NHRA launches Factory Stock Showdown for current-day musclecars

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At the 2012 MU.S. Nationals in Indy, the National Hot Rod Association will kick off a new drag racing category that matches current-model Camaros, Challengers, and Mustangs in heads-up competition. 

 

Who didn’t see this one coming? With the recent addition of the COPO Camaro, all the members of the Detroit Three — Ford, Chrysler, and GM — now have specially prepared, so-called “package cars” engineered for drag-strip competition, mainly in NHRA’s Stock and Super Stock Eliminators. This new event, which NHRA is calling the Factory Stock Showdown, pits the cars solely against each other in a special eliminator format.

The elimination brackets for the inaugural event will begin on Thursday, August 30 at the U.S. Nationals, with the final round on Friday, Aug. 31, allowing entrants to also compete in their regular eliminator categories through the Indy weekend.

Eligible cars in the Factory Stock Showdown include the 2012 COPO Camaro, the 2008-on Cobra Jet Mustangs, and the Drag Pak Challengers, each with their various available engines — combinations that usually run in AAA, AA, BB, and CC classes in NHRA’s Stock Eliminator. Obviously, these vehicles are far from stock under the skin. For example, the Camaro and Challenger drag cars run live axles out back in lieu of their production IRS setups, while none of the cars use showroom production engines. The Mustang, Camaro, and Challenger are also remarkably different production cars. To help level the proverbial playing field, NHRA has instituted these (preliminary) competitive adjustments:

Preliminary index — 9.70
300-450 CID naturally aspirated — 3000 lbs.
451+ CID naturally aspirated — 3475 lbs.
All supercharged — 3675 lbs.

Details on rules, weight breaks, and vehicle/engine eligibility are available from NHRA. 

Of course, the idea behind the race format, and these latter-day package cars as well, is to relive the glory days of NHRA Super Stock in the late ’60s and Pro Stock in the early ’70s. Can you relive the past, really? NHRA, and Ford, GM, and Chrysler, are about to find out. -mcg 

 

 

2 thoughts on “NHRA launches Factory Stock Showdown for current-day musclecars”

  2. I just wish these cars ran slapper bars or pinion snubbers like back in the day. Those cars were fun to watch leaving. Froggy. In comparison, these modern cars with their four links and trick shocks just kinda drive away.

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