[Rick Voegelin]

A friend pointed me toward this thread. Reading the posts brought back many memories, and stirred up some long-forgotten brain cells. Apologies in advance for this long and rambling post.

I was inspired to look at moldy old issues of Car Craft and NHRA rulebooks to trace the class' history. The original idea of Pro Modified (that's what we called it) was born when John Dianna (then the CC editor) and I were driving his transporter from Bowling Green to Detroit. Car Craft had played a key role in the Econorail concept (back then it was an obsolete front-engine dragster with a small-block and an automatic trans, not the purpose-built dragsters of today), and we came up with a similar doorslammer class. We pitched our idea to NHRA National Tech Director Jim Dale. Dale told us that if there was enough racer support for the idea, he'd consider it.

The first article appeared in July 1974 CC titled "Cutting the High Cost of Racing." (The US was in another recession back then, and money was tight.) The introduction laid out the idea: "Drag racing needs an eliminator bracket which encourages racers to build fast, exciting cars on a low budget. It needs a place for sportsmen who would like to campaign a heads-up, stock-bodied car without committing the financial suicide of going Pro Stock racing. It needs a bracket which spectators will pay to see, and which track operators can run without courting bankruptcy."

Based loosely on the AHRA GT3 class, CC proposed a Pro Modified class at 10 lbs/ci, 1967 or later body, single four-barrel, production cylinder heads, and 12" tires. We put a survey in the magazine for racers to fill out and send, and ran regular updates in following issues. I took two notebooks filled with racer letters and surveys to NHRA headquarters and dumped them on Dale's desk. "There's your response!" I told him.

NHRA bought the concept, but not the details. Instead of a separate heads-up eliminator, the class became part of Modified in 1975. NHRA renamed it A/Super Modified, and specified 9 lbs/in, 2850 lbs. minimum weight (without driver), 366ci maximum, and 10.5" tires. Not more than 50 percent of total weight could be on rear wheels. Only three A/SM cars made the 1975 Winternationals, but by Indy, there were more than 20 in class eliminations. The index was 10.65 as I recall.

In 1976, NHRA expanded Super Modified to three classes: A/SM (8.5 lbs/ci, big-block wedge or canted valve, 850 cfm carb, 11.5" tires, 3350 lbs. minimum with driver); B/SM (9.50 lbs/ci, 3000 lbs. minimum with driver, small-block wedge only, 750 cfm, 10.5" tire); and C/SM (10.50 lbs/ci, otherwise same as B/SM). I believe the respective indexes were 10.40 for A/SM, 10.60 for B/SM, and 10.80 for C/SM. That year at Indy, there were 31 cars in C/SM, and it took five rounds to make Monday's Modified show.

There were no significant rule changes for 1977, but in 1978 A/SM was opened up to allow Hemi and small-block engines, and non-production factory heads were allowed in A/SM and B/SM (permitting 292 turbo heads in Chevys). C/SM was reserved for production wedge heads only, effectively eliminating the Cleveland Mavericks from the class. NHRA also factored the canted valve Fords with a .2 lb/ci penalty (not the right thing to do, but they'd set the precedent with weight breaks for Pro Stocks based on engine type). Cars with automatic transmissions got a 150-pound weight break.

As others have mentioned, many great racers competed in the Super Mod classes over the years. To name just a few: Ray Allen (Truppi/Kling Chevy II), Garley Daniels (C/SM Chevy II), Larry Nelson (Jeg's Chevy II), Mike Cook (C/SM Camaro), Rick Houser (B/SM Chevy II), FJ Smith (B/SM Camaro), Ron Anderson (B/SM Maverick), Jim Ehlen (B/SM Mustang), Dempsey Hardy (C/SM Chevy II), Mike Keener (A/SM Camaro), Steve Nolan (A/SM Nova), Rick McGinnis (C/SM Camaro), Don Bowles (A/SM Fairmont), Mike Edwards (B/SM Maverick), Jim Stevens (B/SM Maverick) and many, many more. (Sorry if I've got cars and classes incorrect, a lot of brain cells have died since then.)

In my opinion, Super Mod died when NHRA killed Modified eliminator at the end of the 1981 season and the classes were split between Super Stock and Comp. When I look at what Super Mod has become, I just shake my head. While I am amazed at how fast the Super Mod cars run and I respect what the racers have accomplished, the current generation of cars is light years away from the original idea of affordable, heads-up racing.

Thanks for the memories,
Rick Voegelin