprandy wrote:GM Performance powered Mustangs ... ?

F that....... that's an insult to Ford people, might as well just make the Camaro the required car.

Don't forget that GM kept their programs going in 2009 with the help of $14 billion Tax Payer Dollars. Ford didn't take the bailout.

I think it's fine. You can't see the engine when the car is on the track and most people couldn't identify a GM, Ford or Mopar PS engine if they were laid out on a table. It was interesting to see the NHRA Warren Johnson video and hear how hung up he is on the Hemi.....

The next logical step will be to allow aftermarket engine manufacturers to supply engines, ala IHRA, but limited to 500". Like Kaase, Sonny, etc.

I'm curious where one would find this Warren Johnson video, I don't believe I have ever seen it.

AZFairlane wrote:I'm curious where one would find this Warren Johnson video, I don't believe I have ever seen it.

https://www.facebook.com/NHRA/videos/10156028192206410/

Quote WJ......"The Camaro looks like the south end of a horse going north."

The 2018 rule allowing mixing of different bodies & engines from different brands is stupid if they are sill intending to call it "Pro Stock". Maybe they should just start calling them Naturally Aspirated Junior Pro Mods instead.

First they say they want the hood scoops gone & the bodies less "swoopy" & more factory looking to get back to the original intent of Pro Stock.....Then they flip-flop and now say "any engine in any body"? WTF???

If the NHRA is going to continue to act like idiots with no idea what they are doing they might as well just kill the class now and be done with it instead of a slow death.

I remember when Funny Car made this change over 45 years ago ... it became a different animal altogether.

IMO allowing either 500" with nitrous, or bigger inch IHRA sized engines is a better direction than the proposed "any brand body-any brand engine" bingo contest.

DILLIGASDAVE wrote:IMO allowing either 500" with nitrous, or bigger inch IHRA sized engines is a better direction than the proposed "any brand body-any brand engine" bingo contest.  

They already have Pro Mod..... which they fail to promote.

PS need to go back to its roots with production bodies, production engines with anything goes mods. And back to the traditional weight factors per CID.

Brand wars,stockish looking cars and engines based on factory toe designs is what gained my attention. As far as that goes same went for NASCAR. Both are pretty much dead to me in their current form.
As far as head up, grudge, no prep small tire ect. It is just people creating what people want to do and watch.

dfree383 wrote:

DILLIGASDAVE wrote:IMO allowing either 500" with nitrous, or bigger inch IHRA sized engines is a better direction than the proposed "any brand body-any brand engine" bingo contest.  

They already have Pro Mod..... which they fail to promote.

PS need to go back to its roots with production bodies, production engines with anything goes mods. And back to the traditional weight factors per CID.

I agree, the stock bodies are the heart of the stock in " pro-stock". In their current form there's absolutely nothing stock about them. I don't so much care about the weight limits. They should heave to start with a production body though.

NHRA got away from the diff C.I. per weight rules because it was a nightmare for them to police.thats when they said ok, 2350 500ci.

BOSS 429 wrote:NHRA got away from the diff C.I. per weight rules because it was a nightmare for them to police.thats when they said ok, 2350 500ci.

I'm aware of that, but it makes for a more interesting and varied field doing it the old way.

I think that the old Factory Experimental rules from the '60's would be a good starting point for a fun class that would put butts in the bleachers.

Chebbie has always been the choice of the NHRA. Chevy is the cheapest vehicle built. Not one goes down the road without at least one light out. It's the choice of the feeble minded, who can't think for themselves. They are followers and not leaders.

Moodyblues wrote:I have watched Fords in Pro Stock since the 1970s up until the last 3-4 years.  Glidden was the icon, even Rickie Smith ran a Ford.  I believe the reason is because the manufacturers just dont think they get the bang for the buck and the statistics have backed them up.  Cubic dollars has killed the class, heck even Top Sportsman is just slow promods now. I guess it means the old timers like me have been passed by.   I watched parts of 2 NHRA events this year and I'[m done with the NHRA.   Every category the cheapass GM craps gets top billing and everyone else is shown the door.   I will continue to run index stuff at local tracks because I dont care to the outlaw radial stuff etc.   I guy in staging this year I have sissy bars on my car ( i was staged beside Radial cars and I was running heads up)   I told him if wheelie bars was for sissies then he needed to pull that chute off his junk to show how true a badass he was..........


and Oh did I tell yall I hate Chebbies.........

It was over for me the the 1st time I saw that rebuilt Dodge bull shit 'prostock ford engine'.

Pro/no stock NHRA racing does not sell cars and as a dealer and a stock holder I'm glad Ford is out of that losser.

As it stands now I give P/S another 2 years before the NHRA pulls the plug and has them racing in comp eliminator. Or make Factory stock the new pro stock and have mega deep pocketed teams screw that up in 5 years.

Lem Evans wrote:

Moodyblues wrote:I have watched Fords in Pro Stock since the 1970s up until the last 3-4 years.  Glidden was the icon, even Rickie Smith ran a Ford.  I believe the reason is because the manufacturers just dont think they get the bang for the buck and the statistics have backed them up.  Cubic dollars has killed the class, heck even Top Sportsman is just slow promods now. I guess it means the old timers like me have been passed by.   I watched parts of 2 NHRA events this year and I'[m done with the NHRA.   Every category the cheapass GM craps gets top billing and everyone else is shown the door.   I will continue to run index stuff at local tracks because I dont care to the outlaw radial stuff etc.   I guy in staging this year I have sissy bars on my car ( i was staged beside Radial cars and I was running heads up)   I told him if wheelie bars was for sissies then he needed to pull that chute off his junk to show how true a badass he was..........


and Oh did I tell yall I hate Chebbies.........

It was over for me the the 1st time I saw that rebuilt Dodge bull shit  'prostock ford engine'.

Pro/no stock NHRA racing does not sell cars and as a dealer and a stock holder I'm glad Ford is out of that losser.

Pretty tough selling one off bubble 3/4 scale cars that have nothing production on them and nothing other than a few raw castings you can look at in a catalog but never afford to build onefor a regular mans race car.