Smell that drag racing fans? It is fresh air. Fresh air swooshed into the room by the near unbridled excitement surrounding the ADRL’s Supercar Showdown class that will be contested at the sanction’s events this season. The Showdown is the first factory-based heads up class in the history of drag racing that accounts for and includes virtually every late model performance car in the world. It should provide some killer excitement and awesome racing for the ADRL, as well as some side by side pairings that fans of modern performance cars have been longing to see.

We’ve been keeping up with all the news recently, especially the release of the official rules, but we wanted to go a step beyond that and get some real inside info on what drove the creation of this class, how much the manufacturers have been involved, and just verify that our personal excitement about this deal is valid. We managed to convince Bret Kepner, one of the men behind the creation of the Supercar Showdown that it was in his best interest to speak with us. Shockingly, he complied!

Here’s what he had to say:

Brian Lohnes: So how did this whole thing get rolling? What was the thing that really got you, Jeff Teuton, Tim McAmis, and whoever else helped on the class really working at it?

Bret Kepner: This class is an idea that has been rolling around out there for a little while but no one has really grabbed onto it and actually put it together. There is a 10-year cycle in drag racing. Every 10 years, someone figures out that the basic formula for this sport is two full-bodied cars running heads up down the track. The sport really took off that way in the early 1950s, the Detroit manufacturers got involved in the early 1960s, Pro Stock was born in 1970, the 1980s saw the rise of Pro Street cars, Pro Mods came along in the 1990s, and the 10.5 and small tire cars exploded in the early 2000s. This is the next step in that 10-year cycle.

Brian Lohnes: Initially when I read about this class, I naturally assumed that it was dedicated to the Cobra Jets, Drag Pack Challengers, and the (supposedly) upcoming COPO Camaros, but my assumption was proven very wrong after learning more about what the intention of this whole deal is. 

Bret Kepner: It wasn’t just you that was thinking that way, everyone was! The fact is, there are dozens of high performance cars out there now that have no place to race. Go ahead and find a class for your 556hp Cadillac CTS-V, you won’t other than bracket racing. What we wanted to do was really throw open the doors to all the high performance late model cars on the market and let them duke it out. Yes, there will be drag package cars showing up at these races, but the fact is, we’re expecting to see guys in their ZL1 Camaros, Roush Mustangs, SRT8 Challengers, etc there as well.

Brian Lohnes: I have to imagine that the Detroit auto companies have been interested in this class because it would be one of the few places, or the only place, that they can actually use to sell cars off of the showroom floor. Not since the 1960s Stock and Super Stock wars have we seen actual factory built cars pounding on each other like this. What have Ford, GM, and Chrysler had to say about this whole thing?

Bret Kepner: To say that they have been excited and interested would be a vast understatement. This is going to be a prime time class, under the lights, qualified eight car field, run right there in front of a packed house each event. On top of that, people are going to actually watch cars they can buy race down the track. We put in a lot of work to make sure that our rules did not exclude any particular cars or prevent anything that should be able to compete off the track. The guys who are in charge of the performance/racing side of the OEM companies are all excited about this and it was great to have that type of reaction.

Brian Lohnes: Since this is not just a class featuring Fords, Chevys, and Mopars, what else do you expect to show up? Have you heard anything with respect to people bringing out true exotics or other cars we don’t normally see at the strip? Have you spoken to any of the foreign manufacturers?

Bret Kepner: As of this time we have not had any direct talks with any of the foreign car companies. To this point in the history of drag racing, there really has not been anything that made a lot of business sense for them. A few of the companies dipped their toe into the Sport Compact drag racing scene, but that has really been it other than some cursory support here and there. In time, this could be something that draws them deeper into the sport. As far as the other stuff we expect to show up? Who knows. Maybe Nissan GT-Rs, a Lexus LF-A, Ferraris, Lamborghinis? The rules are inclusive to all of these cars, so there is a place for them.

Brian Lohnes: Talk a little about that. There is nothing in an NHRA rule book that covers stuff like super fast mid-engined cars and the like. How much work was it to craft those rules and safety regulations?

Bret Kepner: It was a ton of work and there have been lots of very valid questions asked about those situations. If you read our safety rules, they are comprehensive and cover every configuration of factory produced automobile you can think of. We exceed the SFI requirements in several areas and consulted with a lot of people and organizations in the industry to make sure that these rules, especially on the safety side, hold up to protect our racers, the organization, and the sport in general.

Brian Lohnes: Earlier, you referenced Pro Stock, so let’s go down that road. Modern Pro Stock racing is a weird cartoon of its roots. Are their safeguards in place or intentions of preventing this same scenario from happening in this class over time? You are a renowned student of the sport, so history has to serve as some guide, right?

Bret Kepner: The luxury we have at this time is the ability to look back over 60 years of drag racing history to see where other classes changed or diverted from their origins. Pro Stock is an easy one to look at. Once tube chassis, big tires, and engines that didn’t come with the cars were allowed to run, the whole thing moved to what it has become today. (Editor’s note: This is not an attack on Pro Stock but a recognition of the history and evolution of the class.) That being said, we have used history as a guide here and we have several processes in place to keep things from getting away from the vision. One thing I will say is that there isn’t nor will there ever be “parity” in drag racing, that is why we have win lights. Those lights prove it every time. That being said, we have control of the weight of these cars which is an effective way to manage performance as well as the tire size. We’re not going to allow a Chevy Cobalt with a V8 in it to run this class nor are we going to allow chassis modifications. Those are two of the major factors that took the factory side of thing right out of Pro Stock. They are also two of the major factors that have the manufacturers interested in this class.

Brian Lohnes: This is one of the first drag racing classes we know of that has zero restrictions on electronics. People seem to freak out in every other class about electronics and their ability to aid performance. What is the thought behind this approach?

Bret Kepner: It is true, we are not going to mess with anything involving electronics in this class. In our opinion, the modern hot rodder sees the computer as an electric screwdriver. With the advanced nature of today’s electronics, tuning the computer is like giving one guy 10 arms and 10 screwdrivers. It is a part of the modern racing culture and hot rodding culture and that is what is being showcased in this class. Look, these cars are not unlimited performance platforms. You are not going to see a guy with a 3500hp Camaro ZL1 because he tuned the computer. The software cannot outwork the hardware, so to speak. It can be used to fine tune it, maximize it, and wring every last drop of power out, and that is what drag racing in this style has always been about. Chris Bell, the ADRL’s Technical Services Director is hiring a specific tech inspector for this class alone. He is not policing electronics, but he will be exceptionally versed in late model cars, which is not the typical scenario at a heads up race these days so we need a dedicated person to concentrate on the Showdown alone.

Brian Lohnes: I noticed in reading the rules closely that there seems to be a consideration towards the future and what performance cars may be coming down the pipe over the next few years. Is this the case? Was there a dedicated effort to really consider what cars would be eligible in the future for this class?

Bret Kepner: Absolutely there was. Look, the SRT Viper is coming out in the not too distant future. Renderings of it are floating around now. There is going to be a V8 and V10 option for that car. We’re talking a 590hp V8 and a 680hp V10. Ford has a 650hp GT500 Mustang coming next year and you and I both know that GM isn’t going to let that happen without some sort of counter strike. There is no telling how crazy this whole thing could get, so yes, we spent a lot of time considering the future and working to keep the rules tight enough that they are effective and enforceable but loose enough that future vehicles are going to be eligible to compete when they roll out of the factory doors.

Brian Lohnes: Did you have any idea of the response this whole thing would get, not only from the press like us but from the general public?

Bret Kepner: It has truly been unbelievable. We could have had a race the day after the initial announcement. We had so many inquiries about how to enter, where the races would be held, etc, that we were blown away by it. It has definitely struck a nerve with drag racing fans who want to see factory cars racing on the drag strip and this will deliver that to them.

Brian Lohnes:  Ok, one last question/topic. It seems that local track operators could take this idea and run with it. If I was wearing my business man hat, it seems like a no-brainer to get local dealerships involved, etc and run something like this on a local level as a weekly class. Do you see this happening?

Bret Kepner: I can certainly see that happening. It appeals to such a wide swath of people, it could really work. On the one hand you have the older fan who loved old school factory style Pro Stock and on the other hand you have the new generation of racer who can get out there in his high tech car, tune it with his lap top and run it heads up. It appeals to both ends of the spectrum. I see this thing getting picked up, in some form or another, by other sanctions, as a weekly local class, and you can bet that there will be an “Outlaw Supercar Showdown” type class springing up somewhere.