Not to speak for Calvin, but The issue with vintage racing cars is not the horsepower, but the engine displacement. WIth the dozen, perhaps even dozenS of vintage racing sanctioning bodies not all monitor or require period correctness in the cars. Classes that are supposed to be restricted to 310c.i. may have stroker motors (isn't that what you're planning?) of 427 c.i. I went to a Vinatge race in Wichata KS a few years back and the Chevy boys from there were all dry sump at minimum. Their rational was "safety". My old roomie restored his Shelby-built coupe 100% accurate and was lapped soon after the start. This incident, along with a couple of others from earlier in the summer have garnered tremendous discussion in the Vintage Racing folks, and the factors contibuting to this fiasco range from specific to how things are run in general. Fist fights apparently broke out as these guys got out of their cars-- sounds ego driven to me... ; how well the pack was grouped; how well can all the drivers see flags; pace speeds; yada, yada, yada. One thing was said I thought was not only cute, but applicable (to the gist of), "If the guys want to come out and drive competitively, agressively, send them back to SCCA (or similar) to get it out of their system... black flag them... ban them for ..." Vinatge races are about bringing the old cars out and enjoying them for what they are and were. Trying to skin the latest and fastest technology with 40 year-old skin isn't vintage racing. There are sanctioning bodies that have that in mind in their structure. Mentality and metal from there cannot, or should not, be mixed with period cars run in exhibition. Stewards have a difficult line to toe in accomplishing that. Not long ago you couldn't get enough of the same type cars to round out a grid and "allowances" were accepted; now they're turning away some more correct cars for some of known presence. Some would call "known presence" as good-ol-boy connections. I think if you're racing with a group that does NOT aggressively control group specifications, or driver aggreesiveness on the track, you're likely going to experience a disaster at some point. With some of these events, there's not enough time on the track for officials to isolate at-risk individuals-- unfortunate. The buddy with the museum piece on wheels has made a number of updates, but he's not trying to rewrite history. SCCA and other state-of-the-art organizations run a tight ship. Regularly-scheduled races, drivers with regular experiece in narrowly-defined performance envelope-- tough to duplicate vintagewise. The story of these cars has been written. Building a killer car that kicks ass this year, or even the next two or three will not add your name or the car's notariaty to the history books. Larry Dent from the Pacific Northwest (Chief Steward for the SOVREN North West Historics in Seattle) simply put it, "(These events) are about the cars...The cars are the stars ...urge those with the super egos and bump and nerf mentality to go elsewhere where they can play in that venue." Jeeze, I just wrote another War and Peace reply... Best Regards to all, Tom Kubler jonlee@wt.net wrote: Calvin Hum.... I didnt know HP could be cheating because Im new to this vintage racing stuff but I was always under the assumption that the car had to be stock and that it was "normal" to have BIG HP with stroker motors or stuff that people could not see from looking at the motor. (IM saying this because I had serious plans to convert my HI PO into a stroker - Im so used to 450+ HP from my 67-500s) My belief is that it was a test of driving skills and power more than just brute power, but from listening to this conversation, it seems that its brute power that is the culprit for advantages and big accidents. Is that right? jon Quoting Calvin Sanders : - On Tue, 19 Jul 2005, VanderHeide, Richard wrote: - - > I agree; I think there needs to be closer monitoring of HP and engine - >displacement and if people are cheating, they should not be invited back - >to a vintage event. Tell me that a 66 Shelby that is stock can pass - >another car at 150 mph on the straight at MIS - - A friend that runs a GT350 clone, says his engine is 450+- hp. You know - the Shelby factory R models had about 350 or so HP. That is a pretty - significant differance through the same drive train, etc. - - I don't know what the class is called, but the HSR racers have a Late - Model Stock Car class of some sort that is basically similiar cars to a - typical short track. Their rules include them running a dyno at the track - and checking all the cars every weekend. If somehow the Shelby's were - limited in HP to something along the range they had back in the '60's (and - of course something similiar for all the other cars), does anyone think - the racing would be any less interesting to watch??? I bet it would save - huge amounts for the competitors, increasing safety, etc. - - Calvin - http://motors.search.ebay.com/_W0QQsassZcalvin767 -
