Re: Misconception on a slow stocker winning
 

Of all the one`s I`ve seen on line or in the papers,this is my favorite of Billy`s creations.

Re: Misconception on a slow stocker winnin fasterg
 

x2 John, and my car has come close a couple of times with two quarter-final finishes at the '06 Mile Hi's, and the '07 Tucson LODRS (the car ran right on it's dial-in, but I redlit by .013), plus a Final round loss at always tough Bandimere Speedway at their final '06 fall racing classic series race to Lane Weber, when our two 16sec. cars outlasted a field rich in much quicker running cars. My cars main problem is lack of funds to go to more races, and the summer schedule here in the desert doesn't help with my storage issues either....I'm working on that. My bet is that either Michael Beard, Stan Kopejtka, or Jody Lang will be the next slower roller to do it, and Michael or Stan being the next one to do it with a 14sec. or slower stocker....

Re: Misconception on a slow stocker winnin fasterg
 

Gary cars like yours are what I'm talking about, we need more of them. I can remember talking to the late Steve Taylor many years ago when he was winning all those races against much faster pure race car with his street driven Z 24's, he couldn't believe that there wasn't more front wheel drive cars in stock eliminator, he thought that if you cut a half decent light the other much faster car would have more than 60% chance to red light.lol Guy's and gals take your slower race car out of your garages and fill the lanes. Nice to see the Fletchers racing their great looking Chevelle Station wagon and winning rounds. Claude

Re: Misconception on a slow stocker winning
 

An AMC Pacer dialed 14.49 just won stock at Spokane today.

Re: Misconception on a slow stocker winning
 

Where's the "LIKE" button??? :D Sweet.

Re: Misconception on a slow stocker winning
 

Amc Pacer,Amc Gremlin, Amc Matador also turbo 4 cyl. Caravan, PT Cruiser these all make respectable Dime rockets. By the way congrats on your win Micheal. Claude

Re: Misconception on a slow stocker winning
 

This weekend here in Spokane a u/sa pacer took down a a/s camaro I was gunning for the stick car but good job to the little 6 popper, it can be done I was ready to build an ss/k now I am looking at L/S! Cost of course

Re: Misconception on a slow stocker winning
 

x2

Re: Misconception on a slow stocker winning
 

and now you just went out and won Spokane, with it Jim...GREAT JOB FOR US SLOWER ROLLERS...FRONT OR REAR WHEEL DRIVE!!!! :)

Re: Misconception on a slow stocker winning
 

Here's is another great race car V6 truck, Larrt Hill winning 95 Atlanta Chev truck.

Re: Misconception on a slow stocker winning
 

what year truck?

Re: Misconception on a slow stocker winning
 

this was racing brackets at Grove Creek Raceway in Minnesota last Saturday night.

http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/i...2/DSC_4718.jpg

Re: Misconception on a slow stocker winnin fasterg
 

Thanks Claude, and I'm trying to get it done, just need a better budget to do that with (and I'm within 2yrs of having that, thanks to now 3yrs of debt eliminating o/t I've been able to work to help make it happen...it's all about the funds to race with me). However, I feel that Michael Beard, and Stan Kopejtka are right there at the door waiting to run it down, and drive through it with their fwd stockers, and final round appearances mounting for both of them are the proof. I wish it could've been me to be the first fwd NHRA national/divisional event winner in over 25yrs, or IHRA Nitro Jam winner since its inception, but I feel one of those two will be the first to do that...I'll continue to try (however), to beat them to the punch...that's going to be monumental history given how tough it is to win nationals or divisionals nowadays!!!

Re: Misconception on a slow stocker winnin fasterg
 

Gary you have one of the best and probaly one of the first to have won a Wally right in your backyard in Mark Yaccavone. The late great Steve Taylor told me his secret to his success was to make sure to not line up on the previous cars groove but just off completly with street tires. Good luck. Claude

Re: Misconception on a slow stocker winning
 

Congratulations to defending World Champion Phil Combs on sweeping the weekend so far at Mountain Park Dragway in Clay City, KY, driving Jim Woods' Borrowed Money L/SA Chevy II. Philbilly won the No-Box race Friday night, and then won Stock last night (early this morning, as they started late to get past the 100+ degree temps), taking out Pittsburgh Pro-Am winner Rob Bihl in Harlan Updike's Q/SA sled in the finals.

Couple more great showings for the slow rides!

Re: Misconception on a slow stocker winning
 

I won the HDRA drags at Riverhead Raceway last year in July in a 2001 4cyl Camry, slo and consistent thru 6 rounds, lol. Not a lot of happy people who raced me especially high dollar restored Vette in finals, could not catch my camry, lol. dialed by temp outside temp guage on dash.
Nothing like a good underdog story.

Re: Misconception on a slow stocker winnin fasterg
 

A delayed reply to your post, but well said John...I couldn't have said it better myself. Wind may be a greater challenge, but my lack of necessary funds to afford to race has hurt my effort to win more than anything, because it's challenged my ability to go racing. Thus I go to races that give me a chance to win big money instead of local stuff, that causes me to have to attend a bunch more races (provided I'd win them all...not likely in reality due to awesome competition here), just to have a chance to win anywhere near the funds my previous race offered...that $5k would've been great, and the last time I had money like that to spend on racing, I finished in a 3 way tie for 29th in D7's stock eliminator points...what I was able to earn with my slower roller would've had me between 18th and 28th, for all of the other divisions in 2008 besides D1. I know it can be done, and I'm trying to be a player in that more challenging game....winners never quit, and quitters never win!!!

Re: Misconception on a slow stocker winnin fasterg
 

Mark Yaccavone, is still the only fwd national event winner (especially on the NHRA side of stock eliminator), and I forget the guys name (it's from a thread from 2-3yrs ago), but there was a guy who currently is the only NHRA divisional event winner (either from the year before, or after '86 when Mark won his race in E-town)! If memory serves me correctly, Marks win was in a Ford, and that other guys win was in a Mopar product, thus there are several first's out there waiting for fwd slower rollers:

1. No GM product has won a NHRA national or divisional event ever!

2. No fwd car has won a NHRA national/divisional event so far this century!

3. No fwd car has finished in the top ten NHRA national/divisional points standings!

4. I'm not sure where the IHRA is with regards to this (Michael Beard I hope you will enlighten me here), but I think the above applies to IHRA too (unless you or that Cavalier stocker racer from back in the '80's who inspired me to build/race my car, did it)?

5. There's never been a multiple event winner with a fwd stocker!

There's five REALLY BIG reasons I continue (as best I can), to race my fwd slower roller. Once I get my financial house in better shape, I'm going after all of those that aren't nabbed by someone else out there with the appropriate race cars...I like a challenge, and my $5k slower roller is waiting for it's chance to show (by more race time), it's capable of
winning too.

Oh, and one more thing, where Jody and Toby's stockers are concerned, only Jody's car qualifies as a slow stocker, since any car that runs quicker than a 12.00 is still in the faster half of stock eliminator, and Toby's G/SA is (even by alphabetical listings), one of the faster stocker cars known the nation over....just sayin'.

Re: Misconception on a slow stocker winnin fasterg
 

Mark won in a ford escort...........Bill Oconner won the div race in dodge omni.

Re: Misconception on a slow stocker winning
 

After reading a thread that started 12-10-08 titled "Lower Class Stockers", I now realize that Kyle Riley finished Div. 3 in the top ten a few times (so the divisional half of my #3 referrence was wrong), and Mike Carr, now Bill O'Conner, & Kyle Riley have won divisionals with fwd cars.

As for my #4, comment, IHRA had a national event winner (per Brett Kepner), as far back as 1977!

Dennis, when did Bill win that division race? Belated congrats to Bill for doing it!

At least after reading that earlier mentioned thread, my points #'s 1, 2 & 5 (national events only), are still out there to grab, as well as #3 nationally, are still up for grabs. So there's plenty to shoot for, and if I'm not fortunate enough to do it, then I hope Mike, or someone else out there trying to get 'er done, with a fwd stocker will, because that'll be more significant given the higher degree of difficulty in such an accomplishment!

Re: Misconception on a slow stocker winning
 

Gary I think Bill won in the mid 90s. Also in IHRA I think Tim Sloan did very good with a cavalier.

Re: Misconception on a slow stocker winning
 

A Cavalier Z24 with a stick won a Div race on the right coast in the 80s. Cannot remember his name - - - -

Re: Misconception on a slow stocker winning
 

Gary,Bill won his Division 7 race the same weekend I won at the Topeka Div 5 race in `96 with my V/SA Skylark. My old silver car.

Re: Misconception on a slow stocker winning
 

Bill Drevo won S/E at the 1985 Suffolk Divisional with a Z-24 Citation.

(had to join this thread ...sooner or later)

Re: Misconception on a slow stocker winning
 

That's who I remember. A Citation, not a Cavalier. He had a Gen 1 Z28 Camaro before that fwd.

Re: Misconception on a slow stocker winning
 

I think Drevo won in a Z-11 Citation....the sporty model...Shame to use that RPO designation from the legendary 1963 vehicle but that's exactly what Chevy did!

Re: Misconception on a slow stocker winning
 

That would be an X-11

Re: Misconception on a slow stocker winning
 

Yeah, I know Z-11 is probably a generic GM RPO code indicating a "sport model" of some sort...for the vehicle at hand... Just wanted to fire that off...before you guys had a chance to hit me with some "flak." He he he!

Re: Misconception on a slow stocker winning
 

Billy...you're absolutely CORRECT....my apologies...please delete my last posts.

(That's what I get for getting "old"....BRAIN FADE!)

But I do believe the RPO Code Z-11 was used after 1963 in various Chevy models....

Re: Misconception on a slow stocker winning
 

Sorry for the senior moment... Must have been Gary H getting into my head..
At least I remembered the driver ;-)

Re: Misconception on a slow stocker winning
 

It was Tim Griffith in the Cavalier. He won multiple Pro-Am events, and missed the IHRA World Championship by just 2 points. (part of the season, he drove the Koopman's 9-seater wagon. X/SA?)

Congrats to Philbilly for another final round on Sunday at the Mt. Park Pro-Am... two wins and a r/u in the Borrowed Money! Awesome weekend, bud!

Re: Misconception on a slow stocker winning
 

Michael I knew it was Tim someone just had the last name wrong thanks for helping me out. Lol

Re: Misconception on a slow stocker winning
 

One slight correction to you Mark...Chevrolet only used the Z24 logo for the Cavalier. The Citation performance car was dubbed "X11". However great job by Bill Drevo, and by all of the fwd stocker winners from the past century....

What happened last century was great, but how about this century? There's been many close calls, but who's won a divisional event (or an IHRA national since Y2K), because there's definitely been no NHRA fwd stocker winner yet), this century? Alot more happened in the 80's, and 90's than I realized, but how about since Y2K?

Re: Misconception on a slow stocker winning
 

I believe the Z11 RPO Code you're referring to being re-used by Chevy, has been more recently dubbed on Corvette models? If that's true, then that's a compliment even the great Z11 "mystery motor" wouldn't mind sharing.... :)

Re: Misconception on a slow stocker winning
 

Gary,

I believe the "mystery motor" was the canted-valve, new head-design, N.A.S.C.A.R. motor that we came to know as the 396/427/454 engine. The Z-11 was a 409 on steroids; angled top-deck block; a "combustion-chambers-in-the block" design with some really good-flowing heads and an intake manifold, the design of which emulated a tunnel-ram (raised carbs, with vertical runners delivering the charge to the heads.)

A VERY powerful engine...

The cranks may have had similar bearing parameters, and the bore-center spacing was the same, but they were two very different motors in terms of the top end.

Re: Misconception on a slow stocker winning
 

Bill, I may stand corrected on that (even though I thought I read in a performance book and/or Chevy performance magazine that Z11 was also associated with the 427 engine that was popular in the '63 Chevies of that great era, but I'm no authority on that). However, the important thing is that Z11 wasn't associated in any way shape or form with the Citation...it was the X11, which I know of for sure. There was also a Z26 offering which was connected with the now defunct Beretta, or the Z34 from the Lumina.

Re: Misconception on a slow stocker winning
 

Gary,

You are correct that the 1963 427 Chevy engine WAS the Z-11. I should have made that more clear when I said it was a "409 on steroids." It was a 409 DESIGN that was enlarged to 427 cubic inches for the 1963 limited-edition "lightweight" drag package that Chevy built for NHRA racing. There were some problems getting them homologated; not enough cars were built before the G.M. front office issued an edict that killed the racing programs at both Chevy and Pontiac, resulting in not enough cars being built to qualify their legal status as Super Stockers, so they had to run these cars (the Z-11 full-size Chevys with the 409-style 427-inch motors, and the Pontiac 421 Tempests (dunno about the swiss-cheese Catalinas) as F/X cars. No matter; they were all still really, really tough!

The "mystery motor" was not included in any of the drag racing activities that I ever heard of, in 1963. It was a canted-valve, 396-style "semi-hemi" whose excellent basic design is STILL making its mark in Pro Stock, Stock, and Super Stock today. It was a NASCAR item ONLY, in the beginning. Who'd have dreamed that it was so good that it would still be a factor in NHRA racing, virtually fifty years later?

Hope this clears up the some of the murk about the two distinctly different big blocks Chevy was developing in 1963. They were both formidible!

Re: Misconception on a slow stocker winning
 

They were both formidible![/QUOTE]

x2 for that Bill, and I often wonder what would've been in the Stock/Super Stock wars of the brands, if only that "409 on steroids 427 Chevy, and it's 421 Tempest cousin would've had the numbers built they needed to be a threat to the Savoy's, Belvedere's, and Coronets and their hemi or Max Wedge offerings???

Re: Misconception on a slow stocker winning
 

Gary,

It would have been VERY interesting... that's for sure!

Re: Misconception on a slow stocker winning
 

x2 for that Bill....