Greg

Im just waiting for a 6 cyl Turbo Frame mustang start running in our proclass. Whats to say that that wont happen????? Or Chevy decides to build up a 6 cyl cavalier. Again whats to stop them!?!

SRC13BT

Well, if you look at the Pro rules, its fairly simplistic.. there's somewhat of a disclaimer in there about future changes, blah blah blah... but, just looking at the Outlaw rules:

Chassis-All Basic
All Outlaw class vehicles must be an import chassis with functional doors, barring the following exceptions. Exceptions will be made for domestic-labeled, joint-manufactured vehicles that have a USA-available, import counterpart. Examples include but are not limited to: Chrysler Conquest, Dodge Colt, Dodge Stealth, Eagle Talon, Ford Probe; Mercury Capri XR2, and Plymouth Laser. Additionally, any front-wheel-drive, four-cylinder-powered vehicle from any manufacturer (including Domestics---Chevy, Chrysler, Ford) is legal for competition. Chop tops are permitted.

Now, in case you guys aren't familiar with the rules, Outlaw is basically one class below Pro.. so I'd say its safe to say that there will be nothing more than a 4-cylinder front-wheel drive American car ever running in any of the classes, OTHER than Pro.

Having said that, I am also of the impression that nothing more than a "front-wheel drive American chassis" will ever be running in Pro.. I say this because why the hell would you build a Focus when you can race a Muffstang ? or hell, why not Corvette or Viper ? If the Pro class wasn't limiting American cars/chassis some how, I'm sure we'd see the likes of Ken Duttweiler (sp?) running in the Pro class (Buick V6 twin turbo, right ?).. hell, why limit it there.. why wouldn't John Force himself bring out the old dragster to whoop some import *** ? Again, I'm sure there are limitations on what American chassis can be run in the Pro class.. but I'm no expert on this class.. I'm more well versed in the Quick class rules..

Which leads me to my point to begin with.. why do people care what runs in the Pro class ? I cruised the Supra and DSM forums and people were bitching about it there too.. does anyone know if Abel and Craig Pasiley are bitching ? what about the #2 guy, Efren Vasquez ? I'm sure if anyone would be bitching, it'd be him considering he's in 2nd place.. I don't see him boycotting anything and the years almost over..

waynespeed

Unfortunately, its the little guys that have to point out the rule breakers to make it a fair race. You wouldn't want to race a tenspeed bicycle if you have a tri-cycle, would you?

RX794

I just visited the IDRC website, and what I'm seeing is this:
Matt Hartford (Nelson Ford Focus) is LEADING THE POINTS STANDINGS for Pro Class in the IDRC. See what I mean guys, I can't take this BS. If you wanna look, visit the IDRC website at:
http://www.importdrag.com/
So now aren't they only not legal, they're actually winning!
Please write the IDRC your opinions on this.

RX794

Guys you gotta read this! This is the response someone got from the IDRC that is in the supraforums:
Subj: Fw: Hoyos Ford Focus
Date: 10/27/01 3:30:45 AM Eastern Daylight Time
From: kwgsr@email.msn.com
To: rx794@aol.com
Sent from the Internet (Details)




Hey man..This is Ken(KJSUPRA) from the supraforums. This is the response I got back from the IDRC when I emailed them my letter. Take care....Ken
----- Original Message -----
From: Michael Ferrara
To: kwgsr
Sent: Friday, October 26, 2001 7:20 PM
Subject: RE: Hoyos Ford Focus


Ken,

Please allow me to address your concerns personally. First, the Hemi Supra wouldn't be allowed to compete in 2001 according to the current IDRC rules. According to our 2001 rulebook, the Hoyos Racing Focus is legal to compete. In order to open up a class that was too small up to more vehicles, we allowed both import V8s and domestics V6s for the 2001 season. Although our 2002 rulebook is at the printer right now, there are a number of 2001 rulebooks available here and I would be happy to send some for free to any members of the rx7club.com. Just send us a SASE with correct postage and we'll send it right out to you at no charge while supplies last. We respect the opinion of every racer.

We appreciate the perception that we are big enough to be "paid off." Every single IDRC partner could be making more money working somewhere else. Over half of our event staffs are volunteers. What keeps us here is our love of the sport, fans, racers, sponsors and track families. We haven't made it to the top by having the biggest bankroll, we just worked our asses off and never did anyone wrong along the way. We've also kept open ears and always look to improve the series.

One thing that we found out along the way is that fans go to see their favorite vehicles. If events only featured Toyotas, you would only bring in Toyota fans. Our goal is to be inclusive rather than exclusive. This brings in the widest variety of cars and the largest amount of spectators.

Our mission with our rulebook is to make a level playing ground. For 2001, we explained to the racers that this was our fact gathering year for the Pro class. Essentially, the rules in the class were VERY loose for 2001. We have taken all of the information from the scales and the performance logs to establish weight breaks for the different configurations (4cyl, 6cyl, 8cyl, # of power adders). We are confident that we will be able to have a level playing field for all involved. In our Quick Class, we have had a variety of platforms within a tenth-of-a-second of each other. Currently, four different manufacturers are in position to win this class championship. In 2002, all V8 engines will be restricted to no more than 4.7-liters in displacement. This number was arrived at to allow servicing and overboring of the 4.5-liter import V8 engines.

I believe the action that you are refering to has already happened.

We welcome your support,

Michael Ferrara
National Director

IDRC, Inc.
21405 Brookhurst Street
Huntington Beach, CA 92646
(714) 593-0280
www.importdrag.com


From: kwgsr [mailto:kwgsr@email.msn.com]
Sent: Friday, October 26, 2001 2:54 PM
To: info@importdrag.com
Subject: Hoyos Ford Focus


I am writing this letter as a fellow import racer and huge fan of racing in general. I am very disturbed about what I am hearing about the Hoyos Ford Focus. From what I have read and seen first hand that Focus should not be able to compete in any import event because it is not an import. That car is running a domestic pushrod V6 motor making it illegal to compete in any import santioned event. It does not have an SHO motor like they claim in it. It is a real shame to see that money dictates who can run at these events. I know that Ford sponsors a lot of these events and pays big money but that shouldnt have any effect on who is allowed to run at these events. It would be an absolute disgrace and embarrassment to the import racing community if that Focus is allowed to run in our events and be able to hold any records. Would I be allowed to run a Chysler Hemi in my 94 Supra and still be classified as an import?? I think not and neither should this Focus. I apologize for sounding nasty in this letter but it really bothers me that this is allowed to go on and that the import divisions like IDRC and others can be payed off to allow someone to break rules. Thanks for taking the time to read my letter and I hope some sort of action is taken. If not I will never attend anymore import sanctioned events and will make sure I let everyone I know possible what is going on. Thanks again.....Ken W

Greg

bullshit, That just ended me from going to IDRC events. Only NIRA now

kabooski

email plz EVERY Import racer
rx7.com
srx7.com
PSI
Paisly
dynamic turbo etc
to boycott IDRC races till this issue is resolved

thanks god I live in the east where NIRA rules

peejay

Hmm... "technically" the Focus is a European car, it was released there about 1 1/2 years before it was brought over to the US.

The 3.0/3.2l SHO V6 is "technically" an import, because it was made by Yamaha. Most of the work on the 3.4l V8 SHO (SLO) engine was done in Japan. (We made the castings here, then shipped them to Japan, I forget who, and they built up the engines and sent them back over here)

Hearing about a "4.7l pushrod Ford" reminds me of the old Busch Grand National engine. The Busch series used to run V6 engines of about 4.5l in displacement. Originally, Ford used their 3.8l engine (same thing found in midsize RWD's in the '80s, and still in use in the Windstar, Mustang, and a version is in the F-150) but SVO did so many revisions over the years that the SVO racing 4.5l V6 is in no way related to any production V6 engines.

I have a very strong feeling that this Focus in question is running this SVO racing-only engine. Why not just ban any non-production engines? (So we don't, say, put a Nissan 4.0l Indy engine in a tube-frame Sentra, which as I understand it, would be LEGAL under these rules)

FWIW the 2.5l V6 is legal for use in the Focus for Speedvision Cup racing.

RX794

Hey PEEJAY, haven't you been listening IT'S NOT A SHO MOTOR!!!!!, It's a PUSHROD 4.6Liter V6!!!!!!, So therefore it's not legal!!!!!, BTW According to the letter from the IDRC that we have received, does that mean that someone can bring a Buick Grand National 3.8 Liter motor worked to the *****, put it in a import pro car, and be legal? If that's the case someone better call up Ken Duttweiler and give him all the trophys and the $$ right now, ohh BTW, IDRC BS RULES ARE EXACTLY THAT, BS!!!!!!!!!!!

beast TT

I agree the ford focus should be removed from IDRC.

kabooski

Well Guys
I have a 4.6 Liter Chevy V6 (cyclone motor)
That's been sitting for a while at my friends shop
So according to the reply I got from Mike at IDRC
I can use that engine to race in a import event
Hmm maybe I'll put it into a 71 corrolla I was planing to put my TII motor in.. j/k
==
Roger,

Perceptions can be far from reality. In this case, you point out that you
and others perceive that the IDRC made rule changes to accomodate a major
sponsor Ford. This is far from reality.

First, Ford is a class sponsor for all of the brakcet classes. The bracket
classes have allowed high-tech domestics since their inception. If a
domestic is 1985 or newer and has electronic fuel injection, it's eligible
to run in the brackets. It's been this way since 1998.

The rule change that allowed Hoyos to compete came months before Ford was a
sponsor in the series. This was not a mid-season rule change. This decision
was met after meeting with Hoyos Racing last year an discussing what would
be appropriate with the racers in the class.

As for pushrods, a pushrod motor has significant disadvantages over an
over-head cam motor. The misconception that pushrod motors had an advantage
over OHC engines came from IndyCars when they allowed pushrod motors to be
bigger in dispalcement. this allowed them to be more powerful than the
smaller OHC engines.

As far as boycotting, we're not sure why we are being singled out. All of
the "import" event producers allow sport compacts to compete.

Thank you,

Michael Ferrara
National Director

IDRC, Inc.
21405 Brookhurst Street
Huntington Beach, CA 92646
(714) 593-0280
www.importdrag.com
==

RX794

I wrote a letter to IDRC (specifically Michael Ferrara, National Director of the IDRC), and here is the response that I got from Mr.Ferrara, also included is the letter I wrote:

Subj: RE: Nelson Focus
Date: 10/29/01 2:07:13 PM Eastern Standard Time
From: michaelf@importdrag.com
To: RX794@aol.com
Sent from the Internet (Details)



Actually your suggestions parallel the IDRC's 2002 rulebook.

There will be no pushrod Domestic Motors allowed and there are very similar
maximum dispalcements.

Thank you,
Michael Ferrara
National Director

IDRC, Inc.
21405 Brookhurst Street
Huntington Beach, CA 92646
(714) 593-0280
www.importdrag.com



-----Original Message-----
From: RX794@aol.com [mailto:RX794@aol.com]
Sent: Sunday, October 28, 2001 4:25 PM
To: info@importdrag.com
Subject: Nelson Focus


Attn: Mike Ferrara
I am writing this letter to express the concern of the Nelson Focus that is
currently campaigning as a "pro import" car in the IDRC. Please read this
thread that I have sent to you, please read the entire thread so you can see
what some of the people including myself are concerned with:

https://www.rx7club.com/vforums/show...threadid=27140

BTW, these types of opinions and letters were listed on alot of webpages and
sent to people that are currently racing in the IDRC. We are sorry that we
have to express ourselves in the way that some of the opinions were stated
about your organization. I hope these opinions may change the way the rules
are set, and how some people are viewing your organization. I think
the perfect medium here would be NOT to allow pushrod motors in ANY import
or "sport compact" event! Also keep the 6 and 8 cylinder cars seperate, keep
the 6 cylinders to a max of 3.2 liters of displacement, and the 8's to 4.5
liters of displacement, and again NO PUSHROD DOMESTIC MOTORS!(That's what
the NHRA is for!)
Thanks for your time.

SRC13BT

But who, in your opinion, is riding a "tri-cycle" in the Pro class ? If the guys running in the Pro class aren't complaining, then why does it matter ? is there anyone here that has ever raced in the Pro class ?

I agree, a domestic motor may not have its place at an "import" drag race, but then, if it promotes competition without pissing off people in the Pro class, then what's the harm ?

kabooski

so whats to keep grand nationals that some run in the 6 seconds area to run in IDRC?
it's a mediam size car a few feet longer then a focus
eh
the focus is not compact by any means
it's a average size car
now the Escort thats a compact

The Nelson Hoyos Racing Focus gets its power from an SVO 4.7-liter Ford V6
which means I can run "any" domestic V6 I want)
in a "import" race
so much for the NHRA

The Hoyos car can never claim the fastest import in the world
or fastest compact

I can put a 600 cu marine 2000 HP engine in a
corolla would that make me a compact?

SRC13BT

I believe everyone, including the National Highway Traffic and Safety Board, all classify the Focus as a compact car (maybe even sub-compact)... a Grand National is much longer than a Focus, a "few feet" is not small by any means.. and judging from the rules, if its an import, you dont have to limit yourself to a compact chassis (thats why there are FDs and Supras racing too).. so yeah.. put that 600cu 2000hp engine in a tube frame chassis and you might just have a winner.. but of course no will ever know if it creates unfair competition unless you build it.. so you should probably get started before the rules change in 2002.. hahaha

waynespeed

Being that we agree ("I agree, a domestic motor may not have its place at an "import" drag race") then thats that.

You don't have to **** people off in the Pro class to see the harm. You are pissing of the fans that support it, What part don't you get? Isn't this thread showing you that people are pissed off.

I've never raced in the pro class have you? With your 87 turboII?

SPEED_NYC

iTrader: (3)

Hey Wayne, you know anybody selling a Grand National motor for cheap?

waynespeed

Go for the Typhoon/Syclone setup. A little boring and stroking that baby should be ready for the blue bottle. However if I hear about any GN's I'll send ya a pm.

peejay

I'm aware. I'm just musing.

It just IRKS me that there are so many domestics that are illegal for import racing because of rules technicalities, yet there are many imports that are legal. I mean, okay... Let's say I have a 3.0l SHO and a 3.0l Maxima... both FWD, roughly the same power, roughly the same size. Or let's say I have an Accord, which is NOT an import because the US model Accord is a completely different car from the Japan/Euro version (ours is bigger) and was designed, and built, in the US. Let's see... designed in US for the US, built in the US... it's an import?

Why not just go by displacement or weight limits... you could have your 1.6 and under classes, your 2.0 and under classes, your 2.5 and under classes, your 3.2 and under classes, your 4.5 and under classes, and your unlimited classes, and just ban solid-rear-axle RWD domestics. This would get things on a more even field. The only non-intended domestics that would be allowed would be '99-up Cobras and '89-up T-birds, and the Cobras don't launch very well (and they'd be automatically in the unlimited classes anyway) and the T-birds are just plain too heavy to race unless you're mental and don't mind losing.

I don't see what the big anti-pushrods deal is. VWs had them for the longest time (the original import draggers!), so did Porsches, so did Toyotas. Pontiac had OHC engines in the 1st-gen Firebirds. (The killer 230/250 inline sixes!)

Hey I know, ban pushrods, ban domestics, ban solid axles, whatever, I'll build up a Merkur XR4Ti and clean house (FoE chassis, American 2.3l turbo (OHC) engine that can handle 30+psi with all stock internals...)

crispeed

Guees what?
NIRA and NHRA Import racing have joined together as one racing sanctioning body for the 2002 season!
Check out www.nhraimport.com

crispeed
87TII
9.20@150mph 1/4
5.91@118mph 1/8
1.32 60ft
651RWHP/520RWTQ
T-72
2600lbs

kabooski

well chris according to the merger
no more home (moroso) racing for you LoL
it's not on the 2002 schedule.

crispeed

Actually if I had a choice I would prefer to race at Speedworld than Moroso!
Anyhow we will be hitting the road next year.

crispeed
87TII
9.20@150mph 1/4
5.91@118mph 1/8
1.32 60ft

silvr94r2

iTrader: (3)

Sorry if this is a little off topic.....but wait till you guys see the Cavalier's that will be out next year!!! WOW!!! Watch out boy.....these car's look like they are gonna mop up! I was at SEMA the last few days and man there are some badass car's coming. I think that import racing is really going places.....even though some of the car's are not TRUE imports. But, then again, some of our domestics are not domestics and so on.......

Gonna be an exciting year in racing that's for sure....especially cause I'm gonna be out there

Luvboost

Well, i agree with all of this. Being #1 that the engine is a domestic should totally eliminate it from any points race period. Even the pro class. They all run import engines, even if some are V8's(paisley's tacoma...hasnt actually ran yet has it?). The pushrod engine shouldnt really be TOO much of a factor in this...the whole domestic engine deal. I have a few connections, and i could run this by my friend and see what he thinks (writer/photographer for SCC&Turbo).

Luvboost

I made a mistake...kinda forgot about the regular focus's that run with domestic engines.On a side note, i'm actually i'm a little suprised nobody has started running a J-body(Z24/Sunfire). They have 2.4ltr engines...that could make some power if built right. My friend has a 98' Z24 that runs a 14.9@92.? with just an exhaust/filter/pulleys.