life after Super Stock for the Hemi A-bodies?

[Paul Ceasrine]

doolie,

1970 was the 'First Year' for Pro/Stock,,,,

like you said, many of the 68' Hemi Darts and Barracuda's left
the Super/Stock ranks, and went into 1970 Pro/Stock with 'as is' cars...

That's where the money was, in Pro/Stock Meets and Match-Racing,,,

On the other hand, guys with 68' Camaro's were dropping in 427's or
Rat-strokers in their cars, along with Tunnel-rams...

In 1970, the early part of the year, the Mopar A-Body Hemi's had the
jump on the competitors in Pro/Stock,,,,,,,,,,

as a 68' Hemi Barracuda set the record at 10.09,,,,,,,,

But, by mid-year, the 68' Camaro's with Tunnel-Rammed 427's (ex-A/MP cars) caught up...,,,,,,,,,,,,,and were running 9.90's,,,,,,,,,

I do remember in NED 1, many of the 'freshened-up '68' Hemi's were running between
10.20's and 10.50's,,,,,,,,,, while the 'tired' SS/B and SS/BA cars were running 10.70's and up,,,,,,,

They were too costly to build,,,,,

[Geerhead55]

Originally Posted by Paul Ceasrine

doolie,

1970 was the 'First Year' for Pro/Stock,,,,

like you said, many of the 68' Hemi Darts and Barracuda's left
the Super/Stock ranks, and went into 1970 Pro/Stock with 'as is' cars...

That's where the money was, in Pro/Stock Meets and Match-Racing,,,

On the other hand, guys with 68' Camaro's were dropping in 427's or
Rat-strokers in their cars, along with Tunnel-rams...

In 1970, the early part of the year, the Mopar A-Body Hemi's had the
jump on the competitors in Pro/Stock,,,,,,,,,,

as a 68' Hemi Barracuda set the record at 10.09,,,,,,,,

But, by mid-year, the 68' Camaro's with Tunnel-Rammed 427's (ex-A/MP cars) caught up...,,,,,,,,,,,,,and were running 9.90's,,,,,,,,,

I do remember in NED 1, many of the 'freshened-up '68' Hemi's were running between
10.20's and 10.50's,,,,,,,,,, while the 'tired' SS/B and SS/BA cars were running 10.70's and up,,,,,,,

They were too costly to build,,,,,

He may not have had the record,,, but the early part of 1970 seemed to belong to Bill Jenkins and his '68 427 tunnel rammed Camaro, as he had back to back wins at the Winternationals and the Gatornationals, and also ran in the 9.90 range that day in Pomona, the first time Pro Stock was contested in NHRA national event competition. His opponent in each final was of course, Ronnie Sox in his Hemi powered '70 Cuda.
Danny Durham

[Paul Ceasrine]

Danny,

At the 'major events' Bill Jenkins was 'a step-ahead' of the others,
which included the 70' Winternationals and 70' Gatornationals,
but a local tracks throughout the northeast NED 1,

it was Ed Miller, Bob Gaudreau, Ken Montgomery, Bob Banning,
and Jack Arnew, running the 68' Hemi Super/Stock cars.

Also, Bill Flynn, Bill Stiles and Chuck McJury and the Mutt Brothers
(running an ex-Sox & Martin Barracuda)

The 427 68' and 69' Camaro's started popping up in July 70'.

Lets not forget, the Hemi's swept the other events in 1970;
Super Stock Magazine Nationals
Springnationals
Summernationals
Indy Nationals
Supernationals
World Finals

[Geerhead55]

Ah,,yes, the local tracks! Unfortunately, out here in the northwest, there were few players and no hitters, on a national perspective. I remember going to my first "Pro Stock" show at Puyallup in the summer of '70,, at least thats what they called it at the track, and I couldn't believe how slow the cars were. My only knowledge at the time of Pro Stock was what I read in Hot Rod, Car Craft and SS&DI as I wasn't aware of National Dragster yet, heck I was still in highschool, trying to get by with a 6 cylinder Chevelle!
Take care, Paul,, hope Christmas was good.
Danny Durham

[Paul Ceasrine]

Danny,

Correct,,
Some of the early Pro/Stock cars were lugging down the track
at 10.80's and higher,,,,,,,,,,,

In mid-1970 at Dover Drag Strip, there were usually '4' cars entered in
Pro/Stock (Dover regulars),,,
'2' 68' Hemi Darts, a 70' Hemi Duster, and a 69' 427 Nova,,,,,,,

Nobody was blazing a trail, and there wasn't a large group of cars entering the Pro/Stock ranks,

But the money was decent at the time,,,,,,,$300 Winner / $150 Runner-Up
for a 'round-robin double elimination' event with '4' cars participating,
so at least you would get to see '6' races,,,,,,,

In early-1970, sometimes only '2' cars showed up for Pro/Stock,,,,,,,
so it would be a 'best 2 out of 3',,,,,,,,with the winner getting $200, and the loser 'zip'.

[Hemi Moose]

Anyone know where the first Pro Stock race took place, I believe they had X's marked on the side windows for the new class.

[Paul Ceasrine]

Moose,,,,,,,,

X/SS,

First appeared on the future Pro/Stock cars at the
1969 Super/Stock Magazine Nationals.

August 9 & 10 @ US30 Dragway, York, Pennsylvania.

X/SS = Experimental/Super Stock

[Hemi Moose]

Grumpy-Dyno-Jungle-Sox

[Liteweight]

Very Cool picture. Was this for publicity ?? where was this??

liteweight

[Hemi Moose]

I couldn't tell you where those four cars were racing...but here's another shot of Bob Lambeck's pro stock 68 Hemi Dart at the 71 Winternationals.