Untie the Blown Car’s Hands!
4/12/2007
Unfortunately, TAD parity has reared its ugly head once again. A glimmer of hope was on the horizon for the blown contingent last season after NHRA gave them more overdrive. The new overdrive has yet to demonstrate the gains that were projected, and conversely, the A/Fuelers have once again made significant progress in the efficiency of their combination.
Morgan Lucas’s 5.12 in Pomona was followed by Randy Meyer’s 5.17 in Gainesville, and then the quickest run ever was made by Bill Reichert at a 5.10 just a few weeks ago in Houston. The quickest run ever by a blown car still stands at a 5.25 by Ken Perry last year in Virginia, the mineshaft of all mineshafts. He holds the mark for this season at a 5.28 in Gainesville.
This issue has been rehashed and rehashed over and over again on my site. Some would call it a dead horse. However, by rule changes every year in the name of parity, the NHRA has kept the blown cars on life support. Just when many thought it was over, NHRA dropped the nitro to 98%, followed by a drop to 97%, only to be followed by giving the blown cars more blower overdrive last season.
One could compare the situation in TAD to Pro Mod where the nitrous cars continually seem to be behind the blown cars. However, the glaring difference is there has been technology available that would significantly help the blown alcohol dragster cause – the PSI “C” blower.
Why NHRA has yet to allow the blown cars to utilize this technology goes against conventional reason. More than likely it has more to do with politics. For one to understand the C Blower situation completely, one must know the “Gizmo” story from the year 2000.
For purposes of the length of this column, we’ll give you the ‘Cliff Notes’ version. First off we must rewind a little further to the PSI vs. Whipplecharger ‘Blower Wars’ of the late
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This was right on the heels of Whipple introducing their ‘Gooseneck’ Whipple, with the injector integrated into the front of the blower. This is where the ‘story’ begins. At that time Pat Austin and Mike Austin, along with Jay Payne were the only ones to have this new Whipple. PSI maintains that the C blower was developed at that time and ran in competition by Frank Manzo, Randy Anderson and a third competitor I’m not sure of. As the story goes, the three competitors couldn’t harness the new boost of the blower, and they put it back on the shelf. This is PSI’s claim to having the C Blower “readily available” as the Whipple was.
Fast forward to 2000. The A/Fuelers were making leaps and bounds in terms of both consistency and performance. PSI then furnished 11 superchargers to blown alcohol teams at the beginning of the season. The blown cars picked up immediately, with Rick Santos dominating in the west and Jay Meyer dominating in the south. PSI’s mentality was that if enough of them were in competition, they wouldn’t outlaw them. It really was the worst kept secret in the pits a few races into the year. Too many people knew about the “new” blower. This was much to the chagrin of the blown racers who didn’t get a “gizmo,” its code name. Namely, one Greg Roberts and his tuner Rob Wendland.
