This season of excessive breakage and parts carnage, not only for our team, but also for many, if not all Alcohol Funny Car teams in the Federal Mogul class, can be directly linked to a rule change by the National Hot Rod Association. In their wisdom they decided to change the rules on the blower over drive from 125% over to 92% over. In layman’s terms this means that before the blower (supercharger) was turning or rotating 125% faster than the motor was rotating. This caused a great deal of atmospheric pressure going into the motor. This is what makes the big horsepower in these large alcohol engines. We are now only allowed only to spin the blower 92% faster than the motor. To try and make the same horsepower at 92% as you did at 125%, you have to spin your motor faster. The higher the rpm, the more strain there is put on all of your internal parts, especially the valve train. Another effect of this rule change, it has caused violent tire shake, mainly in first gear, why? Because you don’t have the horsepower at the starting line to get up on the rear tires and develop the wheel speed necessary to eliminate tire shake. In tire shake the rear slicks actually become square and are trying to roll up the asphalt underneath them. Tires shake causes more damage to parts than all other factors involved. Tire shake resonates through the entire driveline and back. It will take out teeth on rear end gears, break transmission cases, and will shake a crankshaft so hard that connecting rods will shatter, it will even break a crankshaft in several places. Tire shake can be so violent that a driver can be knocked unconscious. Almost every racer that we compete against has broken more parts and pieces this year than in the last five years. Even the high budget teams are suffering from this rule change.
We believe that N.H.R.A. made this rule change to slow down the screw blower cars to be more competitive with the roots blower cars in an effort to attract cars from the I.H.R.A. In defense of N.H.R.A., they did ask the drivers for their input, what I find reprehensible is that they DID NOT listen to the drivers and went ahead with what we all knew, was going to be a very costly rule change just to increase their membership and ultimately their coffers.
I wanted to explain the effects of this rule on our car. To have year with this type of breakage people might get the impression that we don’t look after our car and may not know what we are doing. The Red Wolf receives more maintenance in the shop and at the track than most of the other racecars. We find it odd that we raced for the previous three years and had nothing break.
Another very interesting phenomenon that this rule change has produced, is that most of the Federal Mogul Funny Car teams are running the same or very close to the numbers of last year. The only difference with them as it is with us……….PARTS ARE BREAKING. This is costing all racers huge amounts of dollars. We in Canada take a 156% hit due to the exchange on the dollar.
At 125% over we achieved great numbers, great times, great side by side racing and very seldom broke anything. That is what the fans and racers want to see. N.H.R.A.’s slogan is Dedicated To Safety………I would like to have someone from N.H.R.A explain to me what on earth this rule change had to do with safety? Breaking parts, blowing up engines, sending carnage into the stands, having cars run through blown out oil at 200+ miles an hour and hitting walls………..Where is the safety in that? Safety, I think not, the almighty dollar, I think so.
Fraser R. Dalziel
Assistant Crew Chief
Web Master
Rush Hour Racing
Red Wolf FM/FC 6352
www.rushhourracing.com
