Today's cars

[dirtcrazy4u]

I think if you take the ears off the nose, flatten the decks from the air cleaner to the spoiler, taller roofs, and a 5 inch spoiler with no wickerbill and no side wings. That car is easily over a second slower. That car is going to lose entry speed which in turn would make better racing. I also feel it would make a difference on the big tracks and would not dry the tracks out as much.

[fastford]

We've had this discussion before and I think we are mainly on the same page. They definitely don't need all the stupid suspension rules they continue to dream up. A body that isn't as aero efficient is in no way making it a spec or even being untrue to the historical spirit of the class.

while I do agree with you , I will say this , sprint cars seem to have topped out several years ago as far as tech goes , I think dirt late models are getting pretty close as well .....

[MasterSbilt_Racer]

while I do agree with you , I will say this , sprint cars seem to have topped out several years ago as far as tech goes , I think dirt late models are getting pretty close as well .....

Sprint cars are much simpler machines. I think late models still have a decent amount of improvement left in them. I have at least 3 identified defects where the cars can be improved without any compromise. The fact that we do counter productive stuff with the suspension to gain downforce, leaves a ton of room for improvement. Some of that fact has been exploited, but not all of it.

[dirtcrazy4u]

Remember the basics of a sprint car hasn't changed. It's been a 4 bar design with a straight front axle forever. You talk about shock tech, those guys are in another area of discussion completely.

[grt74]

no wide bores would save alot, but there are alot of them out already, so it would hurt at 1st

[Josh Bayko]

Just getting back to like ‘08 bodies with flat 36” decks, flat roofs and closed in sails and actual tech to enforce it would make a world of difference and the actual change in look would be pretty subtle.

[Henry Every]

Modern edge tech allows the cars to maximize every rule book spec as tested and approved of in shaker tables, jigs, wind tunnel testing, load testing, shock dynos, etc...All the high end expensive stuff. Pretty soon the guy who could afford the technology to discover the minute settings got a advantage even if its super small. Put enough small ones together and you get larger ones.

I repeat, you CANNOT un-know what is now known.

You cannot go backwards in knowledge. Even if ALL bodies were 1995 bodies and measured with lazers, or better yet, all built by one company to make sure they are all the same, then lazers used to make sure they all hung the same on the chassis the modern tech still allows all the other parts of the car to become the next advantage and the cycle continues on forever.

What goes up must come down......Dirt racing will fall eventually. I don't know when, but nothing can progress forever.

Oh wait....This exact thing happened to NASCAR and it's why it sucks on TV. It's gotten so technical it's out of the realm of what most people enjoy and can even be relayed on TV. everything is down to thousands of an inch and ounces of weight and 100ths of a pound. That doesn't relay well on a screen.

Money buys tech, tech provides knowledge, knowledge provides an advantage no matter how small and in a few years the money to find the advantage is out of reach for most. It's what we are seeing in all forms of sports but I think it's more apparent in small time dirt racing.

While I agree you can't UN-know what is known, you can regulate in such a way that maximum traction potential of the cars nullifies the usability of wide bore 900+ HP engines. At present the body rules seem to be a useless section in the book, with the nose companies making whatever they want and the sanctions giving the big thumbs up. Lots of simple things could be done to diminish the potential traction but the sanctions lack the will and intelligence to see how they are cutting their own throats at the grass roots. We use to have weight breaks for engines less than 400. you could impose a weight penalty on the wide bore stuff and its possible to walk things back in such a way thats its less financially crippling to those already invested. But something needs to be done before the DLM market crashes. Its been brought up before and its proven that it worked, but when Wedge cars were the pinnacle of technology the same thing happened, only then some smart people saw the writing on the wall and implemented "Smaller Bodies" and just like that DLM went from declining to growth that lasted for decades. We use to have a rule about not adding panels under the car, "No Tunnels", but I was watching HTF tear down their wrecked car and low and behold the entire length of the under car from behind RF suspension to the RR was paneled in creating a tunnel...WTF? These sanctions are derelict of their duties and a freaking joke. JMO

[fastford]

Sprint cars are much simpler machines. I think late models still have a decent amount of improvement left in them. I have at least 3 identified defects where the cars can be improved without any compromise. The fact that we do counter productive stuff with the suspension to gain downforce, leaves a ton of room for improvement. Some of that fact has been exploited, but not all of it.

when you say room for improvement , do you mean while maintaining the current body (down force ) rules?

[84wedge]

Did anyone see the roof of JD's car? It has V shaped protrusions all the way across the back like some sort of stealth technology.

[ride height]

I’m surprised nobody has made the body panels with evenly spaced dimples…like on a golf ball. Why? A golf ball without dimples flies 30% less distance without the dimples. It’s pure physics. Dimples reduce the air friction in flight. Probably would work somewhat on a race car. I know late models without a roof go faster. Most of y’all know that…but ya…a golf ball has dimples for a reason. You get a farther shot with the same amount of energy compared to a smooth surface.

[over4T]

Dimpled roof has already been done. Recently saw pictures of a Modified that did it with a tractor and a trailer hitch ball. Laid it out carefully and had at it. It did weaken the roof enough that some reinforcing was called for. He said he couldn't tell that his car was any faster but the tech guy at his track said there was no rule against it Some people have too much time on their hands.

[MasterSbilt_Racer]

when you say room for improvement , do you mean while maintaining the current body (down force ) rules?

Yes, I'm talking suspension flaws that exist because we are obsessed with downforce over suspension function. If the bodies were tamed down, some of the issues might naturally disappear as suspension function may become more important again.

[MasterSbilt_Racer]

Did anyone see the roof of JD's car? It has V shaped protrusions all the way across the back like some sort of stealth technology.

Those vortex generators on roofs have been around a very long time. I have an old roof from 2010 that has them.

[jog49]

"$10000 dollar engine limit with claimer rules."

A former Yugo mechanic won't attempt a super engine for that paltry amount. Durham, Cornett, Clements, etc. would see you coming and lock the door!

[dirtcrazy4u]

Great picture. It shows how dependent these cars are. Lip at the front of the RR wheel opening, the back of the roof, bottom of right side body. All done I'm sure in a wind tunnel. That spoiler at the LR is creating a lot of downforce. They need to start calling them super late missiles.

[Mopar DLM]

As long as that engine claim rule works like it did years ago. If you claimed a guys engine then you had to swap or you bought it and had to run it the next week. Lots of upset folks that got outrun by way less engine then they swapped for or bought. Oddly enough we never got picked on because nobody wanted to buy headers, bell housings and transmissions just to be able to run next week.

[fastford]

Yes, I'm talking suspension flaws that exist because we are obsessed with downforce over suspension function. If the bodies were tamed down, some of the issues might naturally disappear as suspension function may become more important again.

Yep , I agree with you 100% , and thus the expense , sad but I don't think you can put the genie back in the bottle now , finally going modified racing with my daughter next spring hopefully , about all me and her can afford ......

[MasterSbilt_Racer]

Yep , I agree with you 100% , and thus the expense , sad but I don't think you can put the genie back in the bottle now , finally going modified racing with my daughter next spring hopefully , about all me and her can afford ......

Anyone with balls and a tape measure can put it back. These things are no mid engine Swartz car. However, it seems nobody wants to. I'm trying to decide if I want to find something else to play with or quit it all myself.

[BVogtjr30]

How about putting mandatory 2” holes in the nose in areas that won’t put the radiator at risk and possibly a smaller spoiler. The bodies are getting back to the wedge style and had to do a complete reset on the body @83? Maybe that’s what we need to look at again. Plenty of cars out there but only @40 shoe up for $50k to win but get Same amount for $5 to win. There’s a top tier of cars that most know they have no chance against and will show up for less money to win to be competitive

[Mike]

Well there is too much money in the sport for it too change now as long as you got this big money in the sport it's not going to change the local tracks can't afford to run supers now so if the money ever falls out then there will have to be big changes

2 things I have said for at least 10 years if not more. The bodies are going to kill the sport and as long as people keep packing the stands at the shows of the groups/sanctions that have the power to make changes nothing is going to change.

For those 10 years the only thing those sanctions wanted to talk about was the latest tire rule that was going to “save the sport”.

The only rules those top sanctions care about are the ones that help put money in their pockets.