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whats the latest on the USRA SLM


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It looks like as far as running a SLM, you can put a crate engine in and go run Houston. They are now sanctioned by ASA amd have about 23 cars.

nope... i still got my good motor in the car, no need for big changes for houston. It was fine when we could runwith them with a rev chip, but they said they dont need us now. unless we want to buy one of their engines.

i'll wait.

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I surely hope that the USRA series runs in Texas next year, but if they don't, I would love to see the Texas SuperLatemodels come over to Pensacola and Mobile for the Blizzard series and the Miller Lite series at Mobile. Most of them are doubleheaders which allow running on both Friday and Saturday night. This makes the trip worth while! Also, South Alabama speedway in Opp, AL will have brand new asphalt this year, and they have the Rattler coming up in March which will be paying $10,000 to win! They also run a 5 or 6 race Super Latemodel series which did pretty well last year. All of this will once again conclude with The 40TH annual Snowball Derby. This race alone is worth holding on to your Super Latemodel for! I'm sure with the Snowball having its 40th anniversary, there should be some special things going on around it in 2007!

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All I can say is they have the Super Late Models all around us - there is the Blizzard Series there is Mobile there is PASS South that is releasing their schedule next week - (8 races) Opp, Lanier, Hickory, Nashville are on their list - There is CRA kicking off the Lakeland Event scheduled for January 25th - SLM surround Texas but because the Tracks and the Series have choosen not to "play well with each other" Texans (drivers, fans, and Crews leave our State to go race or watch the SLM race - It really makes no sense to me.) I don't think there will be a "winner" in this battle. How many SLM Drivers does Texas have that will now go race out of state next year? 18 to 20 I think - so those serious will probably be the winners because they increased their car counts.

 

Kathy Smith

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It looks like as far as running a SLM, you can put a crate engine in and go run Houston. They are now sanctioned by ASA amd have about 23 cars.

I don't think putting a 900rpm bigger chip in a motor that has a 350 H.P. advantage is very fair to the pro late model drivers.I commend the HMP decission makers.Sorry mudpacker,I was trying to quote racer61.

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It looks like as far as running a SLM, you can put a crate engine in and go run Houston. They are now sanctioned by ASA amd have about 23 cars.

I don't think putting a 900rpm bigger chip in a motor that has a 350 H.P. advantage is very fair to the pro late model drivers.I commend the HMP decission makers.Sorry mudpacker,I was trying to quote racer61.

 

Actually, landlord, we took Heath's car down there, and the racing was very competitive that way. The guys with the crates seemed to be a bit faster all the way through the corner, with the big motor guys trying to run them down on the straightaways. It also seemed like they latched up better off of the corners rather than spinning the rears. I do agree with you though, that all crates is really the way to go; and I agree that they made the right decision.

 

All I can say is they have the Super Late Models all around us - there is the Blizzard Series there is Mobile there is PASS South that is releasing their schedule next week - (8 races) Opp, Lanier, Hickory, Nashville are on their list - There is CRA kicking off the Lakeland Event scheduled for January 25th - SLM surround Texas but because the Tracks and the Series have choosen not to "play well with each other" Texans (drivers, fans, and Crews leave our State to go race or watch the SLM race - It really makes no sense to me.) I don't think there will be a "winner" in this battle. How many SLM Drivers does Texas have that will now go race out of state next year? 18 to 20 I think - so those serious will probably be the winners because they increased their car counts.

 

Kathy Smith

 

Kathy, I couldn't agree with you more. It looks as if SLMs are back in the same boat as they were when TIDA stopped running them. What was the answer then? Run it where ever you can or change classes. It sure is ashame to see all these talented drivers and fast cars have to go out of state to race, or sit on jack stands for a couple years until someone brings them back again. The bad thing is, not everyone can afford to go out of state to cure their racing itch. In are case, the best answer we could come up with for Heath's car is to put a crate in it and run Houston or ASA when they come to San Antonio; I sure am gonna miss the "Super" in our late model.

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landlord, the chip is for the big motors, not the crates. That knocks 100 to 150 hp right off the top. The engines dont rev as high, less stress, longer life.

 

 

p.s. oh yah, the crates are just as fast as the big motors that way.

So why is it again we cant all play together????????????????

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landlord, the chip is for the big motors, not the crates. That knocks 100 to 150 hp right off the top. The engines dont rev as high, less stress, longer life.

 

 

p.s. oh yah, the crates are just as fast as the big motors that way.

So why is it again we cant all play together????????????????

The crates have a 6300 chip 405 h.p.The big motors run 750+h.p.and a 7200 chip.I was on pit road for 90% of the races and can say when the track had traction the crate motors stood no chance off the corners.

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landlord, the chip is for the big motors, not the crates. That knocks 100 to 150 hp right off the top. The engines dont rev as high, less stress, longer life.

 

 

p.s. oh yah, the crates are just as fast as the big motors that way.

So why is it again we cant all play together????????????????

The crates have a 6300 chip 405 h.p.The big motors run 750+h.p.and a 7200 chip.I was on pit road for 90% of the races and can say when the track had traction the crate motors stood no chance off the corners.

 

 

Not quite sure where you are getting your numbers on the big motors. I believe, not sure, that most of the big motors that ran were concepts. Most of those make anywhere from 580 to 650; some actually a little less. Guess it depends on who built the motor. I'm not saying that the big motor cars didn't have an advantage, but it's no where near as bad as you make it sound. I believe that a crate motor car won the majority of the races, if not all, as well as the championship. As for off the corner, even when the track had good traction, you still couldn't consistently get good runs off without bustin the tires loose occasionly; and you still have to pass the guy in front of you, which is not always as easy as it looks.

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chip the big motor down and people will just re-cam the big motor to make the power lower in the rpm range. we ran very competitive against the big motor at houston, but i think once they figure out how to get the thing hooked up off the corner it will be bye bye. or would of been.

 

big john

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Big John is right. We ran a big motor in mods against the crates and 2 brl motors. They kicked our butt because we couldn't get hooked up off the turn. If we get it figured out though, it's bye, bye because once the car gets straight, a crate can't pass it.

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I think the crate motors are a class of their own -

And if you choose to run a crate class I think that is great -

What I don't understand why is it that the Texas tracks run over 12 different classes of cars and all of the sudden the SLM shouldn't be "Super" anymore they should conform to run with the crates? Maybe I am being mislead by Casey but for a SLM to be competitive in the ASA series we are talking bucks. I wish Brandon Bendele or Greg Davidson would step in and throw some numbers out there as to what they spent to run COMPETITIVELY in the San Antonio ASA races - switching over.

How many classes do we really have? I can think of 12 but I am sure I am missing some

Mods

TSRS

Houston Late Models

ASA Late Models

NASCAR Late Models

Legacy

Texas Pro Sedans

Go Carts

Trucks

Street Stocks

Hobby Stocks

Legends

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I think the crate motors are a class of their own -

And if you choose to run a crate class I think that is great -

What I don't understand why is it that the Texas tracks run over 12 different classes of cars and all of the sudden the SLM shouldn't be "Super" anymore they should conform to run with the crates?

 

i dont recall anyone saying anybody should conform to run with the crates. it is an option for guys with a slm car that want to race. houston is an asa member track, but still runs under the hmp rules which are a little different than asa. yes you have to have a crate, but some of the other rules are different. best of luck to those slm cars trying to find a place to race or getting a crate. hopefully we will see more racing than sitting.

 

big john

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The schedules are now posted for SAS and THR. The trucks and Mods are on the THR schedule, so for those that thought SLM's might--just might--show up on a schedule, forget it. Even though there has been no official announcement as to the demise of the SLM class, this really does make it official. I'd be real supprised if the majority don't wind up on jack stands. Most are not going to travel to HMP and buy a crate. We've found the SLM motors are not saleable so the crate is just an expensive additional cost.

TSRS, you have a window of opportunity to allow these cars with minor restrictions to equalize performance (you already allow coilovers and some other SLM associated equipment). Why not meet with your own members and SLM teams to see if there are rules everyone would agree with?

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The Pro Late Model class is for racers that don't want to spend big bucks on motors.These drivers and crew chiefs want to race cars,not engines.In the Pro class factor the 000 car out last season and see what you had at HMP.I like the SLM class and think its sweet.If someone wants to spend the money to run one more power to them.They need their on show and should not be put in the Pro class.Graham Baker is a bussiness man and I would think if the SLM class came to him with a list of cars that would show up on a REGULAR basis he would listen(He always has).If you guys in the SLM class don't end up with a place to run what would be so bad about putting a sealed motor in your car and come join the great car count the Pro class is going to have.With big car count numbers the Late Model class will be set to market itself to ALL the tracks and will give them ALL a set of OUR rules. ;)

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I just don't understand where everyone thinks a crate is economical. Ecomomical compared to a SLM motor, but that's not apples to apples. The initial price is $5000. (rounded off). That's not cheap, especially when it's not blue printed or balanced and designed to turn less than 7000RPM. Send it off to a certified rebuilder to have it balanced and blueprinted and that's another $4000. When you want to have it freshened, it has to go to a certified rebuilder instead of you doing it yourself.

I sell fully blueprinted (bored, align bored, square decked and all gasket surfaces milled) short blocks with Scat 4340 crank and H beam rods, and forged pistons for $2900. Add Dart heads and a cam kit and you're up to $4000. Pan, intake and misc and you're still less than the crate and you have a motor that will turn 8000 RPM and make the same HP as the crate only with a 2 brl. Put a 4 brl on it and stomp the crates butt. And I can overhaul it myself for a whole lot less than the certified shops want.

Someone explain the economies of crates again.

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Jay,

Maybe you're right. Over a 3-5 yr period the crates are going to be considerably more expensive than a 360 motor and no one is making any money off them except GM and the certified rebuilders (I don't think the Bakers are marking them up). The only rationale for them is some imagined parity which doesn't exist unless you blueprint and balance and then dyno ea and throw out the highs and the lows. Even then, those with the connections will get the best equal crate.

The most successful crate example is ASA and it is too young to tell if it will ultimately work. In the meantime, we are the ginny pigs. It's our money they are experimenting with. Of course, we can choose to keep our money until we see if the experiment works (thereby dooming the experiment).

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Jay,

Maybe you're right. Over a 3-5 yr period the crates are going to be considerably more expensive than a 360 motor...

 

Maybe. I am not "for" or "against" crates at this point but I do believe that they have "some" resale value. IF crates got to be the norm AND IF you ran a 5K crate for two seasons and kept up with the maintenance, valve springs, etc. I believe that there would be someone that would buy it for $2000 to $2500.

A guy just starting out with tight funds or someome that needs a legal backup in case the "service facility" can't turn around a minor problem in your time frame.

That would put your engine cost at $1250 per year. If people were to respond honestly, I don't believe that you can average that figure per year over 5-10 years of building, refreshening or replacing "real" racing engines.

 

Just my opinion

 

Jay

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Just to be clear, I think if you can build or buy a 400 hp iron, 2 bbl gas "spec" engine then more power to you. The two have competed successfully in mods at HMP so you know it can be done.

My point with the crate thing was to provide a $2500 buy in oportunity for a "dead" car sitting around somewhere.

INCLUSIVE vs. EXCLUSIVE

 

Jay

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