Boy, where have YOU been? They look just like the '72 Pinto motors! The reason I suggested that idea is because it would give guys who have NOTHING... and NO MONEY a chance to compete and join in the FUN. Sam.
I think the rules that SamIam has drafted are good enough. I'm ready to build and let the good times roll. If we end up with 50 of these cars next year, we can group them by ets and have different flites. Yeh, that's the ticket, kind of like golf tournaments where the entrants get grouped by their "stated" handicap. And if you've been in one of these tournaments before, there is some "sand bagging", but it's obvious and received rather coldly by the others.
I like it! So, now I have to go to work on the car. It will be pre-62(motor is a 61) 170ci slant six with an auto.
Just another idea... but why not let people run each other for the first couple hours... this will be "Qualifying" and after 4 or 5 runs... we start handicap eliminations. OH MY GOD!!! BRACKET RACING???? Yea, bracket racing. The guy with a 13 second HAMBster can get his doors blown away by a 17 second HAMBster... At the end of the quarter mile... the cars will be damn near dead nuts equal... Exciting? Yes. Fair to all? Yes. A way to level the field and cut down on the number of rules? Sure. Period correct? No, not hardly... but neither is the christmas tree. Don't feel bad about pooping on my bracket racing idea... I could care less. But think about it... it will enable the little guy to do good... and prevent the guy with the most resources and money from always winning. Sam.
Looking at all this I'm wondering why we don't just make it a bracket race? If someone has a fast car and he goes up against a slower car, he stays at the light for awhile. That seems like the easiest solution. 'course then you don't get the heads-up racing thrill.
Dont get me wrong Sam, every word you've said on this thread makes sense. And given a thick Rulebook I'd be the first asshole to study every page looking for loopholes or a unfair atvantage. It just seems in sharp contrast with the event I attended last weekend, thats all... Maybe the instructions could be as simple as " bring something Cool, Safe, And Stand on it." Seems to work fine for everything else that ran...
I would also like to be on e-mail list. May even put one together for next year. It would have a alky fed Chevy II four banger. LOVE those motors Earl
Screw bracket racing. Heads up racing is what made it fun last weekend. I got my ass handed to me but it was still ok and I know the people liked watching BOTH cars leave at the same time.....
Yes, what Root said. You can bracket race any weekend of the year. But, for one weekend we can stand next to a strip in 1962! Freakin amazing time machine the HAMB is!
I'll probably have the smallest engine there next year if I make it. Lets keep it heads up and may the best man win, I can bracket race any weekend down here in Fla. This is what made the drags so different, HEADS UP!
Heads up it is... I guess. So explain this to me... I got an e-mail from a HAMBer... and he feels that there is an underlying tone here, a "who cares who wins"... and "it's just for fun"... Almost to the point that if some guy shows up and waxes people's asses... people are going to be SORE about it. Is that true? Is a guy, like the guy with the six gun and tranny brake'd Powerglide going to be given the cold shoulder? To me, that's BS... it's RACING... you race to WIN... you build the BEST car you can, for the resources you HAVE... If some guy shows up with 10k in a HAMBster... and it runs well, and looks bad ass... is someone going to piss in his cornflakes and bad mouth HIM if HE is having fun?? For the record... I ain't gonna sink 10k into one of these things... when I build one... it's going to get a STOCK motor... 'cause it's CHEAP, and EASY... and I just want to have fun... and it's not about winning or loosing, it's the fact that you're out there... hehehehehehe... Sam.
Root, I take back everything I ever said bad about you behind your back... you, my friend... have a GREAT attitude... Sam.
" who cares who wins" and "its just for fun" IS what its all about Some of you may not remember but Flatshoebox and i had a Grudge race held at Ratfink this year and it was a blast. I got my ass handed to me (my car ran like shit) but thats part of racing. That was the first time i have ever race on a track, I was hooked and didnt care that i lost. It was the fact that we RACED. If someone comes to the track and whoops everyone, someone is not gonna like it. You cant please everyone. I dont know enough about "Nostalgia" to tell whats newer than what and thats a 63 not a 62. But as long as everyone is on the same page and goes by a period correct car i dont see there being too many problems. I for one would be interested in building a car to take to the Drags and dont have the money to sink into something other than what these appear to be, so when the rules and regulations get ironed out i will start. It seems to me that most people are on the same page as this goes on but there will always be someone finding the loopholes. Keep it cheap and easy. Travis
what root said. i've been there all 3 years. i had fun. i've never crossed the finish line ahead of the other guy (or gal). i've got one of the slowest cars there. did i mention i had fun. i never cared about who was beside me or which lane i was in. oh, yeah, i had fun.
I bracket raced about 8 years ago. I realized that I'd rather be a crew guy on a heads up drag team than drive a bracket car again so that is what I've been doing since. When I saw the original post about these cars my heart skipped a beat because I had a vision of myself driving a heads up dragster that I could afford to own and maintain with a few freinds. The hamb drags rolled around and reality turned out to be even better than my vision. Heads-up IS drag racing. My opinion fwiw. Brad
Bracket Racing sucks. Roothawg rules. Competition has ruined nostalgia drag racing. It's okay to have friendly competition, but as soon as people lose focus on the goal - FUN - everything will go to shit. Make as many rules as you want, but you can't have competition without money in drag racing. It can't be done. At all. There are just too many conflicting personalities and differing opinions to make something like that work. And in the end, what the hell are you being competitive about? Fifty year old technology? Driving skills? Brains? I'm sorry, but at this level that seems a little silly. DO IT FOR LOVE.
I'd rather not see junkyard motors. Throwing a rod on one of these cars would be a bad deal. That thought and the idea of developing an enrty level class leads me to toss out a new concept. I can envision a cheap rear-engined dragster class using the millions of wrecked front-wheel-drive platforms out there. Of course these thoughts probably have no place on a traditional hot rod message board. Let's stick with traditional for the HAMB Drags. I really dig the idea of a grassroots dragracing boom but where do you start and cut off this thing? I like the pre-1955 look and tech. I hope we see more next year.
What about the people that LOVE to compete? You're making them sad by saying that it is silly to be competitive with a HAMBster. I think most guys wanting to do this think differently... they want to build the fastest thing possible while still looking old, still being CHEAP and still staying within the rules. The design and the RULES will keep them CHEAP and slow enough to be SAFE... and at the end of the track, keep them neck and neck. Sam.
I am strongly in favor of splitting the overheads from the flatheads if there are enough cars to do so. Didn't notice anything about fuel. Gasoline only? Gasoline and alcohol only? Probably shouldn't allow nitro.
My opinion is to keep it simple, and allow gas only. Racing fuel is fine, but no alcohol or Nitro. Relatively Fast, Safe and Fun! Sam.
That's pretty cold, Ryan. And it misses the point of hot rodding as I've come to understand it over the years: You strive to do the very best with what resources are available to you -- knowledge, skill, brains, dollars. From my perspective, getting serious about 50-year-old technology isn't silly at all. It's a substantial challenge with some very satisfying rewards if you're interested enough to learn and apply the lessons. And the rewards can be had without tons of dollars invested. For example, much of the performance improvement to be found in Ford/Mercury flatheads comes from sweat-equity modifications and some affordable machine-shop time. The expensive "gotta-have" add-ons return 1 hp/$30-$35 spent, for a gross increase of about 30 hp -- on a good-running stocker. For 70-80 hours of your own time and $100 worth of machine work you can expect a gain of 40-plus hp. And if you still lust for those "gotta-have" bits, they'll now return 1 hp/$20-$25 spent. I don't see anything about this as being even a little silly. Mike
Mike, I apologize if I offended you. I certainly didn't mean it on those terms. I guess I don't have much faith in competitive spirit. I've seen so many series go to shit because of it. In fact, I don't think I can think of even one competitive drag racing series that has made it using "low buck" as a draw. Can you guys? I hate to hark on the competitive nature stuff. The most important point is that whatever happens, make sure FUN comes first... I've raced for other reasons before and it isn't what it is all cracked up to be.
The Jalopy Journal
