Lower Class Stockers

[GarysZ24]

Originally Posted by Bret Kepner

Yacavone is, indeed, the only FWD NHRA National Event winner. I believe the first IHRA FWD winner was Ed O'Riley at Darlington '77; he's still the only human ever to win a National Event in a rental car.

My National Open wins don't count for much and I've never entered a National Event.

Bret, who was the guy that piloted a similar version to my '86 Chevy Cavalier Z24 to a Stock Eliminator finish back in '86 at an I.H.R.A. national event. I remembered watching it on ESPN, and it was my inspiration for buying/racing a similar type of car (same original body color and type..notchback/coupe)? I digress that I taped over the video footage I once had of that car, because I think only a red-light start kept that driver from the winners circle, and it ran in the mid-16's...any help in rekindling that info would be greatly appreciated!

[Robert Swartz]

Originally Posted by RockyJ

I could not resist this thread: For Bill D. The Reider and Wallace "Horsesense" car did go
mid 15.00s and the secret was the rear gears and tranny. The 74 wagon only had the first ford 8.8
rear. Previous yrs only the small rear -max with 4.11 gears. Tom had 5.13s and i think
even 5.57s special made for him. These REALLY woke up that pos 2300 hyd. cam engine.
Before 1974 all Pintos and Capris were ltd to 4:11 and were 2000cc German engines with a slightly smaller carb.But would wind to 8000 rpm if you knew what you were doing.
You were not allowed to change the factory rear in those days.So when REIDER got those gears it was the end for the rest of us who had 1972 and 1973 cars.If i would have had access to those gears i could have easily gone 15s in the 72 and 73 cars.
History lesson: In 1972 at the INDY points meet, [ first yr of new rules ] I owned a 1967 chevy biscayne 283 - 2bbl stick car J/S i think. Pretty fast for the day. But to my utter amazement , there was this kid sitting next to me in his 1972 mercury Capri , in the staging lanes with his radio blasting and V/S on his window. This is crazy i thought , what is a car like this doing in the lanes? Street tires and all. Late rounds i drew the capri, thinking this should be no problem. Dumped the clutch at about 3500rpm caught him in 2nd gear ,and then a funny thing happened,the Capri began to pull away from my 283 chevy. Couple rounds later Greg Rice was the winner of the ist Div 3 race and one of the first ever 4cyl winners . I was convinced enough to sell my cheby and purchase the first of my Pintos ,on the very first day they were on sale in sept of 1972. I won many local races and set a NHRA and IHRA record with them. Finally going 15.92 in the 72 car with the 4:11 gears.
The moral of this story , if someone wants to build a 72 -73 Pinto or Capri with the 2000cc engine and an 8.8 rear [now legal] i think it will fly.

Reider and Wallace, now there's a couple names I haven't heard in awhile. To add a little to this. My good friends Toby and Kenny Meek, whom held a couple records themselves back in those days campaigning a stock Pinto, got a wee bit of their education from the above two.

They were both Ford Engineers and I remember sitting in on a few conversations where they discussed getting paid to do R & D work that was related to their car. Yes, they were ahead of their time.

Concerning rear ends. Reider sold the Meeks a "Jeep" rear that had a set of 4:88's in it. We took that apart and adapted it to the little Pinto rear. That really woke that car up! I agree, with the lack of gears, I remember having 4:11's in my street Pinto. I thought you could get a 4:30? That's been a day or two ago and I could be wrong. Doesn't really matter now anyway.

Interesting you talk about reviving that old combination. I'm pretty sure Toby still has his old stocker sitting in a barn at his mother's house. I know he still had it as of about 5 years ago. Food for thought, I also know his middle brother had the car for a number of years, converted it back to a street car.

If a guy took one of those cars today. Did some decent front end work. Tie the subframes. Put some good leaf springs on the back with a set of Cal-tracs and an 8.8 with a good 35 spline spool and axles. If you could replace that spindly 4 speed with something more modern. One of these cars would be dam# near bulletproof. You wouldn't build enough torque to hurt it!

Really is an idea to toss around.

Robert Swartz

[GarysZ24]

Originally Posted by Lane M Weber

Wow,thank you Chuck Norton for the kind words. The first two names that popped into my mind were Mark and Billy for winning a Nat`l Event with a lower classed car. I myself have come close a few times,Runner Up in Denver in `01 and semis in Denver and Dallas other times. I have won one Division race in Topeka in `96 and have had three other runner ups all in the same "era" of `95-`96. My proudest moment was winning the `96 Division 5 Championship over a Kevin Helms,and only going to 5 races to do it. My points total was 376,and I was holding a first round loss in that total. Ahh,the good `ol days.

Hawk, I could've sworn that you won a national event too out there in Topeka (95 or 96)? I know that you had some awesome seasons then....

[GarysZ24]

Originally Posted by Rory McNeil

There has been at least a couple of Div.6 Stockers that have won a NHRA national event. The late Cal Queapama won the Seattle race in the late 70`s or early 80`s with a 61 Impala 4 dr HT, running mid 15`s in I believe V/SA (this was when Stock still went all the way to Z/SA). Also Rob Robinson won at least 1 national event, but I`m thinking it was 2, with his 65 Impala wagon in R/SA. Both these cars were 283`s.

Memory serves me correctly, back in Denver at their Mile High Nationals, it was an all 283 full-sized final between the late Cal Queapama, and Cal Method. Although Method won the final rnd heat, Queapama was awarded the win due to a cam issue with Method's car. Moreover, there was a guy named Rob, who raced one of those late 70's Dodge 2.2 engined fwd cars from the Paul Rossi stables to a final round finish at (I believe) the '79 Mile Highs....

[Mike Taylor 3601]

X- tech man I know JT had several[tech] convictions but I always remember him claiming to be legal and just being done wrong by IHRA. I don't guess you detected sarcasm when I said JT never ran illegal.
Mike Taylor 3601

[GarysZ24]

Originally Posted by Ross Family Racing

When was the last time that a Stocker running 13.00 or slower won a national event? Has a front wheel drive stocker ever won a national or divisional event? Should the lower class cars be in a seperate eliminator (like there would ever be a seperate eliminator)? I've always liked the uniqueness of all the slower cars/trucks. Jeff Ross

Hi Jeff,

Since us fwd racers are such a small (but growing) collection of all stockers, and racers who's cars run 13.00 and slower are against the norm (in the winners circle that is), I find myself rooting for them as well as my own slower stocker. Here's what my memory has recanted that I haven't already mentioned:

1. Stan Kopejtka, nearly won the '05 (?) LODRS Bandimere race with his Dodge Omni.

2. Steve Pohill's been in at least 2 final rnd's at divisional pts races back east with his Ford Escort.

3. Linda Sherman ru'd back in about '95 at an Div. 1 Federal Mogul series race with the Chevy Citation that's currently campaigned by one Mr. Randy Hyman...

4. Randy joined an elite group of fwd racers who went late into elim's at the US Nat's.

5. I came close to winning the '06 Mile High's (quarters), and went 4rnds at this yrs Div 7 (race 1), and last years (race 2). with my Z24.

Hope that helps....

[Mark Yacavone]

Originally Posted by GarysZ24

Bret, who was the guy that piloted a similar version to my '86 Chevy Cavalier Z24 to a Stock Eliminator finish back in '86 at an I.H.R.A. national event. I remembered watching it on ESPN, and it was my inspiration for buying/racing a similar type of car (same original body color and type..notchback/coupe)? I digress that I taped over the video footage I once had of that car, because I think only a red-light start kept that driver from the winners circle, and it ran in the mid-16's...any help in rekindling that info would be greatly appreciated!

Gary, Probably was the late Steve Taylor, out of North Carolina

[Mark Yacavone]

Bill Drevo won the 1985 Suffolk Div 2 race with his X-11 Citation

[Michael Beard]

The Turismo is for sale, in case anyone is looking to get started with one of these cars. It's in the classifieds section, at http://classracer.com/classforum/showthread.php?t=14375

[DK FRAZIER]

what about Scott Helms 2006 Atlanta RU in the big yellow car