Originally Posted by Bret Kepner (Post 94572)

Yacavone is, indeed, the only FWD NHRA National Event winner. I believe the first IHRA FWD winner was Ed O'Riley at Darlington '77; he's still the only human ever to win a National Event in a rental car.

My National Open wins don't count for much and I've never entered a National Event.

Originally Posted by RockyJ (Post 94656)

I could not resist this thread: For Bill D. The Reider and Wallace "Horsesense" car did go
mid 15.00s and the secret was the rear gears and tranny. The 74 wagon only had the first ford 8.8
rear. Previous yrs only the small rear -max with 4.11 gears. Tom had 5.13s and i think
even 5.57s special made for him. These REALLY woke up that pos 2300 hyd. cam engine.
Before 1974 all Pintos and Capris were ltd to 4:11 and were 2000cc German engines with a slightly smaller carb.But would wind to 8000 rpm if you knew what you were doing.
You were not allowed to change the factory rear in those days.So when REIDER got those gears it was the end for the rest of us who had 1972 and 1973 cars.If i would have had access to those gears i could have easily gone 15s in the 72 and 73 cars.
History lesson: In 1972 at the INDY points meet, [ first yr of new rules ] I owned a 1967 chevy biscayne 283 - 2bbl stick car J/S i think. Pretty fast for the day. But to my utter amazement , there was this kid sitting next to me in his 1972 mercury Capri , in the staging lanes with his radio blasting and V/S on his window. This is crazy i thought , what is a car like this doing in the lanes? Street tires and all. Late rounds i drew the capri, thinking this should be no problem. Dumped the clutch at about 3500rpm caught him in 2nd gear ,and then a funny thing happened,the Capri began to pull away from my 283 chevy. Couple rounds later Greg Rice was the winner of the ist Div 3 race and one of the first ever 4cyl winners . I was convinced enough to sell my cheby and purchase the first of my Pintos ,on the very first day they were on sale in sept of 1972. I won many local races and set a NHRA and IHRA record with them. Finally going 15.92 in the 72 car with the 4:11 gears.
The moral of this story , if someone wants to build a 72 -73 Pinto or Capri with the 2000cc engine and an 8.8 rear [now legal] i think it will fly.

Originally Posted by Lane M Weber (Post 94627)

Wow,thank you Chuck Norton for the kind words. The first two names that popped into my mind were Mark and Billy for winning a Nat`l Event with a lower classed car. I myself have come close a few times,Runner Up in Denver in `01 and semis in Denver and Dallas other times. I have won one Division race in Topeka in `96 and have had three other runner ups all in the same "era" of `95-`96. My proudest moment was winning the `96 Division 5 Championship over a Kevin Helms,and only going to 5 races to do it. My points total was 376,and I was holding a first round loss in that total. Ahh,the good `ol days.

Originally Posted by Rory McNeil (Post 94633)

There has been at least a couple of Div.6 Stockers that have won a NHRA national event. The late Cal Queapama won the Seattle race in the late 70`s or early 80`s with a 61 Impala 4 dr HT, running mid 15`s in I believe V/SA (this was when Stock still went all the way to Z/SA). Also Rob Robinson won at least 1 national event, but I`m thinking it was 2, with his 65 Impala wagon in R/SA. Both these cars were 283`s.

Originally Posted by Ross Family Racing (Post 94479)

When was the last time that a Stocker running 13.00 or slower won a national event? Has a front wheel drive stocker ever won a national or divisional event? Should the lower class cars be in a seperate eliminator (like there would ever be a seperate eliminator)? I've always liked the uniqueness of all the slower cars/trucks. Jeff Ross

Originally Posted by GarysZ24 (Post 94736)

Bret, who was the guy that piloted a similar version to my '86 Chevy Cavalier Z24 to a Stock Eliminator finish back in '86 at an I.H.R.A. national event. I remembered watching it on ESPN, and it was my inspiration for buying/racing a similar type of car (same original body color and type..notchback/coupe)? I digress that I taped over the video footage I once had of that car, because I think only a red-light start kept that driver from the winners circle, and it ran in the mid-16's...any help in rekindling that info would be greatly appreciated!