Dodge, SRT and Mopar kick 2023 NHRA Drag Racing series

Lots of publicity for Top Fuelers & Funny cars but they bear virtually no resemblence to anything that is driven on the street. It's time for "Direct Connection" to step up their support of Mopar "Doorslammer" racers, some of whom have been racing Mopars for 30 years or more. The $500 contingency Mopar pays to winners in Stock and SS barely pays for the gas needed to tow the cars to the track + their entry fees.

billmacy426 said:

You Hit It On The Head Brother

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Here's a guy that should go to the top of their list................

billmacy426 said:

Welch Is A Part Time Mopar Racer And He Managed To Go Nearly A Tenth Quicker Than Everbody In Class, And Set A MPH Record, Hard To Figure That Out.Maybe Home Track Advantage.

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Not really. He was the top qualifier more than once at a FSS event but something would go wrong. That's not surprising as it ain't easy to keep one of these cars going straight on 9 inch tires. IIRC, there was also an event where he broke something and couldn't make the call to the starting line.

billmacy426 said:

Welch Is A Part Time Mopar Racer And He Managed To Go Nearly A Tenth Quicker Than Everbody In Class, And Set A MPH Record, Hard To Figure That Out.Maybe Home Track Advantage.

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According to this race summary from the NHRA website (which I just posted on the Factory Stock Racing thread in the Motorsports section, in case you haven't seen it), this is Joe Welch's third event win in the class. I've been a member of NHRA since 1966 but I'm not recalling that he has already 3 natl event wins. When you hit 80, memory doesn't fire on all 8 anymore 😢 .

billmacy426 said:

He Appears To Not Need Any Factory Help, Can"t Be Said About Some Of The Other Drivers, The Vigilante He Is.

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GM & Ford ain't giving up. If you look at the elim round by round results, a Ford driver (Janac) actually had Welch covered in the 2nd round but fouled against him. We discussed that on this thread..........


See my post #644.

Also, you might be interested in what David Barton (who is now running the Mopar FSS program, it appears) had to say about the potential for the Mopar Factory Stockers - post #637.

billmacy426 said:

I believe Ray Is Actually Running The FS Program For Dodge, Welch Not Only Had The Quickest Car In Class At Gators He Also Had The Fastest Car By Far, He Has Worked Heavily On Getting The Suspension To Work Properly.

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Barton had some interesting things to say about the Mopar Factory Stockers he's working on. I posted his comments (from article in ND) here.......



Post # 637

ironpony said:

MOPAR won one, NHRA will quickly asses a penalty of either 50 lbs.or pulley size reduction. NHRA has been handicapping MOPAR since the HEMI started racing and winning. NASCRAP too.
more then likely a pulley reductionI think NHRA has added so much weight already that they have maxed out their own chassis spec.

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Janac's Ford actually had Welch's car covered in the 2nd round, but he fouled. It's when the Chebbbies can't keep up that the penalties for the others start coming down. Go to the link I posted in the above post and read Barton's comments (post #637) about finding 100 more HP in the Mopar Hemi.