What it took to win the championship in '99 would only be good enough for fourth place in 2000. A few cars stepped it up and won, but it was Gary Scelzi who won nine races and the title. When we win ours, that is how I want to do it, not backdoor it in. I don't want to have to worry about counting points because when you win races the points will just be there. What I think you saw happen in 2000 was that the 90 percent rule slowed some of the dragsters down more than others.
Some crew chiefs rely more on the nitro percentage than others do.
Now they are faced with trying to find other ways to make power. The engines make less power, so they have to find other ways to make it, like in the cylinder heads, compression or camshafts to make up the difference. There really is no difference on the NHRA side of it. The national records in '99 were 4.48 seconds and 330 mph, with both coming in perfect weather. Late last season with the 90-percent rule we saw bests of 4.52 seconds and 326 mph under less than perfect weather conditions.