Pro Stock

Allen Johnson's Mopar Dodge Avenger Pro Stock

Pro Stock Drag Racing is a class of drag racing featuring 'Factory Hot-Rods'. The class is often simply called "all motor", due to the cars not using any form of forced induction such as turbine i.e. turbocharging, supercharging, nitrous oxide or other, along with a set of regulations governing the modifications allowed to the engines and the types of bodies used.

History

The National Hot Rod Association Pro Stock class emerged from the production-based Super Stock class in 1970 with a more liberal set of rules and an absence of handicaps. Rules initially favored big-block V8s but by 1972 (after the Sox & Martin Hemi cars captured the first two prostock titles handily) had changed to favor small-blocks to factor out the Chrysler Hemi cars. In 1982, the NHRA implemented a new engine formula that allowed the big-blocks to return, due to the popularity of the Mountain Motor IHRA Pro Stocks which have unlimited displacement. NHRA limits the size of the engine to a maximum of 500 cubic inches(about 8,194 cubic centimetres) in displacement.

Pro Stock today

Engine

dual 4-barrel carburetors on a "tunnel ram" intake manifold

The rules that exclude forced induction of any sort, plus allowing head modifications, have resulted in Pro Stock heads being the most sophisticated in any drag racing category, with valve lifts in the 1" region.

Modern Pro Stock engines generally produce around 2.5 hp/in³ (114 kW/L), and make upwards of 1,500+hp while being naturally aspirated.[8]

A complete NHRA Pro Stock engine can cost upwards of $100,000.[9]

Drivetrain

Body

Chassis

Suspension

Brakes

Fuel

In addition to all of these specifications, each car must:

This makes for some incredibly tight racing; the front runners in the class can reach speeds over 213 miles per hour (343 km/h) in 6.47 seconds (approx). The qualifications rounds are separated by less than a tenth of a second across all competitors. In a particularly tight qualifying roster, the difference from #1 to the final #16 qualifier may be only .05 seconds.

MMPSA cars, because of their massive 800+ cubic inch mountain motors, dip into the 6.30's at almost 220 miles per hour (354 km/h). Recently, a few cars have dipped into the 6.20s, with Brian Gahm being the first with a 6.29 second pass at Grand Bend Motorplex.

NHRA Pro Stock Champions (1974–present)

The most successful winning driver in Pro Stock is 10 times champion Bob Glidden. The driver with the most wins in a single season is three time champion Darrell Alderman, who won all but three events en route to his 1991 championship.

Most NHRA Pro Stock wins

Driver Wins
Warren Johnson 97
Bob Glidden 85
Greg Anderson 74
Jeg Coughlin 54
Kurt Johnson 40
Mike Edwards 37
Jason Line 30
Darrell Alderman 28
Lee Shepherd 26
Jim Yates 28

See also

External links

References

  1. http://www.enginebuildermag.com/2011/07/pro-stock-engine-technology/
  2. http://www.motorsport.com/nhra/news/saving-nhra-s-pro-stock-class/
  3. http://www.superchevy.com/news/1508-new-nhra-pro-stock-rules-for-2016/
  4. http://www.hotrod.com/how-to/engine/1211sr-1005ci-godfather-big-block-engine/
  5. http://www.enginelabs.com/engine-tech/pro-stock-engines-whats-the-secret-to-those-big-power-numbers/
  6. "NHRA Makes Changes To Pro Stock Class". National Speed Sport News. Turn 3 Media LLC. Retrieved 25 July 2015.
  7. http://www.enginelabs.com/engine-tech/pro-stock-engines-whats-the-secret-to-those-big-power-numbers/
  8. http://www.enginelabs.com/engine-tech/pro-stock-engines-whats-the-secret-to-those-big-power-numbers/
  9. http://www.enginebuildermag.com/2011/07/pro-stock-engine-technology/
  10. NHRA 2010 Rule Book Amendments
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Thursday, April 21, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.