Help with stock class names

Rat Patrol · 08-08-2016, 03:40 AM

I started a project a while back creating a list of the NHRA eliminations and winners from 61-69....which aint easy from a country where this info doesnt exist. !

Ive used a few reference sources, but I'm struggling trying to get an understanding of the class names.

I understand the weight break idea...but here's my question..

Larry Davis book talks about A/S , S/S and OS/S

Question 1 -

What I cant figure is where AA/S fits in the scheme of things?

Davis book lists winners in A/S and SS for the years 61,62,63. - but no AA/S

So when did AA/S come in...and why was it phased out in 67?

Question 2 -

Davis book lists no SS/A winners from 1968 onwards...the highest class seems to SS/B - Can anyone clue me in on what happened in 68?

Any help greatly appreciated.

mopar68 · 08-13-2016, 05:51 PM

Not 100% sure but I believe double A stock was one class above A/S for early-1960s factory lightweight, low-production, race-only models.

There was no SS/A class in 1968. Nineteen-seventy was the first year for that class.

Pete

427FE · 10-07-2016, 11:13 AM

JUNE 1964

DeuceCoupe · 10-17-2016, 11:25 AM

Rat,
I'm sure you saw this thread too. Paul has SO many great threads on here:
http://classracer.com/classforum/showthread.php?t=46189

He does say "from memory" - and as I just looked up in the rule books, there is no AA/S class listed for 1966.
The breaks were
1964 AA/S 7.00-8.70
1965 AA/S 7.00-8.70
1966 A/S 7.00-8.70
So in 1966, A/S kinda just replaced AA/S. I say Kinda just cuz the 1966 rules were WEIRD - 1 year only. In 1966 A/S you could run any cam and just about any intake, which led to the infamous Jenkins-Stahl duels and that's how the little Nova L79 was able to keep up with the Hemi - cuz it WASNT an L79 any more! A/S for 1966-only was really more like a later Super-Stock class but with Stock tires. This led to 1967 where SS went to multiple classes.

IIRC, AA/S was put in there because, well, it was MOPAR's fault as usual. The Mopar stuff was too light for the big heavy Fords to compete with. Both had good 1963 S/S engines, Ford's 427Lo.Riser and Mopars MaxWedge, but Ford had to put their big fat 63 Galaxie on a super-diet down to 3400 lb to try to compete with those tiny little Mopar cars. That sorta worked for 1963.

But in 1964, Mopar went totally nuclear with - THE HEMI. Ford had the 427Hi.Riser which was maybe 50hp better than their 1963 427Lo.Riser but still not enough in the big 1964 Galaxie - let alone the cost of lightweighting that thing down to 3400 lb. Its not easy to take 700 lb out of a "stock" car! And against the Hemi, even that wouldn't have worked. So again IIRC it was mainly Ford (GM was officially out by then) that pushed for AA/S for the big Galaxie, and let the 3220-lb Thunderbolt take on the Hemi in S/S.

By 1966 all that was kind of a non-issue, Ford had a Factory "production" (if you call 57 cars "production") 427Med.Riser Fairlane vs the specialty-shop 427Hi.Riser Thunderbolt of 1964. The 1966 Galaxie became a luxury barge so its drag racing days were over, and the incentive for AA/S was gone. The 7.00 break now got you into A/S instead of AA/S.

As for SS/A, yes SS/A is in the rule book for 1967-68, its just that apparently NHRA didn't choose to class anybody into it. The Rule Books say
1967 SS/A 0.00-7.00
1968 SS/A 0.00-6.00
NHRA "chose" to run the Hemi Dart in SS/B, by arbitrarily factoring the Race Hemi so its W/P was just over 6.00.
All the stuff I can find says, as noted above, SS/B was the top class USED in 1968-69, so even though the Race Hemi's belonged in SS/A they weren't put there. The Race Hemi Gonkulates at 620hp as run in the 68 Dart/Cuda, which shouldn't surprise anybody since the 427 SOHC Ford was properly rated at 616hp way back in 1964. NHRA "Factoring" was in full play by 1968 and kinda arbitrary.
Davis' book notes this on pg 191, saying the Race-Hemi Dart/Cuda started off in SS/B but blew everything away there so was moved to SS/A, which I think happened in 1970.

Jimbo17 · 10-18-2016, 11:53 AM

This site is just a wealth of information.

At almost 70 years old I always seem to learn something new on each visit.

Great site Jim Hill

08-08-2016, 03:40 AM	#1
Rat Patrol Member Join Date: Jul 2016 Posts: 169 Likes: 68 Liked 31 Times in 26 Posts	Help with stock class names I started a project a while back creating a list of the NHRA eliminations and winners from 61-69....which aint easy from a country where this info doesnt exist. ! Ive used a few reference sources, but I'm struggling trying to get an understanding of the class names. I understand the weight break idea...but here's my question.. Larry Davis book talks about A/S , S/S and OS/S Question 1 - What I cant figure is where AA/S fits in the scheme of things? Davis book lists winners in A/S and SS for the years 61,62,63. - but no AA/S So when did AA/S come in...and why was it phased out in 67? Question 2 - Davis book lists no SS/A winners from 1968 onwards...the highest class seems to SS/B - Can anyone clue me in on what happened in 68? Any help greatly appreciated. Last edited by Rat Patrol; 08-08-2016 at 11:05 PM.

08-13-2016, 05:51 PM	#2
mopar68 VIP Member Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: New Jersey Posts: 1,660 Likes: 8 Liked 44 Times in 27 Posts	Re: Help with stock class names Not 100% sure but I believe double A stock was one class above A/S for early-1960s factory lightweight, low-production, race-only models. There was no SS/A class in 1968. Nineteen-seventy was the first year for that class. Pete __________________ "The more corrupt the state, the more numerous the laws." - Tacitus Last edited by mopar68; 08-13-2016 at 06:07 PM.

10-07-2016, 11:13 AM	#3
427FE Member Join Date: Sep 2016 Location: Monroe Twsp, NJ Posts: 191 Likes: 260 Liked 346 Times in 78 Posts	Re: Help with stock class names JUNE 1964

10-17-2016, 11:25 AM	#4
DeuceCoupe Member Join Date: Feb 2016 Posts: 274 Likes: 98 Liked 48 Times in 44 Posts	Re: Help with stock class names Rat, I'm sure you saw this thread too. Paul has SO many great threads on here: http://classracer.com/classforum/showthread.php?t=46189 He does say "from memory" - and as I just looked up in the rule books, there is no AA/S class listed for 1966. The breaks were 1964 AA/S 7.00-8.70 1965 AA/S 7.00-8.70 1966 A/S 7.00-8.70 So in 1966, A/S kinda just replaced AA/S. I say Kinda just cuz the 1966 rules were WEIRD - 1 year only. In 1966 A/S you could run any cam and just about any intake, which led to the infamous Jenkins-Stahl duels and that's how the little Nova L79 was able to keep up with the Hemi - cuz it WASNT an L79 any more! A/S for 1966-only was really more like a later Super-Stock class but with Stock tires. This led to 1967 where SS went to multiple classes. IIRC, AA/S was put in there because, well, it was MOPAR's fault as usual. The Mopar stuff was too light for the big heavy Fords to compete with. Both had good 1963 S/S engines, Ford's 427Lo.Riser and Mopars MaxWedge, but Ford had to put their big fat 63 Galaxie on a super-diet down to 3400 lb to try to compete with those tiny little Mopar cars. That sorta worked for 1963. But in 1964, Mopar went totally nuclear with - THE HEMI. Ford had the 427Hi.Riser which was maybe 50hp better than their 1963 427Lo.Riser but still not enough in the big 1964 Galaxie - let alone the cost of lightweighting that thing down to 3400 lb. Its not easy to take 700 lb out of a "stock" car! And against the Hemi, even that wouldn't have worked. So again IIRC it was mainly Ford (GM was officially out by then) that pushed for AA/S for the big Galaxie, and let the 3220-lb Thunderbolt take on the Hemi in S/S. By 1966 all that was kind of a non-issue, Ford had a Factory "production" (if you call 57 cars "production") 427Med.Riser Fairlane vs the specialty-shop 427Hi.Riser Thunderbolt of 1964. The 1966 Galaxie became a luxury barge so its drag racing days were over, and the incentive for AA/S was gone. The 7.00 break now got you into A/S instead of AA/S. As for SS/A, yes SS/A is in the rule book for 1967-68, its just that apparently NHRA didn't choose to class anybody into it. The Rule Books say 1967 SS/A 0.00-7.00 1968 SS/A 0.00-6.00 NHRA "chose" to run the Hemi Dart in SS/B, by arbitrarily factoring the Race Hemi so its W/P was just over 6.00. All the stuff I can find says, as noted above, SS/B was the top class USED in 1968-69, so even though the Race Hemi's belonged in SS/A they weren't put there. The Race Hemi Gonkulates at 620hp as run in the 68 Dart/Cuda, which shouldn't surprise anybody since the 427 SOHC Ford was properly rated at 616hp way back in 1964. NHRA "Factoring" was in full play by 1968 and kinda arbitrary. Davis' book notes this on pg 191, saying the Race-Hemi Dart/Cuda started off in SS/B but blew everything away there so was moved to SS/A, which I think happened in 1970. Last edited by DeuceCoupe; 10-17-2016 at 12:25 PM.

10-18-2016, 11:53 AM	#5
Jimbo17 Junior Member Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: West Coast of Florida Posts: 52 Likes: 0 Liked 2 Times in 2 Posts	Re: Help with stock class names This site is just a wealth of information. At almost 70 years old I always seem to learn something new on each visit. Great site Jim Hill