Forum: HoseHeads Sprint Car General Forum (go)
Moderators: dirtonly  /  dmantx  /  hosehead

Apparently Smoke said something in an interview here this week that his car could run anywhere in the country, but their (referring to the Swindells) cars could only run at the Chili Bowl. I know the Chili Bowl is unsanctioned & all and everyone has an opportunity to do whatever they want essentially with their cars & spend what they want, but if they really have done something with their engines that's giving them that much of an advantage, what's the general thought on that? Kevin was running laps .3 - .6 per lap faster than Yeley & Coons last night when both had clear tracks ahead of them. Its turning the Chili Bowl into an exhibition as someone near me put it. I like the Swindells & have no axe to grind, but just an observation on the competitiveness of the races.

If the Swindells can do it, so can everyone else.

As far as I know, the only thing they have going on is proper setup every time.

The only things that aren't allowed at the Chili Bowl are V8's.

Many drivers use engines strictly for the Chili Bowl, but are not usable elsewhere. Tuned specifically for the track specs.

Those two cars handle like a dream. None of the twitching you see in the others trying to keep up with them.

I hate seeing dominant cars on the front row, but they earned it.

Not so! A few years ago the NZ guys (Pickens and someone else) had V8s. They were pretty fast... but not as fast as the Swindells. You obviously can't have a dog for an engine, but the size and slickness of Chili Bowl helps equalizes crazy HP. Did anyone else notice that Kevin is using a square tail tank (like Sammy) this year?? It obviously hasn't hurt him the past few years to use the trad midget tail tank... but could help make him unbeatable on Saturday?

And you say this without mentioning the name of your employer who made it.......you should be fired :-)......

Its fine when a Ford dominates a midget race or a dirt late model race. Its freakish evil that needs to be eliminated if its in a sprint car however. If anyone ever figures out the difference, please let me know. Maybe no one knows Sammy's midget engine is a Ford.

Luna's Ford engine style that won 2 WoO titles and 3 
Kings Royals before a weight rule against the best EVER
in their prime and now DOMINATES super dirt late model
racing is no longer allowed/wanted in a WoO sprint
car.... Was Luna a miracle worker?

from everything i have heard....and it might not be 100% accurate....the swindells are running esslinger "spec" engines. not the huge HP engines a lot of the guys have....and bondios 47's are a lower HP engine as well. its my opinion that these cars are super light and dont need the big HP engines to be fast. they have enough HP coupled with the light weight to be fast, responsive and drivable. couple that with good drivers and setups and those combinations are real hard to beat when they dont have to peddle the cars all the way around.

I was told those guys were turned away. From what I understand, all of their hard work was appreciated, but they were not allowed to run due to the engines being V8's. It could have been the next year. I'm not sure.

This is the first year Kevin has used the snubbed tail tank.

I wondered if you were less apt to get spun out using the snub tail.

sure, and they are the only ones that know how to do it. The big teams that race several cars all summer have no idea in the world how to compete with Swindells. It helps to draw a good starting position for heat races.

I really do not think Swindells are spec engines. If it was there would be a big deal made of it. Some drivers like Larson are midgets and weigh 50 lbs less than other drivers. That is the same as gain in HP. Stand Tony S. next to Swindells and Larson and you will see what I mean. The gas tanks are not new, they are just revisited from past. I saw this on a Joe Gearte WOO car about 20 years ago. He had a fiberglass shell tail and under tail was a square tank. They now sell a midgets tail tank that has a foam plug in the back of it and then all the feul sets forward in tank. I think Swindells frames are built lite and would not be able to race them at any other place than Chili bowl. Also remember Sammy is about the best car tech guys out there, and he also sets up Kevins. It goes like this, good luck,good driver,good engine and good chassey set up.

That's what I remembered too... makes sense... thx

worth the hour+ to watch

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQ5BwajMoV8

The greatest knowledge is to know that you know nothing
at all.

The rear decking sloped upwards behind the drivers is a nice touch. Nuthin aero about that.???