[Ed Wright]

Originally Posted by bill dedman

Ed is right; eventually, they did run handicapped-start, "eliminators" using handicaps based on head-start distances, but that didn't come along until a little later, and I THINK it was an AHRA thing; I never saw that type of handicapping at an NHRA strip, and I was at the NHRA Nationals in '57, '58, '61 and '62 (all, pre-Christmas Tree.) The strip I wokked as a Tech at (Des Moines Dragway) was using the "distance/head start" handicap system when I started working there, in 1965, but switched to an elapsed-time handicap, the next year. It was an AHRA strip until 1966.

The time frame I made reference to when there were no "Stock Eliminators" (at least, that I knew about) were 1955-1959... just Class winners.

When they started combining classes for a cash prize was when things started to get complicated, and there's been no letup, since...

During that time-frame, they did have three "eliminators" for modified cars; Top, Middle, and Little Eliminators, but again, there were no handicaps; an A car ran a C car, heads-up...
They opined that if you wanted to win the Eliminator money ($75, $50, and $25), you should build an "A" car... LOL!

How's that for simplicity... duh........

They hadicapped cars here in Tulsa (NHRA) at the old North Air Port track. Yes, we had to stop to let private planes take off and land. I started in 1959/1960. The year before I graduated high school.