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So, what's the goal, here? Is there an issue with car count? It appeared to me that the car count, in Indiana at least, has been fairly healthy. And, I believe the reason still boils down to the fact that the racing in Indiana is almost exclusively non-wing, meaning that driver skill, setup skill, and things other than motor are the keys to being competitive. I know, and have helped, guys who "detune" their killer motors because they can't get the power hooked up. We applaud guys like Stanbrough (sp?) for their "throttle control" which, to me, is only another way of saying he's not able to use the power the motor can give him, so he controls the motor to get what he needs.
My point is this: If you can only get 400 HP to the ground, why do you think you have to have 800+HP? Crate engines, RaceSaver engines, Stock engines, etc. are all a way of controlling the engine costs but, as has been pointed out, the more rules there are the more important it is to have intelligent tech personnel and consistent rule enforcement. Nobody tried more valliantly than Sam Stockon to get a steel block series going in Indiana/Illinois and, for a time, the series had some success. But car count suffered because there just weren't enough steel block motors out there and folks in that area had aluminum blocks they could race at home, and against USAC when they came to town. Without cars the series died.
I guess what I'm getting to is this: I believe, if you outlaw downforce (and therefore drag), you can build a competitive motor for less than $7000, using some new and some very available used components and you can compete with the locals you're wanting to run with. I know we've been able to do that with the crap in the engine compartment that we've had to run over the years, which is precisely the reason I drive up from Houston, TX regularly to race vs. racing locally with the wing.
Tim Simmons
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