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By 1987, NASCAR was running 360 cubic inch small blocks and attaining those speeds. Imagine if they had kept with the 7.0 liter limit, and had continued to run the 426 Hemi, the 427 Rat, and the 429 Cobra Jet. Bobby Isaacs did a flying mile at Bonneville in 1971 in his 1970 championship winning K&K Insurance Dodge Charger Daytona. 216 mph. Granted, he wasn't turning, but this was 17 years before Million Dollar Bill set his record. Imagine if they had stuck with unrestricted big blocks, with today's technology.
Back in the heyday of the big block in NASCAR, 6,500-7,000 rpm was seen as doable for a 500 mile race. We saw small block drag motors, like Grumpy Jenkins's Vega and Bob Glidden's Pinto Pro Stock cars spinning to 7,500-7,800. Now we see NASCAR small blocks going 500 miles at 9,000-9,500 rpm. Imagine if they were big blocks... As an aside, the NHRA has mandated a 10,500 rpm limit on the 500 cubic inch pushrod V-8's used in Pro Stock. Prior to that, the top teams were spinning them up to 12,000 rpm. These ain't yer daddy's pushrod motors anymore...
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Jeff
'72 911T 3.0 MFI
'93 Ducati 900 Super Sport
"God invented whiskey so the Irish wouldn't rule the world"
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