More Legends of Drag Racing

[bill dedman]

Originally Posted by CycloneFE

This is a priceless history lesson of a very innovative Class in Drag Racing. I thank all of you for your comments.

Now, were the turbos used by Mallicoat's or Montgomery an advantage? Were they just a flash in the pan? I saw that Montgomery used the Boss 429 motor for a while, did it do well? I thought it was "dead" until I saw Glidden use it in the EXP's and it seemed mediocre at best.

I wasn't paying a lot of attention to turbos when the Mallicoat Bros. and George Montgomery were breaking new ground with their hairdryer experiments, but I should have been. I don't remember the particulars, but I think that those two cars were at least partially responsible for NHRA putting different pounds-per-cubic-inch factors on later turbocharged cars (compared with cars powered by Roots-blown engines.) It wasn't long before the powers that be (at the time) were made aware that a turbo motor was capable of higher specific output, across the board, than a conventionally supercharged powerplant of the same size, as a general rule. So, NHRA responded in different ways.
Turbos are banned in the cookie-cutter Top Fuel and Nitro Funny Car classes. Ditto for both Top Alcohol Dragster and Top Alcohol Funny Car. Makes you wonder what they're afraid of.... Comp Eliminator cars can be turbocharged, but the pounds-per-cubic-inch is closely regulated. Turbocharged Stockers and Super Stockers are a hot topic right now, for several reasons that would be subject matter for another thread, or maybe, two.

I'm not knowledgable enough about Ford 385 Pro Stock motors to say anything at all... sorry. I guess that Blue Crescent motor was derived from the 385 series, wasn't it???


Glad you liked this thread, Steve; there are lots of old racers on here who, fortunately, remember a lot more than I do about this stuff. I appreciate their comments, too!!!

[Bret Kepner]

IIRC, Montgomery's advantage with the turbo in AA/GS was about three tenths of a second. Initially, Montgomery and Mallicoat were both thrown into BB/A but, in 1971 (I think!), the NHRA pushed the turbos out of AA, BB and CC/GS into the turbo-specific classes of /GS(T). After the /Gas Super classes were absorbed into AA/A, BB/A and CC/A, NHRA created similar /A(T) subdivisions, too. Obviously, we still have them today.

[bill dedman]

Thanks, bunnyman; I was hoping you'd come through with some good information!

I think the pertinent thing here is that NHRA recognized, early-on, the significance of the built-in superiority of turbochargers in class racing. I see where that mindset continues, today, with NHRA having reduced the size of the turbos on a Pro Mod (Brad Personnet) for the 2011 season after Brad's performances, lately. And, the beat goes on...