Dec 25, 2004 Courtesy Epha Racing

In light of NHRA's decision to once again change the rules in TAD, EPHA Hose Protection Products has decided to no longer sponsor an NHRA TAD team. As company President and CEO "It is my own personal beliefs that the powers to be at the NHRA that are making these decisions don't have a clue as to what they are doing and how it will impact these cars and their sponsors". I cannot and will not in good faith continue to support racing in a class ran by an organization that makes decisions like this new 96% nitro rule. It appears to us that this is more about oiling the squeaky wheel that it is about racing. I am going to retire on top as the NHRA 2004 Champion / World Record Holder. I may find some other venue to race in or something else to do but as for right now NO decisions have been made. Our entire operation is up for sale and we will just have to see what the future will bring. Mitch Myers

I don't believe he is the only guy to make this decision. The worse thing about this scenerio is that now the NHRA has got both the blower guys and the A/Fuelers pissed off, when they could of fixed this with the gizmo and the new ignition. I don't think this was the only factor in Mitch's decion though, as his crew chief (with very good insight into this) was rumored not to be returning next year anyway. He will be with a fuel team for 1/2 the season and also will be tuning Duane Shields to start the year at least.

Nov.22, 2004

The "TAD" story, past present and ....................is there a future? (by Dean Murdoch)

Three weeks ago at the final Lucas Oil series event of the year at the Strip at Las Vegas, there was carnage galore, and it started in the Thursday optional test session. Both TAD and TAFC were responsible for the delays including an unfortunate TAD crash, and a few message boards were abuzz with complaints and ideas on what to do with the class. When you add in the disparity issues and you have a full category 5 storm brewing. Here is my take on what need to be done (and what actually was done as the new rules came down today)

Starting with a few comments from the Nitromater (with a link to the topic) message board.........

Chris Blair's Statement "Yes we do have a few problems with oil and I hope that the alcohol community will start policing themselves so we can continue to provide safe tracks to all participants"

Stan's Statement, " I can remember when there were no alcohol classes! The diggers were either Nitro or GAS powered. I do not understand this penchant for using alcohol.....too many drawbacks".

KB301 Statement "Something has to be done! "

The above quotes were taken from a drag racing message board two weeks ago after the Las Vegas Divisional race when the top alcohol classes had a bad weekend for oil downs and on track delays.
And since I started this story, the NHRA has come out with its rule change to the class, (a nitro percentage of 96) which will NOT do what THE TEAMS lobbied for. Teams on both side of the coin.

.............all the above statements from the message board (nitromater) are true but, I'm sorry, blaming it all on the BAD's is only partly right. IT IS way more NHRA's problem. And the answer to get rid of them (the class) or fine them is not the answer. It is easy for the blame to be put solely on the TAD contingent (all mostly the BADs).
NHRA really did not create the entire problem it either, but it was due to the evolution of a class that has two different types of cars. One type of car (the BAD's) that had been dominant for so many years and has now reached the end of their potential (probably at 95% efficiency) with the current rules, at the same time the other car sucked and was not even close to competitive. But it was "NITRO", and the old school (they are the ones that have been doing it for all these years) stuck with it and it started to pay off, in the early 90's. Their efficiency based on today's #''s is at maybe 80%. During the early 90's, the NHRA started to handicap the BAD's and it was not because the A/Fuelers were whining, but because companies that were involved in the class started to complain that certain combos had an unfair advantage, so those combos got penalized with weight. Yes, the BAD's were the first to get weight penalties. Some got penalized right out of existence. From there, the NHRA started to limit new technology, mainly in part of, of the introduction of the new screw blowers, and the fact that they were evolving too quickly, and the complaint was the teams could not keep up with the evolving technology. So NHRA in their wisdom, said no more evolving guys, get used to what you've got, cause you aren't getting any more. So in part, the guys paying the bills were their own worst enemy, because they were the ones that opened their mouths. Everything was relatively happy for about a year, and then, guess what, The A/Fueler's were starting to find out more about what their cars liked and needed. Bigger pumps and more mag. The NHRA did not limit that part of the evolution of the class. So what happened, they got quicker to the point where the caught the BAD's and now having surpassed them by a wide margin. What have the BAD's done in response to the increased performance of the A/Fuelers. Well, they could not add new technology, the two or three obvious advances that would of helped them, they were not allowed to use. So what did they do?
They had to do something to try and stay competitive. You can only take being fodder for so long (especially after years of dominance, the ego takes a hard hit). THEY REVVED THEIR ENGINES HIGHER!!!
They had to! They were not given any performance enhancers. They are in a class that has no handicap start and is supposed to be close in parity.

(As far as the parity issue goes, way back when the A/Fuel had no chance, the reason they did not scream and complain at that time, was because the guys running that combo, knew it had potential, and knew they were in the vast minority, only 10% of the class ran A/Fuel, so the NHRA would not have considered changes then anyway.)

That is where the problem exists. The NHRA caused the problem by allowing the A/Fuelers to advance at a rapid rate with every bit of technology that the TF cars have, except management and a blower, and not having the foresight to see that the alcohol burning engines could not benefit from any of the stuff the A/Fuelers had at their disposal, yet they put a kibosh on any development on the BAD part of the class (they were thinking inside the box, to steal a quote from a an A/Fuel team member).

And to the NHRA's credit, they were smart enough in their thought process to know, that the A/Fuelers (who were cannon fodder for so long), would bite on all this technology, because those in the class, saw potential, and knew they would soon be kicking BAD ass. And all this happened, including an increase of performance of 65/100ths second, in essentially a decade (1993-2002). The BAD's on the other hand, made great strides in their performance for a five year period (1992-1997), when the screw blowers became common place and their performance jumped from 5.75 - 5.40's. Since then, the performance has improved by .19 second.
The biggest DISPARITY in all this is, that the increased performance has not resulted in one cent more money in prize money, in fact the qualifying money at nationals is now gone.

Over the last few seasons, two weight increases to the A/Fuelers have happened, and yes, it was relatively expensive, because no racer wants to go out and go slower, so they found more in their combinations (efficiency with a smaller size engine), which cost a an arm and a leg, and within a couple month's were back to where they were before. The BAD's were forced to a smaller engine due to their required weight break as well.
So they (BADs) are revving their engines even higher, you know they want to have some chance, and rpms were the only way to go quicker (remember, they were already at their potential).
Some have used the excuse that a guy like Santos managed to compete with the A/Fuelers for all those years and he ran 5.20's a few years ago, so why can't everyone else.

To that I say this, if Rick Santos and the O'Bannon team thought they could stay competitive with the A/Fuelers without spending mid six to close to seven figures, don't you think they would still be doing it?
Jack was spending an obscene amount of money to win, and a lot of the money came out of his pocket, not just "Oakwood Homes". Can you justify to yourself, your family and everyone that is financing the operation, that it is worthwhile to keep doing it, when the other car in the class is spending way less than half (in parts and maintenance) and going quicker. (10,500 vs 6,000 rpms is a bit of a difference).

How fast would the Santos car be going right now if they were still racing a BAD. Good question? It is a given they would be running more 5.20's than the class has been lately. But because of the efficiency of the class they would likely of run a best of 5.25. Morgan Lucas, Bill Reichert, Mitch Myers, Ashley Force, Duane Shields and Randy Meyer are all doing that regularly. And at Vegas, Mitch Myers went 5.25 in 3000 feet of air with a barometer reading of 27.93. The best lap by a BAD in the same conditions was a 5.47.
And then to make matter worse, the class got even more skewed when Mitch Myers went 5.108, 5.119 and 5.17 (in approx. 1900-2400 feet of air) at Pomona two weeks ago in his A/Fuel car when he clinched the TAD championship and six A/Fuelers finished in the top ten (as a side note only 36 % of the class are A/Fuelers).

How can NHRA get out of this debacle?
(Again, since this story was started, the NHRA has mandated their new rule, and again they did NOT do the right thing, they put a band-aid on it, which they will have to adjust in three months when the cars are back to the same performance, and that is just not fair to the A/Fuelers again)

Not an easy question, but there are a few answers.
They should make the TAD class (and TAFC) run at select Divisional only and all nationals. Only the facilities that have the capability of hosting 280 mph racecars, should have them on their schedule. When and if the NHRA does this, then they don't have to be worried about slowing down the A/F's. Then give the BAD's new technology that is out there. The class like all the top classes are about evolution. Drag racing is not like the other motorsports out there. GO fast, period!!!
(This is not about Top Fuel or Funny Car where there is a safety limitation; TIRES!)

The teams don't mind spending money if and when it allows their ride to be faster, and there would be less attrition. They are in a class that has not index it is heads up, may the fastest car win. LET BOTH TYPES OF CARS HAVE A CHANCE TO GO THE FASTEST THAT TECHNOLOGY ALLOWS. The improved PSI "C" blower and/or clutch management and is a START to the answer. The revs would not have to be as high (due to the efficiency of the blower) and they would be less prone to tire shake as well.

Switching the A/Fuelers to a lower nitro percentage is a possible Band-Aid solution, but again it is not a proactive move by the NHRA. It will certainly slow down the cars, and by how much, no one knows for sure since, a percentage lower than 98 has not been used by successfully by the class. Everyone qualifying in the class is running at least 99%.

Don't only blame the TAD teams for increased oil downs. Yes, there are mistakes made by some teams (essential a case of not paying attention during between round maintenance, and that should be policed). But every class has that problem. It just happens to be compounded by a class (the BAD portion) that is forced to rev their engine higher in order to be competitive. Parts breakage is a fact of the class. Also the turnaround time in this class has been as little as 30-45 minutes in some cases. That is the dumbest move NHRA could make to a class that requires as much time as TF does (based on four crew per team compared to 6-10 for a professional TF team).
Is it a good idea to mandate belly pans, yes it is! More so for safety to the driver as for keeping oil off the track. But give them the time it takes for proper maintenance.

As a final comment to the new rule change and what it will do for the class.
A big fat half a * for their decision. There was a very productive TARA class meeting at Indy, and both sides came up with a mutual agreement, and the NHRA flat out turned them down. Then at Chicago the group of racers (reps from both sides of the class), got back together and came up with more ideas and the reason why they would work and again most of the ideas based on the decision made, were turned down.

Is there a chance that their change will bring the cars closer together for more than a few races? I suppose there is. And if it happens to last for a year, then I will step up and say, genius! But I know it won't! There are to many good crew chiefs and resources in the class (do you not think that John Force will use his brain trust to help Jerry Darien). Steve Boggs, if he does not go to the big show will figure it out as well to the highest bidder ( I don't think it will be with Mitch Myers). And then once they are back to the .15 advantage the NHRA will have to do it again. Not a good way to attract new teams to the class.
Give the BAD's any new technology out there, and then they can either make it work or they can say I tried my best and the NHRA gave us the chance to try and go faster. Maybe that is the fair way to weed out one of the types of cars, if infact that is their ultimate goal. The way it is now they may succeed in weeding out both types.

It is real hard for me to see the reasoning in the decision. What was the purpose of asking the teams to bring them proposals if all they were going to do was ignore them? Is it their way of showing, "it is our playground and we make the decisions".

Time will tell if the class will survive. The racers in the class just want to race and have a chance to win. Parity can be achieved, but the class itself is where the best ideas will always come from, not from the suits.

Comments can be directed here

Nov. 15, 2004

TAD final National standings

01 Mitch Myers 713 8/8
02 Bill Reichert 697 8/9
03 Randy Meyer 658 8/9
04 Ashley Force 628 14/8
05 David Wells 625 10/9
06 Arthur Gallant 596 7/7
07 Chris Demke 589 7/7
08 Morgan Lucas 579 12/7
09 Guy Kelly 571 4/6
10 Steve Federlin 568 9/9

TAFC final National standings

01 Cy Chesterman 786 7/5
02 Jay Payne 729 12/8
03 Frank Manzo 700 6/6
04 Dennis Taylor 651 7/7
05 Bob Newberry 650 9/5
06 Tate Branch 599 8/8
07 Mick Snyder 598 6/8
08 Bucky Austin 594 9/8
09 Doug Gordon 590 6/7
10 Paul Lee 573 7/5

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