stock and super stock racing

[bill dedman]

Ed is right; eventually, they did run handicapped-start, "eliminators" using handicaps based on head-start distances, but that didn't come along until a little later, and I THINK it was an AHRA thing; I never saw that type of handicapping at an NHRA strip, and I was at the NHRA Nationals in '57, '58, '61 and '62 (all, pre-Christmas Tree.) The strip I wokked as a Tech at (Des Moines Dragway) was using the "distance/head start" handicap system when I started working there, in 1965, but switched to an elapsed-time handicap, the next year. It was an AHRA strip until 1966.

The time frame I made reference to when there were no "Stock Eliminators" (at least, that I knew about) were 1955-1959... just Class winners.

When they started combining classes for a cash prize was when things started to get complicated, and there's been no letup, since...

During that time-frame, they did have three "eliminators" for modified cars; Top, Middle, and Little Eliminators, but again, there were no handicaps; an A car ran a C car, heads-up...
They opined that if you wanted to win the Eliminator money ($75, $50, and $25), you should build an "A" car... LOL!

How's that for simplicity... duh........