Do you have any opinion about NHRA Pro Stock adopting EFI and a small block to replace the big-block carbureted powerplants they use now so that more younger fans and people in the stands could relate to the cars?
TH: I wouldn’t be opposed to it. I think if you look at the way GM is building their cars, the carbureted big block powerplants went away a long time ago. Changing to a small block and Electronic Fuel Injection would give those fans more to relate to. The average fan now wouldn’t know how to adjust the throttle on a carburetor so changing to something GM sells would help fans and educate fans more on what GM has to offer.
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The last GM big block available at the showroom comes in a pickup truck. I think.
TH: Exactly. And I think the cars might be faster. There would be a learning curve but the cars would be faster and I would be for it.
The NHRA and IHRA Pro Stockers are now running speeds and ET’s comparable to what the quickest and fastest Pro Mods used to. What do you think the fastest an NHRA or IHRA Pro Stocker can run?
TH: I think it’s unlimited. I think the technology has increased so much even since I began (Pro Stock) racing in 2003, which has caused the speeds to jump dramatically. As long as we continue to do R&D and we continue to push the envelope on our parts, performance will continue to increase. One thing I’ve noticed about having our own engine program in particular is that we go to a threshold where the parts start to fail, then you do R&D on those parts to get more reliability and power and increase the speeds and ET’s. I don’t think there’s a limit to how fast we can go, especially if we were to go with a flat hood and EFI.
Track prep seems to be a big deal these days. Tell your feelings about track prep..too much, not enough…
TH: I’ll be honest with you, that’s a touchy subject. Pro Stock guys like the track prepped one way, the Top Fuel guys like it prepped another way, and if you’re NHRA you’re trying to find a happy medium to please everyone.
How do you Pro Stock guys want the track prepped?
TH: We want it as sticky as you can get it all the way down to the end! Top Fuel guys don’t want that, they need to spin the tires down track. You give me as much grip as I can get and that’s what I want. It’s just different between the Pro Stock guys and the fuel guys. Until NHRA can find a happy medium it’s just going to be a controversy.
What would you think if NHRA stopped doing so much custom track prep for different pro classes?
TH: It’d be a strain on the cars. I don’t know, it’s just going to be a difficult situation until they get it figured out.
What if they prepped the tracks, like they used to 30-40 years ago? A little VHT the first 60 feet or so and keep the track clean.
TH: I don’t know in this time and day if we can do that because we are making so much more power than we were back then. I think you’d see a lot more creative minds doing what they shouldn’t be doing.
We haven’t heard anything in a long time about traction control devices or nitrous. What do you think? Is anyone out there still doing traction control?
TH: I don’t know; I have my suspicions. As far as nitrous is concerned I have no idea, but I can’t worry about what those guys do.