"...Maybe the RA4 was factored to say 425hp in 1969, and then since wins were rare & it was factored SO high, it was the 1st of several engines to get factored back DOWN..."
Never heard this before. Would love to know the hp factors, & change dates of factors & classes run, thru the years.
I have pics of a couple of '69 Judge Stockers, with the words NHRA Nat'l Record Holder, on 'em. But IIRC, they are in either D/S or E/S. So, would that have been the RA3 engine ? Just not familiar with those old ratings, at all.
In '73, when I started, the tech guys at my local track put the 350hp engine in E/S, the 366hp in D/S & the 370hp in C/S.
Have to tell this story. In '74, I ran against a Stage 1 455 Buick, in the Stock finals. It was running C/S. I was running D/S. We were running off our track records. I had set mine & lowered it a couple of times. I assume he had set his, don't know. Mine was quicker than his. So he got to leave 1st.
After I ran him, they said that he'd won. But, there were no time slips given. So, I didn't know if I'd broke out, or what. So, I went up into the tower to see if I could find out the details.
Well, the driver of that Buick was real good friends with the track operator & the staff in the tower. So, they were all up there laffing & drinkin beer & havin a good time. When I came in & ask about the numbers, it was like a pack of wolves had turned on me. The guy basically just told me that I'd lost, so just get the blankity-blank out of here !
Well, I did exactly as he said. BUT, I came back to the track the next week, with a plan. When I teched in, I claimed the 370hp engine. All numbers & lettering on the windows were done with shoe polish. So, there were none on it. And the local tech guys didn't know anything about a Pontiac.
So, they put me in C/S, & wrote it on the windows. During time trails you could notify the tower & run to set a new track record. So, I did that & made a pass as hard as the Goat would run, which was in the 13.50's. That was then the new C/S track record. I came back to the pits, loaded the Goat on the trailer, & left.
Well, the Buick was still street driven. It would NOT run 13.50's. I can't remember if it would even run high 13's. So, it didn't really have much of a chance, if it had to run off that new C/S track record. I figure his buddies in the tower just left his record where it had been. Don't really remember that part. BUT, I can assure you, that guy remembered me & my Goat, for many years after that. Probably called me all sorts of ugly names.
After that race, I pulled the engine out of my Goat & put it into a '68 Bird, so my girlfriend could race. She learned quick. Had a legal Stocker engine built for her car, over the winter. She won her first 6 races of '75, plus the LA State Championship race, held at our local track in Monroe. At the end of that season, I put in a 4-speed Muncie & street gears & she used the car for her daily driver for the next couple of years. Only got one ticket, which was for illegal exhausts, or some sort of charge.
Hey, if you live long enuff, you can make lots of good memories.
