how was stock/super stock ran in the 60's and 70's?

Ed Fernandez · 03-08-2010, 10:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tomslik

yep, 290/4speed
2bbl for now (so i don't have to put a cage in it yet)

btw, i need a 4bbl piston or two to send in to a mfgr and see if they'll make 'em and get them approved (by nhra)

Got one laying around.send me your address.

Tom keedle · 03-08-2010, 11:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ed Fernandez

Got one laying around.send me your address.

pm'd ya..

Ed Fernandez · 03-08-2010, 11:41 AM

Got it.The piston and pin will be on the way later today.

Mike Bassin · 03-08-2010, 05:59 PM

Ed and others have it right, was run off Nat'l record with a tenth cushion, it had to be perfect air and a fast car to breakout. Had to win class first, then class winners ran for the money. At 75-80 Dragway we had some excellent drivers and cars but the guys who started building purpose built stockers soon easily out ran the daily driver type race cars. Car counts dropped, the remaining cars were the fast stuff, fun to watch and announce but track operators felt the low car numbers. For about two years, '69 and '70, we had a pure stock or factory stock class that was popular. Soon the better race car guys found ways to make these cars outrun the average bone stock entry and car counts fell off in this class too. Then the brackets. I remember at 75-80 one wed. nite in 1970 we tried a dial your own handicap deal. There was twelve cars entered, within two years bracket racing took off like crazy. The stock / super stock guys got a couple of events a year, at best, at most tracks. Divisional and National events then were about all that was left for them. It is good to see groups like Tri-State Stock / Super Stock and East Coast Stock / Super Stock Assoc. give you guys an alternative to go racing. Good luck to all class racers this year!

Rich Biebel · 03-08-2010, 06:50 PM

I started racing in 1966. Had a '57 sedan delivery 283/220. Raced mostly at Island Dragway and sometimes other tracks in the area. Island ran 2 seperate eliminators for stock. Stock 1 and Stock 2. Stock 1 was A to about J and Stock 2 was the lower class cars. You had to win your class first to run in the eliminator. Handicaps were based off the records and yes there was a 1 tenth breakout rule. Not many cars could ever exceed that 1 tenth but there were a few in good air. They ran what they called Cups or Bucks.....You had the choice to run just for a trophy in cups and the less well prepared cars ran there. You ran Bucks to have the chance at winning your class and moving into the eliminator. You got something like $10/20 or a trophy to win class in bucks and an eliminator win paid about $75 or maybe $100 in 1966. Englistown ran the same type deal.......We ran there at the first WCS event they held I believe......We also raced that weekend at Old Bridge stadium and set the track record for I/SA much to my surprise at the time......It was a 1/16th mile run on the straightaway of an oval! Dirt pits at both E-Town and Old Bridge.......and E-towns pits was only on one side....what is today the spectator side.....and they had trees where the lanes were!

Robert Swartz · 03-08-2010, 06:58 PM

Run off the record and a .10 cushion. Those were the days. You could still run a street car in stock. Saw it still happen until about 1976 or so. That picture in my photo gallery of me by my old Pinto, X/S. Won that trophy (and still have it by the way), had to run at least 3 rounds that day at Indianapolis Raceway Park. In those days, just winning class could be a war.

The purpose built stockers dominated the eliminator. At the end of the day, it was sure fun to roll out in your daily driver and brag to your buddies at the drive in that evening.

Something else that occurred around here. At the local tracks, mine were Brown County and Speed's in Hope, Indiana. Often they couldn't get enough cars to run seperate eliminators, ie, Stock, S/S, MP. They'd lump them all into a "M"oney class and run them off their respective records. That made for some interesting racing, especially if you paired a low class stocker against a high class MP car.

Cups or Bucks, ours were simpler, Money or Trophy. The purpose built cars ran the money class. Trophy was for the less well prepared cars and the street cars.

Paul Ceasrine · 03-09-2010, 06:50 AM

Great question,,
Local tracks handled things a little different than at National Events and Points Meets. Our local track, Dover Drag Strip (Wingdale, NY) let the
Super Stockers run for class first (trophy and class winner decal), then could compete in S/S Eliminator. For class, anything could go, but in
S/S Eliminator, they could not break-out (run under the NHRA record).
,,In Stock, the same thing, win your class first (any way)..Then head down to the tower, and pay $10 (I think that was the amount),, and run your typical handicap eliminations..But again no break-out. Guys that won
class early in the day,, could get out of there by 4:00,,if they weren't interested in $.
Paul,,,Everyone was happy,,then NHRA ruined the stock class for 73'
Good Bye Racing.

Jack McCarthy · 03-09-2010, 09:36 AM

and you could build a car and be a player for what a set of diamond piston rings cost today...

them was the days to race...

captain jack

Mj & I built the wagon for about $1800 including the car

Pat Cook · 03-09-2010, 11:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mike Bassin

Ed and others have it right, was run off Nat'l record with a tenth cushion, it had to be perfect air and a fast car to breakout. Had to win class first, then class winners ran for the money. At 75-80 Dragway we had some excellent drivers and cars but the guys who started building purpose built stockers soon easily out ran the daily driver type race cars. Car counts dropped, the remaining cars were the fast stuff, fun to watch and announce but track operators felt the low car numbers. For about two years, '69 and '70, we had a pure stock or factory stock class that was popular. Soon the better race car guys found ways to make these cars outrun the average bone stock entry and car counts fell off in this class too. Then the brackets. I remember at 75-80 one wed. nite in 1970 we tried a dial your own handicap deal. There was twelve cars entered, within two years bracket racing took off like crazy. The stock / super stock guys got a couple of events a year, at best, at most tracks. Divisional and National events then were about all that was left for them. It is good to see groups like Tri-State Stock / Super Stock and East Coast Stock / Super Stock Assoc. give you guys an alternative to go racing. Good luck to all class racers this year!

Those were the days, but like the man said, racer count was dropping because the car that could run the furthest under, would win. You didn't have to lean on the tree, and it got were two cars that were close in performance were getiing hard to find, so the racing was getting to be skewed.

If we didn't have the system we have in place now, I think, and of course it is just an opinion, and we all know that opinions are like rear ends, we all have one and most of them stink.....class racing would have disappeared. I like class racing, I have even won a heads up race once in a awhile. The system we currently have aint broke. I know they are a few folks who love to see it go away, for what ever reason......but the current format sure provides a lot more racing, and as far as spectator enjoyment or manufacture involvement, very few spectators understand it, even if it was a heads format ( with a half dozen cars involved) they still wouldn't watch,not like back in the late sixty's early seventy's, it just aint the same.....

It is snowing here in AZ, I have nothing better to do at the moment than to surf the net.....

We have don't to take of the racing enough to help it survive, and like the movie "Field of Dreams" if we build it they will come, if for no other reason because people are becoming burn out on NASCAR?

Dick Butler · 03-09-2010, 01:58 PM

Some here discuss the excitement of running off records... Obviously many do not remember the EAST coast WEST coast Stocker record battles. We in the midwest were killed by record dial in at a 1000 ft track at 90degrees and 90% humidity. If you raced a popular combo in Ohio versus a combo not hitting records every weekend you were in the hole before the light changed. Only good part was most of us were learning and fighting the weather together....Kind of evened it up.
Index system created to make it so ALL racers could dial in and become a big Bracket race even if you had a class car you drove to the track. Good and Bad things about it.
I rarely saw any form of Class racing outside a NHRA Nationals. That made it a MUST to attend. Then with explosion of numbers OF classes the cars werent plentiful enough to populate many. classes and due to time NHRA cut the entrants which made Class bye runs ....sad...
Want to have fun again. Cut classes to 12 Stick and auto classes and see 20 cars per class EVERYWHERE to have fun and entertain spectators.Gives back the drive to run fast and still can race eliminations if 64 car fields...

03-08-2010, 11:41 AM	#3
Ed Fernandez Veteran Member Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: NOO JOISEY nexta NOO YAWK Posts: 5,879 Likes: 38 Liked 100 Times in 45 Posts	Re: how was stock/super stock ran in the 60's and 70's? Got it.The piston and pin will be on the way later today. __________________ Former NHRA #1945 Former IHRA #1945 T/SA

03-08-2010, 05:59 PM	#4
Mike Bassin Member Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: East Berlin PA Posts: 134 Likes: 0 Liked 120 Times in 19 Posts	Re: how was stock/super stock ran in the 60's and 70's? Ed and others have it right, was run off Nat'l record with a tenth cushion, it had to be perfect air and a fast car to breakout. Had to win class first, then class winners ran for the money. At 75-80 Dragway we had some excellent drivers and cars but the guys who started building purpose built stockers soon easily out ran the daily driver type race cars. Car counts dropped, the remaining cars were the fast stuff, fun to watch and announce but track operators felt the low car numbers. For about two years, '69 and '70, we had a pure stock or factory stock class that was popular. Soon the better race car guys found ways to make these cars outrun the average bone stock entry and car counts fell off in this class too. Then the brackets. I remember at 75-80 one wed. nite in 1970 we tried a dial your own handicap deal. There was twelve cars entered, within two years bracket racing took off like crazy. The stock / super stock guys got a couple of events a year, at best, at most tracks. Divisional and National events then were about all that was left for them. It is good to see groups like Tri-State Stock / Super Stock and East Coast Stock / Super Stock Assoc. give you guys an alternative to go racing. Good luck to all class racers this year!

03-08-2010, 06:50 PM	#5
Rich Biebel VIP Member Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Northern New Jersey suburbs Posts: 2,314 Likes: 25 Liked 544 Times in 213 Posts	Re: how was stock/super stock ran in the 60's and 70's? I started racing in 1966. Had a '57 sedan delivery 283/220. Raced mostly at Island Dragway and sometimes other tracks in the area. Island ran 2 seperate eliminators for stock. Stock 1 and Stock 2. Stock 1 was A to about J and Stock 2 was the lower class cars. You had to win your class first to run in the eliminator. Handicaps were based off the records and yes there was a 1 tenth breakout rule. Not many cars could ever exceed that 1 tenth but there were a few in good air. They ran what they called Cups or Bucks.....You had the choice to run just for a trophy in cups and the less well prepared cars ran there. You ran Bucks to have the chance at winning your class and moving into the eliminator. You got something like $10/20 or a trophy to win class in bucks and an eliminator win paid about $75 or maybe $100 in 1966. Englistown ran the same type deal.......We ran there at the first WCS event they held I believe......We also raced that weekend at Old Bridge stadium and set the track record for I/SA much to my surprise at the time......It was a 1/16th mile run on the straightaway of an oval! Dirt pits at both E-Town and Old Bridge.......and E-towns pits was only on one side....what is today the spectator side.....and they had trees where the lanes were! __________________ Rich Biebel S/C 1479 Stock 147R

03-08-2010, 06:58 PM	#6
Robert Swartz Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Nineveh, Indiana Posts: 512 Likes: 0 Liked 3 Times in 3 Posts	Re: how was stock/super stock ran in the 60's and 70's? Run off the record and a .10 cushion. Those were the days. You could still run a street car in stock. Saw it still happen until about 1976 or so. That picture in my photo gallery of me by my old Pinto, X/S. Won that trophy (and still have it by the way), had to run at least 3 rounds that day at Indianapolis Raceway Park. In those days, just winning class could be a war. The purpose built stockers dominated the eliminator. At the end of the day, it was sure fun to roll out in your daily driver and brag to your buddies at the drive in that evening. Something else that occurred around here. At the local tracks, mine were Brown County and Speed's in Hope, Indiana. Often they couldn't get enough cars to run seperate eliminators, ie, Stock, S/S, MP. They'd lump them all into a "M"oney class and run them off their respective records. That made for some interesting racing, especially if you paired a low class stocker against a high class MP car. Cups or Bucks, ours were simpler, Money or Trophy. The purpose built cars ran the money class. Trophy was for the less well prepared cars and the street cars. __________________ Robert Swartz - Swartz & Lane 66 Chevy II Pro 95 Achieva EF/SA, 78 Mustang II U/SA (work in progress) #354 stock Last edited by Robert Swartz; 03-08-2010 at 07:02 PM. Reason: additions

03-09-2010, 06:50 AM	#7
Paul Ceasrine VIP Member Join Date: Apr 2009 Posts: 2,546 Likes: 0 Liked 10 Times in 10 Posts	Re: how was stock/super stock ran in the 60's and 70's? Great question,, Local tracks handled things a little different than at National Events and Points Meets. Our local track, Dover Drag Strip (Wingdale, NY) let the Super Stockers run for class first (trophy and class winner decal), then could compete in S/S Eliminator. For class, anything could go, but in S/S Eliminator, they could not break-out (run under the NHRA record). ,,In Stock, the same thing, win your class first (any way)..Then head down to the tower, and pay $10 (I think that was the amount),, and run your typical handicap eliminations..But again no break-out. Guys that won class early in the day,, could get out of there by 4:00,,if they weren't interested in $. Paul,,,Everyone was happy,,then NHRA ruined the stock class for 73' Good Bye Racing. Last edited by Paul Ceasrine; 03-09-2010 at 06:53 AM. Reason: correction

03-09-2010, 09:36 AM	#8
Jack McCarthy VIP Member Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: lyndon ky. ... louisville area Posts: 1,322 Likes: 29 Liked 476 Times in 117 Posts	Re: how was stock/super stock ran in the 60's and 70's? and you could build a car and be a player for what a set of diamond piston rings cost today... them was the days to race... captain jack Mj & I built the wagon for about $1800 including the car __________________ Jack McCarthy 3609 STK "the Captain"

03-09-2010, 01:58 PM	#10
Dick Butler VIP Member Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Richmond Indiana Posts: 1,196 Likes: 5 Liked 32 Times in 19 Posts	Re: how was stock/super stock ran in the 60's and 70's? Some here discuss the excitement of running off records... Obviously many do not remember the EAST coast WEST coast Stocker record battles. We in the midwest were killed by record dial in at a 1000 ft track at 90degrees and 90% humidity. If you raced a popular combo in Ohio versus a combo not hitting records every weekend you were in the hole before the light changed. Only good part was most of us were learning and fighting the weather together....Kind of evened it up. Index system created to make it so ALL racers could dial in and become a big Bracket race even if you had a class car you drove to the track. Good and Bad things about it. I rarely saw any form of Class racing outside a NHRA Nationals. That made it a MUST to attend. Then with explosion of numbers OF classes the cars werent plentiful enough to populate many. classes and due to time NHRA cut the entrants which made Class bye runs ....sad... Want to have fun again. Cut classes to 12 Stick and auto classes and see 20 cars per class EVERYWHERE to have fun and entertain spectators.Gives back the drive to run fast and still can race eliminations if 64 car fields... Last edited by Dick Butler; 03-09-2010 at 02:01 PM.