I'd be public enemy number one on this circuit. Lol
I'd be public enemy number one on this circuit. Lol
The POSSEE wedge cars in CA were scary fast. The one time they ran at our beloved and long gone Grass Valley D shaped red clay 1/4 Jim Tryon with a killer small block Ford machine broke the track's winged sprint car record. Jim was a very good out of towner and I was a local in a very low buck homebuilt 331 Chevy semi wedge car and wasn't very good in local competition so I sat that one out. One of the few times in 60+ years of competition I was glad to miss a race.
The sport is dying a slow death after Bob Memmer saved it once. Instead of this insanity we need another Bob Memmer.
Around 1983 (I was in my early teens) I got to sit in a meeting concerning the future of Late Models (meeting was at the Little Amana's just outside of Iowa City), funny how the same issues keep coming around. Wedge bodies, engine costs, tire costs etc.; a good group of sane individuals (Johnny Johnson and Dan (not a nice word)(not a nice word)(not a nice word)(not a nice word)ey led most of the group) helped save racing in the midwest at that time, wish we would see people pull together again. Part of the issue is everyone looks at the national level, maybe if each region would try and help mend their fences we could see some progress....
Besides all the exploitable holes in the rules, I shake my head of the wedge body and the fact an old Rayburn is not legal suspension.
This looks fun.
do we really need another class of cars? or is this like the retro series; that are sometimes added at tracks. more of an exhibition than a race? guess i don't understand where the demand is for another type of racecar, especially this.
Seems like the Blue Ridge group has it together with their regular Late Models so a guy doesn't have to have a millionaire's backing to run and have some fun. Looking at the Wedge rules it seems the same way. Back in the early '80s you didn't need 8 or 900 h.p. and $10- 15,000 shocks, Rumley devices, etc. A 4-500 horse engine, some Monroe or Gabriel shocks, a big pile of tin and a couple of humper tires would get you in the game without selling your home or firstborn. Keeping the working man hobby racer in action should be the goal of every local track.
Sure seems like using the 5.3LS based engine is a step forward from crate? Only thing I'm always suspicious of is OE rods & pistons. I wouldn't care if they dictated X rod and piston just put something in there that run at reasonable RPM will last long as the air filter & cooling system keep it working. Good set of rods and pistons turned 68-7200 should last several seasons. Be down to keeping valvesprings fresh and no worries.
Could even go to TB style FI with wide-band o2's that's pretty cheap compared to some carbs.
Over4t,
If you are describing the "small body era" immediately after the wedge, I agree with you completely. Up until 2014/15 or so, you could still win at a lot of tracks with 600 hp