Re: Modified Eliminator Wars in the 70's
A few more Corvette's that were in the modified production classes...
http://image.vetteweb.com/f/8927131+...rag_racing.jpg http://image.vetteweb.com/f/8672738+...rag_racing.jpg http://img12.imageshack.us/img12/23/mongooseiii.jpg http://img816.imageshack.us/img816/6...opcorvette.jpg |
Re: Modified Eliminator Wars in the 70's
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Re: Modified Eliminator Wars in the 70's
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One of my all time favorites, the '62 D/MP Corvette that Tom Turner ran for a while. This is at Ontario, California for the NHRA World Finals.
Danny Durham |
Re: Modified Eliminator Wars in the 70's
from highland park ,nj mike boyles was a ups driver and ran this car until the early 80s late 70s
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Re: Modified Eliminator Wars in the 70's
Hemi that video is super. Turn up the volumn and a 65 year old thinks he's 20 again. Those rpms are up, the 4 speed shifts and the car doesn't falter. Those dry hops are super. That camaro dry hops toward the line and decides to back up and do it all again. THATS! what I'm talking about.
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Re: Modified Eliminator Wars in the 70's
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Danny Durham |
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Re: Modified Eliminator Wars in the 70's
Anybody got pictures of Larry Kopp's '78 Malibu D/MP or Buddy Ingersoll's '67 Camaro?
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http://classracer.com/classforum/att...2&d=1357073519 http://classracer.com/classforum/att...3&d=1357073519 |
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http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f3...g?t=1238975619 http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s...rts80_0023.jpg |
Re: Modified Eliminator Wars in the 70's
Frank, here's a couple of Bob Callaham Corvette's...
http://georgiadragracing.com/images/GDR-00179.jpg http://georgiadragracing.com/images/GDR-00352.jpg http://georgiadragracing.com/images/GDR-00047.jpg |
Re: Modified Eliminator Wars in the 70's
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Heres some shots from back in the day around the NW:
The "Joint Venture" team of Jim Warter & Tom Turner in '74 (at old Mission). Same team again at Seattle International Raceway, also in '74. Bob Lambeck's A/MP Cuda at Bremerton points meet in '74. 2 MP Camaros,, Joslin Bros. & "Free Ride" at S.I.R. (the late Jim Abbott as starter). The "High Voltage" Cuda & the Depuy and Callison Corvette, S.I.R. ( Ray Rice starter). Depuy & Callison Corvette and the "Bumble Bee" Karman Ghia, S.I.R. A classic NW matchup- The Frizzell Bros. "Suddenly II" Camaro against Terry Hoard's "Samurai Warrior", S.I.R. I can still hear it buzzing, incredibly loud. The last four were actually taken in 1980. Danny Durham |
Re: Modified Eliminator Wars in the 70's
Thanks HM....
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http://classracer.com/classforum/att...2&d=1357357388 http://classracer.com/classforum/att...3&d=1357357388 http://classracer.com/classforum/att...4&d=1357357388 http://classracer.com/classforum/att...5&d=1357357388 http://classracer.com/classforum/att...6&d=1357357388 http://classracer.com/classforum/att...7&d=1357357388 http://classracer.com/classforum/att...8&d=1357357388 |
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Re: Modified Eliminator Wars in the 70's
My brother and I bought this Butch Leal B/MP Duster last week.
It will be going through a complete ground-up restoration back to 1975. Lot's of things to change but it's all there and in great shape. We have established contact with Gary Hansen who initialy constructed the car at Ron Butler's and he will advise us on important original details. http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y93...pspsrx7855.jpg http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y93...psk8il1hwl.jpg |
Re: Modified Eliminator Wars in the 70's
I miss the Modified Production day's with their high revving engines and leaving the starting line with the engine screaming!!!
Why would any sanctioning body do a way with what was one of the most popular classes ever? It never made any sense to me but they sure lost a lot of racers when they did it. Jim Hill |
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Let's see now, the hot combo being a big block Chevy with a 'glide, trans brake, single 4-barrel carb, etc.. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzz...... Pete ~~~~~~~~ http://116.imagebam.com/download/aDo...7s_toy_777.jpg http://115.imagebam.com/download/NK-...larry_kopp.jpg |
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Glenn Hayes please had my name to the long list of people who would love to relive the Modified Production day's once again.
In my opinion the NHRA has made a number of wrong calls over the years but this really was really not very well thought out and many racers moved on once they made their call at Indy. I can still see the long line of Modified cars drving slowly at Indy to protest the move. Jim Hill |
Re: Modified Eliminator Wars in the 70's
Modified was and is the only true heads up class racing there was. Randy Wilson and I have been attempting to get people to support a Modified return with limits to technology so the overall costs could be better. Brodix spec heads for all three brands and internal oil pump and pan access to keep it to just pump and race. Hoped to get it listed as ONE class with four barrel. See the support and then if it catchs on always run it separate. It could be expanded to 2 or 3 wt breaks but start simple. Bring out the old Modified cars, SS cars etc and limit to regular manifold no sheet metal.
Hope since this is Mod site people would hear it more favorably. Interested? Dick Butler This class is currently run at a track in Missouri with GREAT success. All three brands within .02 seconds et of fast cars. How about the post showing 39 cars first round C/SM. Guess there was interest in the limited motor/tire format. |
Re: Modified Eliminator Wars in the 70's
My CS/M car was the most fun I ever had. Always plenty of cars when running class eliminations. Could not believe they did away with Modified, and moved everybody to Comp with much more expensive rules. At the time, many of us thought NHRA would do away with Comp, since they had so few cars, and nobody appeared to watch them.
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Re: Modified Eliminator Wars in the 70's
I wish somebody would start up something for classic M/P cars in the southeast.
Something similar to what Stott has done with the Southeast Gassers. My car would fit right in ( I think ).......... |
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http://116.imagebam.com/download/82b...rmin_six-b.jpg |
Re: Modified Eliminator Wars in the 70's
THE DAY THE SPORTSMEN FOUGHT BACK
2007-01-18 http://www.competitionplus.com/sites...odified_01.jpg There's nothing more prestigious than winning Top Fuel at the NHRA U.S. Nationals, and that's exactly what inspired a group of sportsman racers to use the first round of eliminations as a protest platform. No sportsman division had dared to stand up to the seemingly invincible sanctioning body, not to mention during their flagship national event. There's always a first time for everything, however, and in 1981 a group of disgruntled sportsman racers took the NHRA to task in front of their paying customers. This makeshift group of sportsman racers had been rumor fodder in the pits for a few months prior to the event, yet when they confronted the sanctioning body the issue was always sidestepped. On Labor Day weekend in 1981 they took the unprecedented step of airing their concerns before one of the largest crowds of the year. After all, they had nothing to lose. These racers, many of whom had raced in one particular category for more than a decade, had no say-so as their beloved class was sentenced to the proverbial chopping block. The remnants of their high-energy eliminator known simply as Modified were to be spread out among the classes that ranked above and below it in the eliminator pecking order. To diehard gearheads, the move made no sense. Those on the outside could see the direction of sportsman drag racing changing before their eyes. The Modified racers knew their only chance to get the attention of the decision makers of the NHRA was to hold a peaceful protest to show what they had to offer. The race fans would be their jury. That's exactly the path of resistance that over 100 competitors within that class chose as the nitro dragsters thundered in the background. They lined up, one by one. There were Chevy IIs, Corvette Stingrays, a Ford Fairmont or two, a few Mavericks, a handful of Volkswagens, and more than two dozen Camaros. One by one, they rolled down the return road, Gassers, Modified Productions, Modified Compacts and Super Modifieds, in front of the packed grandstands. Many of the spectators had no clue what was going on, but they had to know that something out of the ordinary was taking place. http://www.competitionplus.com/sites...odified_02.jpg “Most of the tracks had switched over to bracket racing. Those guys at the local tracks were itching to run national events. They were always quick to point out ‘beat me and not my wallet.' The bottom line is that half of those guys couldn't shift a stick and they drove like little old ladies. That slowed them down. They went to automatics. We just didn't want to go to that.” – Bob Gillig While the NHRA seems to enjoy reliving many of the memories associated with their largest and most prestigious event, this is the one U.S. Nationals moment in history that you'll never hear them admit to, and with good reason. It was the first time that the sportsman racers organized to speak out. In those days, if the NHRA didn't report it in their house publication, the general consensus among those in the Glendora, Ca.-based office was that it didn't happen. On this day, the sportsman racers knew that many members of the independent media were on hand, and they knew that this meant that their voices would be heard. Not surprisingly, the moment wasn't even chronicled in the pages of National DRAGSTER after the event. Instead, it appeared in Super Stock and Drag Illustrated and other drag racing magazines of the day. What inspired the protest? That depends on whom you ask. Some of the racers will tell you that it was the wishy-washy approach that the NHRA took to disbanding the class. Then there was a group that saw their existence being penciled away at the expense of bringing bracket racers to the national events, an unheard of trend in that day. At one time, the NHRA national events catered to a class-racing contingent that often looked down on the grass-roots racers. This was a changing of the guard and the racers wanted it to be handled via some sort of democratic process, but that never happened. Some wanted to race in the same manner as they had for years. They wanted all-out racing with doorslammers as competition in Modified had afforded them. They didn't want altereds and dragsters in their fraternity and they certainly didn't want to have to get on the brakes as the NHRA had experimented with in the mid-Seventies. One of the racers present on that day was Mike Keener, who, along with sportsman legend Paul Mercure, teamed up to form the respected Checkmate team. Both Keener and Mercure realized that their classic Modified Production Chevrolets might become obsolete overnight, that the day was coming that they'd have to replace the old high-winding hot rods with more mechanized late-model machinery. The next year Keener and Mercure went Pro Stock racing, only to return years later to the simpler time when they raced class. http://www.competitionplus.com/sites...odified_03.jpg It didn't matter how many of this Modified supporting cast sported “Save Modified” buttons or shoe polished messages on the windows of their tow vehicles and racecars, the decision was made. They weren't going down without a fight. It didn't matter how many of Modified’s supporting cast sported “Save Modified” buttons or shoe polished messages on the windows of their tow vehicles and racecars, the decision was made. They weren't going down without a fight, however. “The word just filtered down to us from the NHRA,” explained Keener. “At first we dismissed it as rumor, but as the season continued, we began to hear it more and more. We finally realized that it had to be true. That's when the ‘Save Modified' buttons were distributed to everyone. It was a pretty disruptive time and a lot of guys were upset.” Keener was one of 125 Modified eliminator qualifiers who paraded down the return road on that day. He admitted that the effort served little purpose in curbing the NHRA's determination to cancel the class. “It was just a big show of support for all of the racers on behalf of their class and the fans of Modified who were very dissatisfied with the NHRA's decision to end the class. We didn't want to go into Competition Eliminator. “I think it got their attention, but it's just like any other group or league, once they make their decision, they stand by it and rarely ever change. I guess the way they did the Pro Stock Truck class is a good example of that.” Bob Gillig, now an IHRA Pro Stock crewchief, admitted the protest wasn't initially planned as peaceful by any stretch of the imagination. Jerry Coley, a Modified Production racer in the class, even formed a group called the United Sportsman Racers Association, to bring litigation against the NHRA. Coley's deal fell through when little, if any, financial support was donated to the cause. “The original idea was to drive the cars down the track in protest,” recalled Gillig. “The NHRA came to us and let us know in no uncertain terms if we drove onto the track and stopped the race that we'd all be escorted out of there. They gave us the option of the return road.” That day in Indy gave some of the racers a sense of pride to know that they had spoken their piece. “It was just pointing out their reason was a crock of bull and we knew better,” said Gillig. “They didn't hear it and the way they looked at it, they were God and what we had to say didn't matter. If you wanted to race, you had to play by their rules.” http://www.competitionplus.com/sites...odified_04.jpg They lined up, one by one. There were Chevy II's, Stingray Corvettes, a Ford Fairmont or two, a few Mavericks, a handful of Volkswagens and more than a two-dozen Camaros. One by one, they rolled down the return road, Gassers, Modified Productions, Modified Compacts and Super Modifieds, in front of the packed grandstands. Many of the spectators had no clue what was going on, but they had to know that something out of the ordinary was taking place. “You would like to think that you are making a difference by speaking your mind,” said Mercure. “Now I know otherwise. Back then we thought we were doing the right thing. The NHRA never said a thing to us, but gave us some dirty looks. I really think the same thing is getting ready to happen to Competition Eliminator.” The NHRA's reasoning for the disbanding of Modified was the poor local following for these style cars. But at the national events there was no problem filling the fields. (What kind of 'logic' is that??--Pete) As many as 148 cars showed up for the 1981 U.S. Nationals trying to gain a berth in the 48-car field. Traditionally, Division 7 (home of the NHRA at the time) had a poor contingent of Modified cars on a regular basis. Mike Edwards, a current NHRA Pro Stock racer, will forever be remembered as the last driver to win a Modified Eliminator championship. Edwards never got to wear his rightfully earned #1 ranking on the window the next year. He took part in the protest. “I remember that day very well,” said Edwards. “We were just trying to stand up for our class. We loved the class and it was special for each one of us. That's where my roots are. We didn't prevail, but it couldn't take away the love I had for it. I loved the old wheelstanding Corvettes and all the cars in the class like that. “I hated to see it die. When I was growing up I learned to race in that class. Some people aspired to run Pro Stock, but for me it was Modified Eliminator. I think Modified got more notoriety than the classes that it was broken up and put into. The real racing fans understood Modified.” The NHRA's plan was to take the quicker Modified Production classes and the Gas Coupe divisions, along with Street Roadsters, and place them in Competition Eliminator with the open-bodied cars. The slower Modified Productions (F through H), Gas Coupes (J through L) and Modified Compacts all were adopted into Super Stock. In Comp, they ran all-out to the finish line. In Super Stock, they had to contend with a dial-in. Modified had been a class that was handicapped on its class records. The big gripe is that many of these drivers wanted to compete only against full-bodied cars with no restrictions. The deletion of Modified removed that option. Super Modified, once the darling of the Seventies drag magazines, could go either way. http://www.competitionplus.com/sites...odified_05.jpg Edwards added, “I think the whole deal fell on deaf ears. At the time, we felt as if we were doing the right thing. It was unfortunate that we had to lose our class.” The one signal that the NHRA sent to the sportsman racers of that era was that their style of racing had become expendable. Mercure said “you became aware that they were calling the shots and that they were going to do what they wanted to do. They were going to structure the sanctioning body the way they wanted to and you could either play by their rules or not play at all. Many of us adapted and there were others that just quit. I don't think it was ever the same for the high-rpm doorslammer cars. It kicked the foundations out from under a lot of racers.” “It got the NHRA's attention, but their mind was mind up. They didn't appreciate our show but they understood where we were coming from. The decision was made and that was that. No matter what we did it wasn't going to change.” Keener had raced Modified for almost 14 years and there's not a day that he doesn't think about his first true racing love. “I wish it was still here. It was an exciting eliminator. With today's money and the cost of a high-rpm motor about 75,000 – 80K, it's just not feasible. But that doesn't mean we can't miss it. We miss it a lot.” Edwards added, “It's just another example of how the sport grows and keeps going on. We thought it was the right thing to do and we did it.” Those such as Gillig admitted that the local Modified participation had dwindled as the NHRA had alleged. Even he could see that there were fewer places to run Modified at the end than there had been when he started. “Most of the tracks had switched over to bracket racing,” Gillig said. “Those guys at the local tracks were itching to run national events. They were always quick to say ‘beat me and not my wallet.' The bottom line is that half of those guys couldn't shift a stick and they drove like little old ladies. That slowed them down. They went to automatics. We just didn't want to go to that.” Dave Wallace was covering the event as a freelancer for Hot Rod magazine and had a front-row seat for the incident, as illustrated by most of these photos from that eventful Labor Day. "They felt there was a chance to change some minds because essentially the whole drag racing industry congregated at Indy. This would be their only shot. There was a lot of confusion because no announcement was made as to what was going on. The fans hanging on the fence might've known. I think the thing was largely ignored and few knew what was going on. Unless you were a hardcore fan, you didn't have a clue. I think it was a rare uprising against the establishment. The NHRA had never been challenged in a public forum like that. "They (Modified racers) were going around cars that had just finished racing, coming back down the return road. The other racers were clapping for the Modified teams. I think it was real ballsy, but the downside of it was that whatever slim chance might've existed for saving the eliminator went away that day. It didn¹t really generate any new support, but it may have worked as a negative. We now know what happened the next year. A lot of media guys jumped quick to cover it." In the end, it was the late Steve Collison, a noted motorsports journalist and editor of the defunct Super Stock and Drag Illustrated magazine, who wrote the perfect obit for the class. During his coverage of the final Modified Eliminator event at Indy, Collison penned, "Modified at Indy took on an entirely new meaning because, in light of NHRA's decision to break up the eliminator between Comp and Super Stock for 1982, there would never, EVER be another Modified race like this one. And to anyone who appreciates the personal efforts and technological achievements that go into these gear-stompin', wheel-hoppin' quarter-mile race cars, the loss of their identity is truly a sad state of affairs." How prophetic Collison's words turned out to be; over a quarter of a century later, they are still proving to be true. |
Re: Modified Eliminator Wars in the 70's
Class designation on windows makes no sense to me. If this isn't an Modified Production car it sure looks and launches like one.
http://115.imagebam.com/download/sWu...velle001-b.jpg http://116.imagebam.com/download/xJu...velle002-b.jpg |
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Re: Modified Eliminator Wars in the 70's
Amen--- C-D-E F/MP 3750-------I remember the first time I went to Pomona WInternationals ---We were the very first car in the tech line and boy did they go over my car every Mod racer watched and watched as the inspectors looked at my car with a fine tooth comb looking for the slightest infraction checked for over 30 min they tried to get me but we had done our homework and had stretched t the rules to the limit inspectors kept looking at the rule book looking at the car and huddling to see if what we had done was OK--- there were no infractions on this day --- here I was a nobody from the midwest and everyone watched intently and shook their heads as we flew thru tech back then you ran off the national record(index)---- we pitted next to Mayerson/Vogelin and they came over and looked at my car as they had heard quite a bit about this guy from the midwest that was running really great and beating some of the "big name" Mod racers on occasion --- we had won class consistently at the Gators,Indy,Atlanta,Baton Rouge, Columbus done well at the Divisional races and had gone some "rounds" at the national events too.We became good friends at this race too. We had beaten Reher-Morrison/ Shileno-Coleman Mike Cannon/Ault & James just to name a few as well as others on occasion too. We had a few firsts in technology in Modified Drag Racing too---Nash 5 speed trans/6:50 9 inch Ford R&P / sideways mounted carbs & Carb linkage/Accel BEI Electronic ignition/Crank trigger/5 speed ratchet style shifter/ Sliding box rear leaf spring mounts shifter/Firestone drag slicks/1350 U joints etc. and quite a few other ideas-----it would be nothing to have 18-25 cars in the class run offs and if you won class you got into the show otherwise you had to go home Great memories IT'S NOTHING LIKE THAT NOW----FED 387
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Re: Modified Eliminator Wars in the 70's
Mopar 68:
Thank You for posting that because I can remember that day very well. I must admit that took the spark right out of drag racing for me and I really just wanted to do something different after that. Jim Hill |
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X2 I would be interested in the Midwest area |
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I really hope you can put this together. Beaver Springs in Central Pa. has a M/P class for there Nostalgia Nationals. http://www.beaversprings.com/ We run N/SS so I don't have a dog in this hunt. But the Gassers. Nostalgia Funny Cars. Slingshots, Nostalgia Pro Stock along with the N/SS Cars all have there own organization, A M/P Organization would be a great addition ! |
Re: Modified Eliminator Wars in the 70's
It sure would be nice to see some of the old modified eliminator cars come out of mothballs.
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Anybody remember an early (60-61) Falcon called the "Hoss Fly"? It ran B/MP in the late 60s in West Alabama and East Miss. Probably never made it to national event but sure a fun little car to watch.
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Re: Modified Eliminator Wars in the 70's
that california flash duster is on racingjunk for sale
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Re: Modified Eliminator Wars in the 70's
OK I'm not old enough to remember modified production but isn't Modified stock pretty similar?
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Screaming water box RPM`s and dry hops to the starting line The high RPM launch and gear changing was very intense Todays cars are much smoother...and faster but automatics don't quite replicate it There is a SS/K Shoot-out video on YouTube, though not MP,its worth watching Mike A114 P/SA |
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http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y93...psay7pjzvs.jpg http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y93...ps1u2w12lh.jpg |
Re: Modified Eliminator Wars in the 70's
ghost missle,so that car is no longer aval on racing junk,was thinking of buying it
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