http://public.fotki.com/Colesy/juniorstock-memories/ Picked this up on the Supercars site. Thanks, Rob. Where'd they all go? Lots of 57 Fords for Pegleg, and even a chicken hawk!
very nice photos indeed.... now I won't be able to shut off the computer before 3pm, before finally :sleep:
Definately some cool picture's:3gears: A few years ago when we were discussing the modified production/day2 race class, these cars are what I had pcitured in my head, recreation's of old Stock and Stock race class cars, pre Super Stock,etc. These cars represent a time in drag racing that the likes of will never be seen again. I envy the guy's who are old enough to have witnessed these class race cars running heads-up.:TU:
Tom/John/Riv: It was an awesome era for sure, for hot rods and car enthusiasts in general. These pics appear to be mostly in the 60's although an occasional early 70's car is there. There were virtually no factory hot rods in the early sixties that the average person could afford, so they built them from the older bodies. You couldn't buy a lot of the stuff from catalogs so you made it. I, too, would love to see an extension of our heads up match race with another class that included cars like these as well. Wayne Smouthers has been trying to get a race like that going for a coupla years now. The fewer rules, the better except for safety, of course. Custom paint jobs, aftermarket wheels, loud exhaust (I didn't say the H word :laugh: ) engine swaps, etc. Just do the safety prep and run it the same way. These are the best of the times and do represent a lot of what you could buy combined with the self made so the cars not only run well, they look pretty good. The current phase of rat rods might more accurately represent what most of us built, raced, and drove back then. Streets were loaded with these type cars everywhere, not just Woodward. Just go to any local car-hop type drive in restaurant back then on a Friday or Saturday night. Things changed dramatically with the muscle car when the big 3 recognized this market and took a big piece of it to a new level. New cars became available at a price that was affordable to the average person that could stay with and even put away most home built hot rods. Everything changed at that point in drag racing and overnight, cars like these pictured became more of the exception rather than the rule in local Friday night stuff. Not totally unlike today where the rule are late model Mustangs and Camaros and the dreaded ricers dominating the tracks. Very rare to see a muscle car running and even more rare to see these old C gassers, or AA altereds today. Drag Racing itself really changed from the heads up flagman and flashlight drags (also an occasional fox in short-shorts dropping a handkerchief, too) to the electronic tree. The bracket race and handicap racing then took over the sport and got commercialized real fast in the 70's. Like John says, "take me back". The cars that were shown at the York Reunion and Nostalgia Nationals a coupla weeks ago, did just that for me. I really enjoyed running my car in the FAST match race, but as you know, you miss a lot of the action when you're sitting in the staging lanes. I plan to attend again next year. The open "manifold deficient" exhaust adds another dimension to the fun, as a racer/spectator especially. Especially when you're not watching at the time. Another notable difference was spectators lined the fences all the way down the track rather than in the grandstands. You could walk from your area in the pits right up to the fence as the pits lined the track on both sides. Gave the people that were racing more opportunity to watch the action. We pitted in the second row on the opposite side of the return road, but next year will be along the fence. A couple of the F/S guys did that. You really are in the action then. BTW, the only steel wheels and dog dishes seen all weekend were on our own FAST and F/S cars. :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: Cragar SS and Torque Thrusts were everywhere.
some York 07 photos http://public.fotki.com/JoeGrippo/2007-york-us-30-reu one of my cars: (bottom) http://public.fotki.com/JoeGrippo/2007-york-us-30-reu/page6.html http://public.fotki.com/JoeGrippo/2007-york-us-30-reu/07yorkreunion-beaver0178.html
Thanks. Those shots of my car are some of the best ever taken. That's saying something since I've owned it 39 years. I ordered a couple. :TU:
