Wow guys, settle down. It was just a few simple questions. Suddenly I'm a NASCAR loving commie racer who wants a participation trophy and is told to stay on the porch? Really? Relax, nobody is rewriting any rule books. In the words of the first George Bush, I'll just mark you guys down as "undecided."
I know I'm going to regret this, but I'll try to explain, just in case there is anyone else reading who likes a challenge. There are lots of factors that go into making speed on the salt. Horsepower is one. Aerodynamic design, fabrication, setup and luck are others. The question I posed is simply a challenge to eliminate what I consider the easiest, least interesting and most expensive factor (i.e. horsepower). When in say "easiest," I don't mean that it is easy to build a motor that makes big horsepower. Actually, I think the opposite is true. But, big horsepower is easy to buy. I'll offer this story as an example: A couple years ago I was talking to the father of a single-car-team sprint cup driver. His son's motor-lease deal was $90,000 for the weekend. That's right, $90K to "borrow" a motor for 3-1/2 days. When they failed to qualify for a race, they dyno'd the rental motor and found it was 50hp under the primary team. Some people might find the challenge of building big horsepower more interesting. More power to them. But for me, big horsepower means buying a retired NASCAR motor and there is always a "primary team" that will have a better bullet.
Again, it's not a matter of "low horsepower," but rather "reliable and repeatable horsepower." (Although, some of the best racing and best people are in the small-bore motorcycles trying to get to 100MPH.) The effect a spec motor is to emphasis the other factors like aerodynamic design and fabrication skills. As stated in a prior post, driver reflexes are probably not as important in LSR as in other forms of racing. Plus, the assumption is that once a spec car gets sorted, the owner would put a bigger motor and go for a record. So the challenge is really for the car builder. I'll agree that spec racing has been a disaster when the organizers try to specify too much stuff. (See, Pro trucks and Trophy Light in off-road.) But, spec motors have actually been a good thing when the rest of the car is left open to innovation. (IMCA and 6100 in offroad.)
Finally, I'll confess that I have a self interest in the challenge. Two years ago, I converted my daily driver into a salt racer as a bucket list project for three friends to go 200 mph. After we all got our "A" licenses, I started sneaking the rev limiter up and got to within 1-1/2% of the class record before I got too scared of breaking parts. The plan was to return this year with a higher gear and get the record. Then, since "that would have been so easy," I'd take the NASCAR motor out of the current car and go back next year to check off the 300MPH box in a new special construction car. We all know what happened this year. Now, since I only have so many seasons left, I'm thinking about taking two cars next year. A spec challenge means I don't have to buy another big motor, but keeps a little friendly competition.
Flame on.
