When was the "Golden Age" of Stock Eliminator
 

And by that I mean as for how NHRA handled it.When was the best time to run Stock? I not asking when was the best time "for you" but when was the glory days of Stock and why?

So many times I read how the the rules are scewed and this guy gets this and that guy gets that and how NHRA does't care or whatever.If you could go back in time and race Stock what year would it be and why?

Re: When was the "Golden Age" of Stock Eliminator
 

If you could go back in time and race Stock what year would it be and why?

1969: The Chev 255/350 was still being rated at 255 HP

Re: When was the "Golden Age" of Stock Eliminator
 

Before 1985 when NHRA changed the valve spring and cam rule. After that time frame its been higher RPM's, larger heads (porting and hiding it), Shubeck type (expensive) lifters, allowed replacement parts that never came on the car...ie, intake manifolds, alum. heads, wheelie bars, fuel cells, water pump drives, and on and on.

Re: When was the "Golden Age" of Stock Eliminator
 

Mid-'60's through mid-'70's...you could build a competitive car cheaply, drive it to the track and win with it. Rules were simple, cars were simple, racing was fun and you didn't have to mortgage the house to buy the next super trick gadget in order to be competitive.

I remember a typical weekend at Atco, teere would be 300 cars and you might have 20 cars in your class and it wasn't a special meet...just the regular weekly turnout.

And NO fuel cars! Super Stock and the Gasser's were the "Pro's" at the time.

Re: When was the "Golden Age" of Stock Eliminator
 

I have been involved with drag racing since the very early 60`s........When stock eliminator started I think there were only 4 or 5 classes....the class winners were brought back to race each other HEADS UP to determine Stock Eliminator... Of course that was done with a flagman start...,,racers bitched so they began to give the slower cars a 10 foot per class standing head start......then the christmas tree came around the cars were then handicapped off of the National record in their class....during this time bracket racing was born for the racers who could not run with the big dogs......and dont forget a lot of these big dogs were privy to parts and knowledge that the average Joe was not.....back then Stock was much more a performance base class.....then NHRA in their infinite wisdom decided to introduce the class index system to give every racer a FAIR chance........This worked great untill the cost got out of control.......In my estimation racing has never been FAIR and I never expected it to be.....It was a challenge with many obstacles to overcome......So, in answer to your question, the Glory days for me included all 40 yrs that I was able to race............

Re: When was the "Golden Age" of Stock Eliminator
 

Early 70's SS/P and Q....Take a 283/220 with 30 over TRW engine with a cost around $800 and be competive have fun racing....

Re: When was the "Golden Age" of Stock Eliminator
 

The late 90's and early 2k when a bunch of cars chased around the country to get the first 9 sec run on the scoreboard...the biggest milestone in Stock...Big block chevies,Hemi Cuda's,Max Wedge's and 427 Ford's were within hundreds of a second on the same track(if traction was there) before early 90's Stockers were kinda sluggish for the most part..

p.s. 8's was never going to happen back then...but now with the new cars and the real soft factors...it may just happen someday...but mean NADA!!

Re: When was the "Golden Age" of Stock Eliminator
 

Neil is right, 1960 to 1971 the 72 season was the big change to SS and even though I had a very good season in Div.1 SS I have to say it was more fun before that time. The rules changed as fast as you could read and even though they brought back Stock it was a watered down Eliminator after that.

Re: When was the "Golden Age" of Stock Eliminator
 

I was about to post my thoughts on this subject, but now, having read Neil's post, I believe he said what I was thinking only said it better.

Re: When was the "Golden Age" of Stock Eliminator
 

Yep, back when we ran off of national records, and how fast you were capable of making one run actually made a difference, every round.