Major Statement from Pro Mod driver Charles Carpenter
Below is a letter written by Pro Modified pioneer Charles Carpenter
to the IHRA and everyone involved in the class regarding the current
state of affairs in IHRA Pro Mod. This letter addresses many pressing
issues, and is intended to be a catalyst for action within the class.
Supporting this statement is a list of statistics comparing the class
up to this point last year and this year.
This letter and stats sheet are for immediate release. Please feel
free to post them on your site.
This is a very newsworthy statement, and our hope is that it finds
its way into your publication. If you have any questions or comments,
please don't hesitate to contact me.
Thank you,
Mike Carpenter
Charles Carpenter Racing
(704) 737-2299
mvc753@aol.com
More information about Charles Carpenter and The World's Fastest 55
can be found at fastest55.com
BEGIN LETTER:
To the IHRA and all Pro Modified racers, fans, and supporters,
There is a problem in the IHRA Pro Modified class. If
you do not believe this, you only need to take one look at the list
of stats and facts that we have compiled comparing the class at this
time last year with the current year. There are twice as many blown
cars running in Pro Mod this year, and it seems like they are running
twice as fast. That is an exaggeration, but the blowers have run away
with the class this year, and a rule change to level the field has
yet to be made. In fact, I am afraid the door has already closed for
a nitrous car to win the championship or even come close. By writing
this, I intend to clear up misconceptions, answer questions, provide
information, and spur anyone who supports nitrous racing or Pro
Modified as we know it, and have known it for all these years, to
speak up and take action.
Before I go any further, I just want to state that this
is not a personal attack on any blown pro mod racer, their crew,
their sponsors, or anyone else involved with them. This matter is
completely in the hands of the IHRA and it is their responsibility to
address the issue. Blown pro mod racers have done absolutely nothing
wrong; they are simply doing what they are able to under the current
rules. I do not fault them in any way for this, nor do I hold any
personal grudge against them, as some of my best longtime friends and
competitors such as Ed Hoover, Quain Stott, Jim Oddy, and Scotty
Cannon race blown cars. I do not wish to draw the ire of any blower
teams, and I hope they can accept my comments and opinions just as
objectively as those not involved with a blown car. Just like them, I
want to race too.
The first thing I would like to address is some of the
questions, misconceptions, and suggested changes I often hear. One
misconception is that since Mike Castellana ran a 6.10 last year, all
nitrous cars should be able to do that, and do it consistently. True,
Mike did run that number, Shannon Jenkins ran a 6.12, and Jim Halsey
has been a few 6.14s and 15s. The thing that is not realized by those
making these comments is that those three cars far and away have the
most funding available to them, and they have spent a ton of that
money trying new things to make the nitrous cars go faster, with
extremely limited success. On top of that, all three of those cars
routinely hurt their motors to run those kinds of numbers, another
thing the rest of the teams cannot afford to do on a regular basis in
an effort just to keep up with the blowers, much less win a race.
Bottom line: yes, those numbers have been run, but even Castellana,
Jenkins, and Halsey do not have the ability to run them consistently.
The next misconception is that nitrous cars have a
gradual application of power as compared to blowers, which are more
of an instantaneous power burst. This could not be any further from
the truth. Nitrous cars do have three, and in some cases four, stages
of nitrous that come on as the car moves down the track, but these
stages are instantaneous. Think of it as a light switch: the nitrous
stage kicks in just like a light switch, instantly 100%. Have you
ever heard a nitrous car test fire before it stages? That’s exactly
what is happening during the run. It’s an instant power spike. It’s
not like a dimmer switch. So at two or three points in a run, you
have an instant spike of power to try to control and apply to the
track. As a result, nitrous cars are extremely finicky; one or two
grams off on the clutch and you are pretty much done for; too much
and you are going to shake the tires, too little and you aren’t going
to go fast enough to do anything. You have to be perfect. Couple this
with our lighter weight, among other things, and you have a car that
is very temperamental from track to track and run to run. Contrast
that with blower cars, which are more of the dimmer switch if you
want to use that analogy. Their boost comes in progressively through
the RPM range, their heavy weight keeps them more stabilized, and
their higher horsepower allows for more error in the clutch and
everything else. Miss one of your two shift points a little, or even
pedal it; no big deal. In nitrous cars we have three, and in some
cases four, shift points that must be right on or the run is pretty
much junk.
Work harder. That’s what we hear all the time, too. They
tell us that blower guys have worked harder to find their power, now
do some work to find yours. The truth is that blower guys have worked
to find their power, no doubt about it, but have had a great deal of
help from all the classes higher than them on the food chain: top
fuel, funny car, and all the alcohol classes. I like to call it
“trickle-down technology”. Alan Johnson or Austin Coil figure
something out, and it trickles down to Pro Mod and they are able to
expand on it and adapt it to their particular setup. All the millions
and millions of dollars being pumped into the NHRA and IHRA fuel
classes directly and indirectly helps blown Pro Mods. Us? We are at
the top of our food chain. There is no other naturally aspirated
class running faster than a nitrous Pro Mod. We have to do all of our
research ourselves, with whatever limited funds available. Gene
Fulton and Shannon Jenkins are at the pinnacle of our technology, and
Shannon has told me that for the first time in his racing career, he
has nothing left to try. He is fresh out of ways to try to make a
nitrous car go faster. And he has tried everything. Trust me, we all
have. The push system, nitrous systems, stages, plumbing, jetting,
induction, chassis, gear ratios, hood scoops, aerodynamics, tires,
suspension. The list could go on for days. All have been tried, all
with extremely limited success and extremely high cost.
As far as engines, there is no way that nitrous will
work on an IHRA Pro Stock motor. Those motors are at the breaking
point already, before you add nitrous to them. The titanium rods and
longer stroke, among a host of other things, simply will not allow
this. You would kill the motor before it got out of first gear.
Along those same lines, raising our cubic inch limit
would be futile. Want to talk about an expensive rule change? I can’t
think of a more costly one. The 738 cubic inch motors can’t keep
their sleeves round as it is, and it would only get worse. We lost a
lot of durability going from 706 to 728 cubic inches, and even more
going to 738. The power gain is almost not worth the durability loss,
as you can see by taking a look at the qualifying sheet from Milan.
The 728s and 706s have the ability to run within thousandths of the
738s. There may be more potential in the bigger motor, but it simply
is not there at this moment.
Taking weight away from nitrous cars is absolutely not
an option either. It is simply impossible to get any more weight off
the cars. We already have every carbon fiber and titanium piece you
can possibly think of. You just can’t build any lighter of a car that
is still safe and passes tech. My car weighs around 2460 lbs, which
is one of lighter cars out there. There are a few that weigh less,
but I can tell you that some of the quickest and fastest nitrous cars
weigh more than mine does. Weight is not necessarily always bad, as
it aids in getting cars down the racetrack consistently, and it
honestly helps the blowers in a lot of cases to weigh as much as they
do.
Since we are currently out of ways to speed a nitrous
car up, it’s on to things to do to a blown car to slow it down.
Though it certainly used to, heat or bad air does not slow the blown
cars down anymore. This started to go away when IHRA first allowed
the high helix blower, and is completely gone now. The reason for
this is the new work they are doing to the superchargers themselves.
They have machined and refined the supercharger case to dramatically
reduce the friction in the blower, causing much less turbulence and,
as a result, cooler air. When they ran the roots style blower, they
did slow down in the heat. But this is no longer the case. Just take
a look at the Drag Race Central archives for proof.
Speaking of archives, let’s go back in time for a little
while. When Pro Mod started, it was a nitrous class. Nitrous
companies put up the money to get the class off the ground. Blown
cars had no class. There were very few of them, and they were outlaw
cars. Eventually they were allowed in, but they couldn’t keep up.
Scotty Cannon and Jim Oddy eventually made them competitive. Ever
since that point, when Oddy got his stuff running and Scotty switched
over to a blower, they have been the faster cars. Still, they gave
them the high helix blower. Instantly there were more blower cars and
they were almost all competitive, running near the top of the field.
Then, Mopar wants IHRA to allow the Hemi before they will come on as
a sponsor. Of course, IHRA lets them have the Hemi.
Jump back to today. They were already faster before they
were given the high helix blower and the Hemi, and now they have just
run away with it. The Hemi has taken over to the point that Glen
Kerunsky is the last driver still running a Chevy wedge motor. I
think that is a problem.
But there are more reasons other than the high helix and
Hemi why there has been such a change in the class in less than one
year’s time. In an attempt to lure at least a couple big name nitro
funny cars to their new class, IHRA re-arranged their event schedule
so that it did not conflict with the NHRA’s. Subsequently, all the
blown Pro Mods that had to choose between IHRA and NHRA last year now
can run both, and don’t even have to worry about changing their setup
because the NHRA AMS series adopted the IHRA’s rules. End result:
over twice as many blown cars showing up to IHRA events in 2006.
Couple that with the lower initial cost of building a blown car
(don’t need all the expensive lightweight components, nitrous motors
cost more than blower motors, etc.) and the relative ease of
obtaining a setup that will run teens right off the trailer, and it’s
no surprise there are an absolute ton of blower cars out there. And
can you blame them? If you were going to put your time, money, and
effort into running one of these cars, why would you build a nitrous
car right now? It’s almost futile. Talk to any chassis builder and
they can confirm this for you. They are building nothing but blower
cars.
I’m not sure exactly who it is supposed to help or hurt,
but the new body rule is one of the worst rule changes I have seen in
a while. While we are all hot on this nitrous vs. blower controversy,
they change a rule on the bodies? Very disappointing. Besides, as I
stated to Competition Plus, if they don’t make a rule change to level
the field, there will be no confusion at all. There will be no
nitrous cars left to confuse with a Pro Stock. No one will have a
hard time differentiating between Mike Janis’ Cobalt and Rick Jones’
Cobalt, for example. This is an issue. The issue is that nitrous cars
really are a dying breed.
As a result of all the things stated above, nitrous cars
have been all but rooted out of the class they created.
IHRA says they do not see a problem. Stevie Wonder could
see this problem.
IHRA says they don’t want to make a mid-season rule
change, but what sanctioning body doesn’t change the rules to even
the competition? NASCAR would change the rules on a pit-stop if they
thought they could get away with it. They do it because good
competition keeps the sponsors happy, and puts fans in the seats.
People want to see side-by-side racing. They want the excitement of
not knowing who is going to win the race before it has even started.
They want the excitement of pulling for the underdog and seeing him
or her come out on top. They want variety. These are all things that
have been lacking in Pro Mod this year, and that were in such great
abundance last year.
A perfect example of excellent rule-changing execution
comes from the NHRA. When the Harleys first started running in Pro
Stock Motorcycle, they were not competitive. NHRA gave and gave until
they became competitive, and they actually started to dominate. The
class became stale because you could bet the Harleys were going to
qualify 1-2 and win. But what did the NHRA do? They took away and
took away until the performance gap was closed. Now, any style of
bike can win and the class is exciting. The Harleys still run up
front, but it’s a wide-open class. This is what Pro Mod needs to
mirror. Blowers were allowed in. IHRA gave and gave until they became
competitive. They started to dominate. The class has become stale
because you can bet a blower is going to win. Now, IHRA, it is your
turn to take away and take away until the performance gap is closed.
So what needs to done? I think the ultimate fix would be
to split the class. You might lose those fans that watch pro mod to
see blower vs. nitrous, but at least you wouldn’t lose all the
nitrous fans, which there are plenty of. In fact, I would be willing
to bet that there is an equal amount if not more nitrous fans than
blower fans out there. We hear from them all the time. Early in the
year my son was talking to an IHRA official that shall remain
anonymous. That official asked if we were going to switch to a
blower. This was before the first race of the season! When Michael
answered no, the response he got from the official was an emphatic
“GOOD!” People want to see nitrous cars, and more of them. They do
not want to see them completely vanish. If they did split the class,
15-20 more competitive nitrous cars that are sitting in shops or
racing elsewhere during an IHRA national event would come out and
race with the IHRA. People love rivalries. Whether it be the Yankees
vs. the Red Sox, Chevy vs. Ford, Greg Anderson vs. WJ, or nitrous vs.
blowers. If they split the class, the rivalry might not be as strong,
but at least you wouldn’t lose every single one of your nitrous fans,
and you might even gain some.
However, I don’t think IHRA would ever split the class.
IHRA Pro Mod’s namesake has been blower vs. nitrous for a long time,
and I don’t see them changing that. The only other option they have
is to do something to the rules and do it soon. They are already
about 3 or 4 races behind in making a rule change. As I said earlier,
the season is already trashed for the nitrous cars, but if a change
had been made earlier it wouldn’t be this way. If they act now, at
least they can still have nitrous cars showing up to their races and
putting on a good show, and maybe even winning a race or two.
If they were to make a rule change, I’m convinced that
it would not send the blowers to the back of the pack. It never has,
and it’s not what I or anyone else wants. We merely want competitive
racing. When was the last time nitrous cars were the top 8, 9, or 10
qualifiers at several races? You’ll have to dig way back in the
archives to find that one. But that’s not what we want. We don’t want
1991. We want 2005, when the class was the most competitive it has
ever been.
If IHRA doesn’t make a change, you very well could see
me along with many other nitrous racers such as Shannon Jenkins and
Mike Castellana running a different series next season. If Kenny
Nowling gets a few more races on his American Drag Racing League
schedule and gets the purse for Pro Nitrous on par with Pro Extreme,
I can’t think of one nitrous team that isn’t prepared to go run ADRL
instead of IHRA next year if IHRA doesn’t do something. This isn’t a
threat, just the facts. We may have a very viable alternative to IHRA
next season, and instead of running both series, you may only find us
at the ADRL.
As I stated earlier, this is not intended to stir
controversy or anger anyone. This is my way of trying to open some
eyes. The simple truth is that you probably wouldn’t believe how
serious I am about racing. It is not a hobby for me; it is my
passion, and I have made many sacrifices and devoted my life to it
for 31 years. It is also how I have made most of my living and
supported my family since 1986. I, like all the other nitrous teams,
have sponsors that support me, and I have to give them something in
return. And that something is to see me run on Sunday. I just want to
race. So does every other hard working nitrous team out there. We are
competitors, in search of nothing but good, fair competition.
I have the support of many members of the racing
community in writing and publishing this letter. This is not one
man’s rant or personal complaints towards the IHRA. This is a
collection of thoughts, facts, and opinions shared by many of my
peers and I for quite a while. I suppose I have been unofficially
designated as the spokesman for this group. From this position, I
urge you as a driver, team owner, crew member, sponsor, family
member, supporting manufacturer, and most importantly a fan of Pro
Modified racing or Pro Modified in general to let your voice be
heard. You can do this by contacting the IHRA officials listed below
by e-mail or by phone and give them your opinion and show your support.
We want just one thing. We want to race.
Sincerely,
Charles Carpenter
(704) 537-7347
ccarpen55@aol.com
Below is a list of IHRA contacts:
Skooter Peaco
Vice President of Race Operations
Phone: 419-660-4217
skooterpeaco@livenation.com
Mike Baker
Director of Competition & Technical Services
Phone: 419-660-4206
michaelbaker@livenation.com
Mike Perry
Assistant Editorial Director, Drag Review Magazine
Phone: 419-660-4213
mikeperryihra@livenation.com
IHRA Offices
Phone: 419-663-6666
Fax: 419-663-4472
comments@ihra.com
END LETTER
BEGIN STATS:
IHRA stats comparison 2005 vs. 2006
(Thru Edmonton, excluding Virginia in 2005 since there was no event
there in 2006)
San Antonio 2005
9 blower cars on grounds, 12 nitrous
Low qualifier – Ed Hoover 6.197
Bump – 7.09
Blowers qualified – 7 , Nitrous – 9
Nitrous cars qualified in positions 3,4,5,7,8,10,11,14, and 15
Blower vs. nitrous final
Final qualifying DA 1,600 ft.
No final night session
San Antonio 2006
20 blower cars, 13 nitrous
Low Q – Distefano 6.062
Bump – 6.19
Blowers qualifed – 13, Nitrous – 3
Nitrous cars qualified in positions 11, 12, and 16
All nitrous cars out first round
Final qualifying DA 1,200 ft.
Comparison notes:
Over twice the blowers in 2006 than 2005, only 1 more nitrous.
Highest nitrous qualifier in 2006 – 11th
2006 bump spot was .002 quicker than #1 spot in 2005.
65% of blower cars on grounds qualified, 23% of nitrous. – 1/3rd of
the blowers percentage.
Difference between quickest blower and nitrous qualifiers in 2006-
almost 9 hundredths
Bump spot dropped nearly 1 second from 05 to 06.
Rockingham Spring 2005
10 blower cars on grounds, 20 nitrous
Low qualifier – Quain Stott 6.161
Bump – 6.336
Blowers qualified – 5 , Nitrous – 11
Nitrous cars qualified in positions 2,4,5,7,9,10, and 12 thru 16
Blower vs. blower final, but 2 nitrous and 2 blowers in semis
No final night session
Final session DA 1,529 ft.
Rockingham Spring 2006
20 blower cars, 14 nitrous
Low Q – D’Aprile 6.132
Bump – 6.218
Blowers qualifed – 12, Nitrous – 4
Nitrous cars qualified in positions 4, 6, 7, and 13
Blower vs. blower final, 1 nitrous in semis,
No final night session
Final session DA 1,465 ft.
Comparison Notes:
Nearly identical DA both years.
Bump spot dropped over a tenth from 05 to 06.
Twice the blowers in 06, six less nitrous cars in the heart of
nitrous country.
60% of blowers on grounds qualified, 28% of nitrous. – less than half
the blowers percentage.
Grand Bend 2005
11 blower cars on grounds, 12 nitrous
Low qualifier – Jenkins 6.191
Bump – 6.374
Blowers qualified – 8 , Nitrous – 8
Nitrous cars qualified in positions 1,4,5,6,9,10,11, and 16
All nitrous final, but 2 blowers and 2 nitrous in semis
Final session DA 2,600 ft.
Grand Bend 2006
18 blower cars, 11 nitrous
Low Q – D’Aprile 6.084
Bump – 6.251
Blowers qualifed – 10, Nitrous – 6
Nitrous cars qualified in positions 10 thru 13, 15, and 16.
Only 2 nitrous cars made it out of first round, none made it out of
2nd round.
No final night session
Final session DA 1,404 ft. during the day
Comparison Notes:
Bump spot dropped over a tenth from 05 to 06.
Highest nitrous qualifier – 10th
Difference between quickest nitrous and quickest blower qualifiers in
2006 – 14 hundredths
7 more blowers, 1 less nitrous in 2006.
Edmonton 2005
10 blower cars on grounds, 11 nitrous
Low qualifier – Billes 6.150
Bump – 6.482
Blowers qualified – 8 , Nitrous – 8
Nitrous cars qualified in positions 2,4,5,6,9,11, and 14 thru 16
Blower vs. nitrous final, but 3 blowers and 1 nitrous in semis
No final night session
Final session DA 3,407 ft.
Edmonton 2006
14 blower cars, 11 nitrous
Low Q – Cannon 6.119
Bump – 6.242
Blowers qualifed – 11, Nitrous – 5
Nitrous cars qualified in positions 3,9,12,14, and 16
Blower vs. blower final, 1 nitrous in semis,
Final session DA 3,477 ft.
Comparison Notes:
Nearly identical DA both years.
Bump spot dropped 2.5 tenths from 05 to 06.
79% of blowers on grounds qualified, 45% of nitrous.
Overall Comparisons 2005 vs. 2006
Thru Edmonton (not including Virginia in 2005) both years:
Average blower car count: 2005- 10 2006- 18 nearly double in 06
Average nitrous car count: 2005- 14 2006- 12 about the same, a
little less in 06
Average low qualifier ET: 2005- 6.175 2006- 6.098 difference –
nearly 8 hundredths
Average bump spot ET: 2005- 6.571 2006- 6.225 difference –
3.5 tenths
Average blower qualifying ET in 2005- 6.338
Average nitrous qualifying ET in 2005- 6.340 2 thousandths separation
2005 – 1 all blower final, 1 all nitrous final, and 2 blower-nitrous
finals, with 2 nitrous winners and 2 blower winners.
2006 – 4 all blower finals.
The above statistics were compiled prior to the event held in Milan.
A quick look at those results shows these differences:
2005
9 blowers on grounds, 11 nitrous
Low qualifier – Harold Martin 6.191
Bump – 6.387
2006
22 blowers on grounds, 14 nitrous
Low Q – Distefano 6.088
Bump – 6.205
Bump spot dropped nearly 2 tenths in 06.
Low qualifying number dropped 1 tenth in 06.
2.5 times the number of blowers in 2006.
10 nitrous qualifiers in 05, 4 in 06.
Highest nitrous qualifier – 10th position.
Difference between quickest nitrous and blower qualifiers in 2006 –
over 8 hundredths
All blower semis and final.
Only two nitrous cars advanced past the first round, and both were on
holeshot wins.
END STATS
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