CLASS RACER FORUM - View Single Post

Uncle Dave · 03-19-2019, 03:13 PM

OK GTO, here goes nothing.

My last post was the first and only post I have ever done. I'm 71 this year and don't have any accounts on any social media sites and never felt that I had much to contribute of interest to anyone else. Although I have been visiting and enjoying this site for a long time, it is the first site that I have joined and mostly to try to be able to let Dave UK know more about the car.

I have been racing since the mid 60's. My first "fast" car was a 47' Ford coupe with a 55' Buick V-8. Loved it but it was a major pain to keep a tranny in. I've had so many cars but never on a truly competitive scale.

My first visit with Joe was in the early 70's. We talked about everything from the JR stock wagon he built (and how Jon Diana was there late nights gathering all the undercoating they had scraped off the underside of the car, to weigh it for the article he was writing) to the number of people he had and was still building Hemi motors for. He even took me over to Butch Leal's shop to show me things that were being built there. He once took me to Butler's to show me a Pro-Stock Plymouth Arrow they were finishing for "someone" back east. The quality of work and attention to detail that came out of that shop was astounding.

I ended up buying the Challenger and my cousin actually bought the Road Runner. I could listen to Joe's stories for hours. He remembered things in such detail. He shared the DQ story and how mad he was at the NHRA people. Joe had qualified fast enough to set a new class record. He said that the scales were off significantly and NHRA and everyone else knew it. Everyone was adding weight. Joe had added weight in the spare tire in the trunk (remember when you had to keep that tire in it's original place??) and when the tech guys ask him to remove the tire for them to check it, he told them the weight was there and almost without any question or consideration they DQ'd him. I won't go into the narrative part of Joe's story but that was when he told NHRA that he would never personally race another NHRA event. He went home and parked the Challenger and it stayed there until I bought it.
I'm not sure how much history of the car any of you are interested in and where to actually start, so I'll stop here. I'm would be pleased to share as much as I know about the Challenger, and all that came directly from Joe if anyone is interested. Just let me know where I should start.

03-19-2019, 03:13 PM	#15
Uncle Dave Junior Member Join Date: Mar 2019 Posts: 2 Likes: 0 Liked 8 Times in 2 Posts	Re: Allread / Hendricks Challenger OK GTO, here goes nothing. My last post was the first and only post I have ever done. I'm 71 this year and don't have any accounts on any social media sites and never felt that I had much to contribute of interest to anyone else. Although I have been visiting and enjoying this site for a long time, it is the first site that I have joined and mostly to try to be able to let Dave UK know more about the car. I have been racing since the mid 60's. My first "fast" car was a 47' Ford coupe with a 55' Buick V-8. Loved it but it was a major pain to keep a tranny in. I've had so many cars but never on a truly competitive scale. My first visit with Joe was in the early 70's. We talked about everything from the JR stock wagon he built (and how Jon Diana was there late nights gathering all the undercoating they had scraped off the underside of the car, to weigh it for the article he was writing) to the number of people he had and was still building Hemi motors for. He even took me over to Butch Leal's shop to show me things that were being built there. He once took me to Butler's to show me a Pro-Stock Plymouth Arrow they were finishing for "someone" back east. The quality of work and attention to detail that came out of that shop was astounding. I ended up buying the Challenger and my cousin actually bought the Road Runner. I could listen to Joe's stories for hours. He remembered things in such detail. He shared the DQ story and how mad he was at the NHRA people. Joe had qualified fast enough to set a new class record. He said that the scales were off significantly and NHRA and everyone else knew it. Everyone was adding weight. Joe had added weight in the spare tire in the trunk (remember when you had to keep that tire in it's original place??) and when the tech guys ask him to remove the tire for them to check it, he told them the weight was there and almost without any question or consideration they DQ'd him. I won't go into the narrative part of Joe's story but that was when he told NHRA that he would never personally race another NHRA event. He went home and parked the Challenger and it stayed there until I bought it. I'm not sure how much history of the car any of you are interested in and where to actually start, so I'll stop here. I'm would be pleased to share as much as I know about the Challenger, and all that came directly from Joe if anyone is interested. Just let me know where I should start.