CLASS RACER FORUM - Story about "The Cowboy Cadillac"

Nice write up!

Here ya go Scott.

Larry Hill was the low qualifier in Stock eliminator in 1994 at the 40th annual Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals and in 2004 at the 50th Indy, so when the 60th anniversary of NHRA’s showcase event rolled around, Hill wasn’t about to miss an opportunity to go for the three-peat. There was, however, one not-so-small problem with Hill’s plan. Though his 440-powered ’70 Barracuda is a solid class car that can pretty much hold its own in class eliminations, it’s no match for many of the new Cobra Jet Mustang, COPO Camaro, and Drag Pak Challenger factory race cars. Figuring that he would need to run at least 1.5 seconds under the index to challenge for the top spot, Hill needed to get creative. He needed to find a combination that was so grossly underrated that he could bomb the index. He found it in his own garage in the '86 Chevy pickup truck that he had previously raced in Stock.

“This was a project that I dedicated a year and a half to,” said Hill, who has raced for decades along with his wife, Patsy. “I’ve had this truck since 1983, and we’d raced it before but with an automatic transmission. We knew that no one had ever run this combination with a stick shift, so we could use the original [factory] horsepower factor, which was 155 as opposed to 192 with an automatic. I figured that car would run at least two seconds under the index.”

Changing the truck from an automatic to a four-speed wasn’t as easy as just swapping gearboxes and installing clutch linkage. Hill knew that he would need among other things a stronger chassis, so he took the truck to Gary Jennings Race Cars.

“Gary really did some quality work on the truck,” said Hill. “His craftsmanship is always excellent, and he’s a big part of the reason why we ran as well as we did.”

For the most part, Hill’s plan for Indy domination was kept a secret, at least until he tested before the Division 3 NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series event in Bowling Green, Ky., and ran 1.7 seconds under the index.

“I had a lot of help from a lot of people, including Gene Bichlmeier, Kevin Helms, Jim Schaechter, Danny Byrd, Randy Akins, and the guys at McLeod and Jerico,” said Hill. “I asked all of them if they could help me qualify No. 1, and I also asked all of them if they would keep it in confidence, which they did.”

Having a plan and executing it are two entirely different things, and it didn’t take long for Hill to discover that once he arrived in Indy for the start of qualifying. Early Wednesday morning, when the first Stockers were just beginning the six-day marathon, Hill broke a transmission at half-track. With no spare in the trailer, his weekend appeared to be over before it began. Fortunately for Hill, a brotherhood exists in the Sportsman pits, especially among stick-shift racers, and he quickly discovered that he was a member of that fraternity.

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“It broke a shift finger on the 3-4 shift,” said Hill. “At first, I thought it might be the end for us, but before I could even get towed back to the pits, we had people helping us. Jim and Joe Schaechter had a spare trans, and even though it had slightly different ratios than the one I was using, it worked out just fine. In fact, I used it for the rest of the event.”

With the truck repaired, Hill provided a preview of what was to come in the second session when he drove to a 13.295 on the 15.25 V/Stock index. With a run of 1.955 seconds under the index, he was more than a half-second quicker than the No. 2 qualifier and appeared to have the pole position in hand. Later, during Saturday’s class eliminations, Hill upped the ante with a 13.033, and in the first round of eliminations, he improved to a 12.798, a staggering 2.452 seconds under the index.

“I knew we were fast, but I didn’t think we could go 2.45 under the index,” said Hill. “The interesting thing about this truck is that it is under the same constraints as a Pro Stock car. You don’t have anywhere near as much power, but you still have to manage the clutch. After we got through our problems in qualifying, it ran very well.”

Hill ultimately lost in the second round of eliminations, but he accomplished his main objective of qualifying No. 1, and he also earned a class win in the Combo Stick class. Hill also proved that you don’t need a $100,000 factory supercar to challenge for the top qualifying spot in NHRA class racing, but he insists that wasn’t his motivation.

“I just wanted to be No. 1 for this weekend,” he said. “Honestly, I just wanted to see how fast we could make this truck go. If I was the quickest, that would be cool, but if not, I’d be OK with that as well. This wasn’t about the COPO Camaros or Cobra Jet Mustangs.”

As a result of the Indy performance, Hill’s truck was radically refactored by the Automatic Horsepower Factoring System. He added 29 horsepower to the combination, which means the truck is now a natural R/Stock car and not a V/Stock entry, but even with the class change, he believes he can still run well under a second under the index.

“Our index was a 15.25 and it’s now 13.95, but we can still run pretty fast in that class, and we’ve learned a lot,” said Hill. “And we had a lot of fun."

Hill’s success in Indy begs the question, “Will you return in 2024 for the 70th Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals in an effort to continue the tradition?" At 64, he isn’t about to rule it out.

“Lord willing, yes,” Hill said. “I look at guys like Bobby Warren still out here racing at 80. I’d like to think I’ll still be competing. I’d like that a lot.”