Indy 62 Pics

[Paul Ceasrine]

Flag Starts Too,,,,,,,,I Presume,,,,,,

Looks like todays 'electronic devies', would be deemed 'useless'..

Just flat out racing,,,,,,,'Run What You Brung',,,,,,,
Where have we gone wrong,,,,,,

December 1962 Car Craft Magazine,,,,,Review of the 8th Annual National Championship Drags

[7423]

Thanks for sharing Steve. I remember you showing my these pictures 25 or so years ago at Palmdale..............the El Camino and Penny Pincher days. Neat memories for you I am sure!!

[et7333]

Originally Posted by 7423

Thanks for sharing Steve. I remember you showing my these pictures 25 or so years ago at Palmdale..............the El Camino and Penny Pincher days. Neat memories for you I am sure!!

My pleasure Charlie.X-TECH MAN I have some more pics I just found, on my facebook, if anyone wants to see them and I will be putting them on my website soon.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?...?id=1253067824

[Omcar]

Hey Steve, Jay Reichenthal here..I remember you telling me about the Pontiac and your parents while standing around the staging lanes at LACR.
I'm racing a new 5.0 Mustang at Cecil County and Maple Grove and I see you still have the trusty Camaro.
Take care.

[et7333]

Originally Posted by Omcar

Hey Steve, Jay Reichenthal here..I remember you telling me about the Pontiac and your parents while standing around the staging lanes at LACR.
I'm racing a new 5.0 Mustang at Cecil County and Maple Grove and I see you still have the trusty Camaro.
Take care.

Great hearing from you Jay!Hey send me an email so we can stay in touch.

[Omcar]

Originally Posted by et7333

Great hearing from you Jay!Hey send me an email so we can stay in touch.

Omcar17@comcast.net

[BadBanana]

Originally Posted by 7423

Thanks for sharing Steve. I remember you showing my these pictures 25 or so years ago at Palmdale..............the El Camino and Penny Pincher days. Neat memories for you I am sure!!

Yes, "Christmas tree" starts were initiated in 1964 in most areas, as I recall.

[BadBanana]

At the '62 Nationals the 409s, 413s and 406 (Fords - was it 406s or 390s with 401 hp, at that time?) and Big Pontiacs (389 tri-power???) ran in Super Super /Stock (SS/S). While the 413 (Ramchargers, Golden Commandos, Flying Dutchman, etc. ) might have been faster, the 409s took SS/S and Top Stock Eliminator as well as B/FX (in a '62 BelAir) version of the '63 Z-11) Hayden Proffitt, Dave Strickler, Dyno Don and Butch Leal were the fast 409s. I was also there with mine but was a young kid and way out to lunch at that time. If my memory serves me, I believe Hayden won SS/S with a 12.82; Dave Strickler won Top Stock and Dyno Don won B/FX - but don't hold me to it.
The Super Stockers; Gas Coupe and Sedans; and Top Fuelers were about equal in fan appeal at that time. There were no Funny Cars yet. The normally aspirated Gassers all ran Isky 505 Magnum cams ( I believe that was for .505 valve lift). Then Isky introduced the 555Magnum.
The Top Fuelers were, of course all front engined and the slicks were only about 11" wide and burned (smoked) almost the entire 1/4 mile. At that time, the "Engineers" predicted the Fuelers would never exceed 175 MPH because of the maximum possible tire to ashphalt coefficient of friction - but then " what do engineers know?" Flag starts, of course......... there was a way to trick most flagmen into lifting the flag but not the good ones !!!
The real reason the 409s beat the 413s (even though I am a Chevy man) was because they decided to run SS/S round-robin. Once the Class runoffs started they kept coming back to the line until it was over and noone was allowed to open their hood. The 413s were affected more than the 409s. "And THAT'S the rest of the story" !!!

[BadBanana]

Oh yeah !! Everyone ran M&H slicks, out of Watertown, Mass. I think the owners name was Marv Rifken, or something like that. There were no Firestones or Goodyears yet - maybe some Hoosiers - can't remember, and, oh yes, some Casler slicks (I think out of CA).. If you couldn't afford M&Hs or Caslers you bought Butyl rubber street tires because they had a relatively soft compound for a street tire.

Someone complained because the Gassers were suppossed to be street drivable, so George Montgomery, noted Ohio A/Gas Supercharged, drove it to the track each day - or at least once !!
Ohio was the "Home of the Gassers", with National Records in most of the classes:
Otie Smith (forgot the class - something Roadster)
A/GS - George Montgomery
B/G - Ed Shartman
C/G - Ron Hassel
D/G Hrudka Bros. (founders of Mr. Gasket)
E/G - Wilber Tackett
F/G - The Flintestone Flyer - forgot his name right now but he became a big "Muckity Muck" at Chrysler Racing. Dave something. I will remember it !!
There were, also some great Left Coast gassers like Stone, Woods and Cook (A/GS) and more. I think KS Pitman ) A or B/GS) was an East Coast guy - not sure

Can't remember what I did yesterday, but these things were forever imprinted in my mind.

[Joe Schweigert]

Originally Posted by BadBanana

Oh yeah !! Everyone ran M&H slicks, out of Watertown, Mass. I think the owners name was Marv Rifken, or something like that. There were no Firestones or Goodyears yet - maybe some Hoosiers - can't remember, and, oh yes, some Casler slicks (I think out of CA).. If you couldn't afford M&Hs or Caslers you bought Butyl rubber street tires because they had a relatively soft compound for a street tire.

Someone complained because the Gassers were suppossed to be street drivable, so George Montgomery, noted Ohio A/Gas Supercharged, drove it to the track each day - or at least once !!
Ohio was the "Home of the Gassers", with National Records in most of the classes:
Otie Smith (forgot the class - something Roadster)
A/GS - George Montgomery
B/G - Ed Shartman
C/G - Ron Hassel
D/G Hrudka Bros. (founders of Mr. Gasket)
E/G - Wilber Tackett
F/G - The Flintestone Flyer - forgot his name right now but he became a big "Muckity Muck" at Chrysler Racing. Dave something. I will remember it !!
There were, also some great Left Coast gassers like Stone, Woods and Cook (A/GS) and more. I think KS Pitman ) A or B/GS) was an East Coast guy - not sure

Can't remember what I did yesterday, but these things were forever imprinted in my mind.

F/G - The Flintestone Flyer--- Dave Koffel