I am the Tech Director for the FFW Series. In March of this year in Orlando, Tony ran the red GT that went 10.44 (the video has been posted many times). I knew the car was "illegal" for those ET's but I also have known Tony for several years too, and I knew that he was a competent driver and knew what he was doing. Even still, the track management eventually realized that that GT was running in the 10's without a roll bar and asked me to disqualify Tony, which I was required to do.
When John ran Greg's GT (Californiacuda) below 11.49, here again, John is more than competent to do that (his own dual turbo race car runs in the mid 6's at over 214 MPH) and in this case, no one at the track was paying attention. This is what typically happens. There are still some track people that don't realize the poptential of the GT and don't look too closely during the tech inspection. As the man posted above, much of the time you can get away with it, at least until the track finally sees "the problem".
As a certified SFI Tech Inspector, I see "the problem" and tried my damndest to get NHRA to change the rules for the GT. In fact, Greg and I went over to NHRA headquarters and met with their tech official but unfortunately, no matter how much logical information we gave them, they refused to issue a waiver for the GT. They did promise to look into it but as of this moment, I have heard no positive response.
So, if you go to a drag strip and they ask how quick it goes, tell them it runs 11.80, and run it until they stop you, LOL.
At the Accufab sponsored GT Roundup in October (at an NHRA track), I will be teching the cars and as long as the driver has a helmet and long pants, he can have at it, until the track comes down on me.
George