The first time I won money at a Drag Race was in 1973. I had a street driven 1971 Torino 500 with a 302 and C-4. I was at Puyallup Raceway just making a few runs with my buddies (they had faster cars). That night I was approached by officials and asked if my car was stock. I told them "stock as a rock", the only mods are the Cragar S/S mags and nice tires. Well they said they needed another car for the stock super/stock combo and would I like to enter. I said "O.K. sure what do I do". Let's get your car classified and then you make a run to qualify.
Here's the fun part. My car is classified as an O/SA and the index is 14.35 (if I remember correctly). I make my run and go 17.25. First round I draw one of the big guns. He doesn't know my car and he redlights. I lose 2nd round, but win $25 for the 1st round win. I was hooked and started spending more money, but was on cloud nine that night.