Jenkins vs Stahl

[Mike Jones]

https://www.hotrod.com/articles/the-...LCQEQrxa06qS-U

[Frank Castros]

I called Jere Stahl to have him build a set of collectors for the Jack Davis headers we had on the car at that time and almost froze with fear of saying something stupid when he answered the phone. He was a very serious dude who helped me graciously through the process.
A legend for sure.

[340Cuda]

Jere Stahl was very smart man who was very gracious to me the few times I talked to him.

What I always found interesting about Mr. Stahl's 66 and 67 Hemi's was the 66 car was dominant on the 7 inch tires of the day. In 67 when the cars went to fresh air and big tires he ran well but was no longer dominant. I have since assumed it was clutch and/or suspension knowledge he had on the field in 66.

Anyone have any inside information on this?

[Frank Castros]

If you scroll down and read the caption on each picture they provide the more detailed expertise of both of these legends.
Stahl's success with the '66 car on 7" tires was the rear suspension (Pinion Snubber & SS springs), the clutch and he ran a 2.14 (!) first gear in the transmission to get it to "drive" off the line.

[Dan Bennett]

One of the best things that happened to me in drag racing was getting to know both of these men. I met Jenkins first through Pro Stock and then Steve Johns introduced me to Jere at Maple Grove one year. A team I later worked for hired Jere as a consultant so that resulted in our having long conversations a few times a week. And that instantly showed how different the two men were.

It's a much overused term these days, but in my opinion both men were geniuses. With Bill, phone conversations were never idle chitchat. Ask your question, get an answer, hang up. With Jere, they were always over an hour long as his mind jumped from concept to concept and all of them were related to what we were looking at.

I heard the concept a long time ago, but it exactly fits the impression I had of Jere's thought process. Consider a man on foot crossing a tall mountain range. He struggles up to the summit, works his way down the other side, and starts up the next peak. And then consider an eagle that just quickly goes from peak to peak. I was the mountain climber, and Stahl was the eagle.

Most of the time I spent talking to Bill was in the Pro Stock trailer as he was there to keep the engine in top shape. I remember long pauses frequently before he'd answer a question or tell a story. I think he was giving thought to making sure what he said was clear and understandable. He'd answer and you immediately understood what he meant.

Trying to keep up with Jere was like trying to stay on top of a wild bull. He had such a depth of knowledge and a quick mind that a lot of the time I struggled to keep up with him - I was familiar with the science and concepts he talked about but he'd somehow just throw out a stunning take on things I thought I knew well, but from a perspective I (and anyone I'd ever talked to) had never thought of.

It would have been fine if I'd had a few minutes to think over what he said, but within a minute or two he was on to the next thing that occurred to him. And he insisted on measurement - accurate measurement and not the "yardstick" kind he believed most people thought sufficient.

Both were true perfectionists. Bill was absolutely obsessive about ring seal and jetting. I think that Jere lost a lot of business because if a serious racer called him about buying a set of headers, Stahl would bombard them asking for measurements and specifications that most racers were unaware of, had never been asked about, and wouldn't have known how to measure in the first place. If he was going to build custom headers, they were going to be the best he knew how to make. He had done extensive testing and had come up with his own formulas for what worked best.

This is too long already, but I can't resist something that shows the kind of thought that came from Jere. On one visit to his shop, we were looking at his dyno, which hadn't been used for years. Yes, there was a dyno in the room, but lots and lots of other stuff I didn't recognize.

It turned out to be a project he never finished. He was getting a lot of business from dirt track racers. What he was building was a powered cradle that would tilt the engine - yes, during a dyno pull - at the same degree as the bank of the tracks his customers raced at. He wanted to see how much, if at all, it affected the fuel distribution. And he planned to include a system which would duplicate the time the car was on a straight, hit a banked turn, and hit the straight again. Maybe Nascar shops are doing that, maybe for a long time. This would have been in the early 1990s.

[Mike Bassin]

In 1966 I was the announcer at 75-80 Dragway in Maryland and we had booked Bill and Jere to a best 3 out of 5 match race in their A/Stockers. That was some race, our timing tower was about 150 feet down track from the starting line and as they came by me, if Bill was about a 3/4 car length ahead, he held on for the win, if not, Jere drove around for the win. I can remember all the runs were in the 11.60s, Bill at 119 mph and Jere at 121mph and one run at 122 mph. All looked close, I can still see them now and when it got to 2 to 2 the final was run but plainly I can't remember who won round 5. It's an age thing I guess. Great show that night.
Mike Bassin, Mason Dixon Dragway

[340Cuda]

Originally Posted by Frank Castros

If you scroll down and read the caption on each picture they provide the more detailed expertise of both of these legends.
Stahl's success with the '66 car on 7" tires was the rear suspension (Pinion Snubber & SS springs), the clutch and he ran a 2.14 (!) first gear in the transmission to get it to "drive" off the line.

I would say more the clutch as most everyone ran the Super Stock Springs and pinion bumpers back then, I suspect the 2.14 may be a misprint. There was a close ratio gear set back then with a 2.44 low that at least all the factory cars could get. I would think the expense to have a custom gear set made would be pretty substantial.

[Carguy49]

Bill Jenkins and Jere Stahl are 2 of the best in Drag Racing. Heroes of the sport, for sure.

[Frank Castros]

Originally Posted by 340Cuda

I would say more the clutch as most everyone ran the Super Stock Springs and pinion bumpers back then, I suspect the 2.14 may be a misprint. There was a close ratio gear set back then with a 2.44 low that at least all the factory cars could get. I would think the expense to have a custom gear set made would be pretty substantial.

The caption stated that it was a "road racing" transmission that I suspect Chrysler provided to him.

[Lyn Smith]

Yes the lower first gear ratios was a trick both the Grump and Jere used to combat tire spin. The Grump had a custom 2;30 something first gear made for his Muncie trans. He sent gearsets overseas to be custom welded to come up with those ratios.