Not to butt in here, but I talked to Sam at the Bradenton Div. 2 race while he was in teardown after setting the record. That is an original tri-power car, but it is being raced as a non-W-30, single four barrel car. The rear suspension is an Alf Weibe set-up. If you're not around Stock Elim much, you probably don't know about it. Mr. Weibe is based in Washington state, I believe, and doesn't advertise. The set-up is kind of hard to explain, but it works real good. It's totally different than anything made by Dick Miller, HR Parts, etc. No body roll, and wheels up launches. No air bags, either. Have fun.
Jeff: Two of my friends race at Gainesville regularly. Kevin has a metallic blue 78 small block Cutlass (runs 10's with spray and 11's without). Think he works in a speed shop in Gainesville. Dan Macal lives in Green Cove Springs, and races an 83 black Hurst Olds, and just finished an 84 silver Hurst olds. He's quite a driver (and a character). Also somebody down there named Ricky (I think) that runs a 5 speed 64 Cutlass convertible. Man, :TU: :TU: can he shift! I have a few friends in NSCA racing (Bill Trovato, Dave Laurer) that run very serious Oldsmobiles and lift like Sam's car. They used to yank them up about 4 feet and one time Trovato ran the entire quarter in the air in his 70 Cutlass. He dropped it one time at 330 foot mark just to see where he was going, then right back up. He now has a 79 Blue and White Olds Starfirew that runs 8's on a Nascar Olds small block. Here's another monster wheelstand car. (He set it up this way for one meet which had a wheelstanding contest.) Normally runs 9.70's on motor only (also a Nascar Olds small block. Winds 9000+ RPM.
Dave, Yes, I know of those people, but I've never met them personally. I remember Travato's red car, and I've seen his Starfire and Laurer's Olds run. All nice cars. I used to be real good friends with Mick Sweeney (you know him?), before he ran off to join the circus :laugh: . Before my GS I used to race a '70 Olds Cutlass with an Olds 455 at Sunshine and Bradenton dragstrips. That car ran 11.40's with a fairly mild combo. Then I decided to go faster, so I built a Buick. It was too hard to make those "tractor motors" (long stroke) turn much RPM. I guess with the new heads out for Olds, they're all about the same now. It's all in fun. I still have a soft place in my head for Olds. If you've never looked at an Alf Weibe suspension up-close you should sometime. It's a lesson in Geometry and creative thinking. The first time I saw one, I walked away thinking "Huh, how come I didn't think of that!" Believe me, I've learned alot going from an 11.40 Olds to a 10.0's Buick, that weigh the same (3550#). It's a different animal. I don't have a Weibe set-up (I wish I did), I use Wolfe control arms and an HR Parts anti-roll bar. Best 60' of 1.36. Have fun. Is that Butch's car in the photo?
The Blue car is Greg and Al Goden's (northern Illinois). You should see the video. The crowd went nutso, never expecting an Olds to perform that well (I'm sure you Buick types can relate to the public's mis-perception of our "granny" cars). Actually, I think the height of the wheelstand surprised the Godens, too, as it was a fairly new motor. Unfortunately, they didn't win the contest, because the chassis incurred a little damage upon landing and couldn't make the required back-up run.
