70's & 80's Pro Stockers

[Dan Bennett]

Originally Posted by a990hemi

Wisconsin Pro Stock racer Larry Peternel campaigned a very unique Chrysler Imperial back in the early 80s.

You had to admire Peternel's determination to race. The last few times I saw him, he had a GM F-body in a well used Chapparal trailer. The wheelie bars were two piece; he'd unbolt the back half so he could get the trailer door shut. Just about everytime I saw the guy race, he was absolutely a one man team. Others had crews all over the starting line, but Larry managed to get in the water, do his burnout, and stage properly all by himself.

I always liked the "off the wall" cars even though they were seldom competitive. The Gapp & Roush Taxi is about the only one I can think of that did very well.

A neat pairing would have been the "Beyond Criticism" Cadillac Eldorado in the other lane, though I'm not sure if the cars were being raced at exactly the same time.

The Eldo carried a bunch of gold plating. I saw it get wrecked heavily at Gateway with Ed Dixon at the controls and I'm thinking that was the end of it. As I remember, the car was based out of Florida by Global Industries or something like that.