What is the correct description of a 60's Jr. stocker.

[Rich Biebel]

We sold our H/S '68 Chevy II in 1971 I think.. The new owners had to move into Super Stock after maybe one season as Stock, as we all knew it was gone. In about 1972 or so NHRA had a Pure Stock type category.....it was very restrictive and did not even allow what we had in Stockers in years past. Not many guys from the "old" stocker days wanted to run the new pure stock and opted for Super Stock. I think the new pure stock had treaded tires, stock exhaust manifolds with mufflers, and completely stock engine specs including oem pistons.

The racers that bought our Chevy II. .....Changed the cam and intake and put some bigger tires on it I think...it ran SS/J instead of H/S...Went from running low 12's to mid 11's and set the SS/J record I believe. A flat tappet cam and the Intake was probably a Scorpion or Tarantula......That was the best Edelbrock made at the time. I went to my local track one day to watch the car run. The new owner....Rich Decola ( his partner at the time was Paul Dellvecchio who was a crewman for Bob Newberry for many years).....called me up and asked me to come out and see him race the car.....I was very impressed with the cars ET's that day. I think he ran an 11.45. We nver went faster than 12.20 in H/S.....and held the record at 12.25 for quite a while.......

No way I would have run PureStock.........SuperStock.....Yes!


Then NHRA brought back a more familiar version of Stock a few years later but the rules were more restrictive than what we had in the late '60's.
Modern era Stock is way more like Super Stock of the old days.....and the perfromance of todays Stockers is faster then early SS'ers.....

[X-TECH MAN]

[QUOTE=Ed Wright;195929]

Originally Posted by X-TECH MAN

Yep....When NHRA made all of the neat ole Jr. stockers become Super Stockers it was the end as us old timers know it. Some things were for the better such as a 9 inch slick instead of the 7 inchers and trimming the tires every few runs.


Yep, I went from breaking almost nothing to breaking more crap than you could haul off with a big truck. After changing to SS, I only won two races and set one record. And bought a lot of parts. The 12 bolt rear & 4speed 220hp Malibu was the car for my class then.

Ed......I broke a lot of parts in 1972 also. I was running a 1969 350/300 HP Corvette in what was then H/S (10.5 lb break). I had Tony Pizza heads, Gebler Headers (remember those?), Firestone yellow dots, etc. I ran for 2 years and came within inches of beating Larry Lombardo (Before he drove for Da Grump) at 75&80 dragway several times. Back then you had to win class to run the eliminator. I ran 3 times a week at the D.C. area tracks and NEVER broke a thing. As soon as I changed stuff to Super Stock and and just an 8 inch slick I began to break everything except the steering wheel. Half shafts, ring and pinions, stub axels, transmissions, and on and on. The OEM Corvette parts were just as weak as the old chevy rear ends. Never broke the engine though. I feel your "pain".....lol. Thats when I started working for IHRA and then NHRA in 74-75 before going back to IHRA. I found it less expensive and less work.....lol.

[Ed Wright]

And, back then wining a WCS race paid about the same as a LODRS race now. Was like a whole lot more than now due to inflation. When I moved everything from the wagon to the sedan my parts breakage just about stopped. That sedan was the only race car I ever owned that made money.

[X-TECH MAN]

Originally Posted by Ed Wright

And, back then wining a WCS race paid about the same as a LODRS race now. Was like a whole lot more than now due to inflation. When I moved everything from the wagon to the sedan my parts breakage just about stopped. That sedan was the only race car I ever owned that made money.

YOU MADE MONEY with a race car !!!!!!!!!! Un-flippin believable......

[Ed Wright]

We ran Stock Eliminator for $250.00 to win, qualified and off a laser 1st& 3rd Sundays, drove about 90 miles to Ft Smith, AR off weekends usually won both places.
Gas was $ .25 a gallon, entry fee was probably $10.00.
Have not been able to do that since.

[X-TECH MAN]

Those were the good days of stocker racing. I knew of a few who made a living back in 1969 racing stock and if you were good AND lucky you made a profit. One guy was laid off from his job and ran at Aquasco in Md. He won almost every weekend that summer with a box top 428 Fairlane that ran H/SA (same class as the Pratt&Burkett 62 Dodge wagon) and managed to keep the payments up on his house and still eat. Maybe it was because he HAD to win that helped him. Yes it was legal as I helped him tear it down once after a protest. Some tracks really looked at your stuff back then. He won the NASCAR Winternationals in a 66 Mustang 271 HP automatic car in Daytona Florida when that race was held there. Maybe some old racers from the D.C. area might remember him....Gene Collins. He has since passed away a few years ago. He was the one who talked me into taking my Corvette off the street and race it...........Gezzzzz, maybe its his fault I love the old stockers so much?

[Ed Wright]

I probably stated that incorrectly. It did not pay for it's self. Once put together it won enough to more than cover expenses and new parts for a good while.
I had a couple seasons like that in the '80s with a sprint car. Had a real good driver that won a lot, didn't tear up much, and a really good paying local track. $2500.00 to win right here in Tulsa. That track is gone now. The cars got so expensive by '90 the car count was way down. I sold out at the end of the 1990 season while I could still get a good price.

[X-TECH MAN]

Originally Posted by Ed Wright

The cars got so expensive by '90 the car count was way down.

That is probably one main reason the stock and S/S associations are having lower car counts not to mention the travel expenses.

[Ed Wright]

Originally Posted by X-TECH MAN

That is probably one main reason the stock and S/S associations are having lower car counts not to mention the travel expenses.

For sure! I never thought I would spend over $5000.00 on a lighter rotating assembly. Certainly never thought I would run slower afterwards! . This stupid thing is about to make me pull the rest of my hair out. Thanks to Gary Hetler I'm getting closer. I was hoping I would improve .05, not slow 2. Darn embarrassing.

[Ray Menard]

Copy and paste these addresses in your browzer, just for fun!

http://public.fotki.com/VincePutt/dr...tock/55-chevy/

http://public.fotki.com/VincePutt/dr...tock/56-chevy/

http://public.fotki.com/VincePutt/dr...tock/57-chevy/