30 years ago at Indy
 

Interesting reading.

http://www.competitionplus.com/08_19_2004/sportsmen_fight.html

Re: 30 years ago at Indy
 

Brings back great memories of the days of Bob Callahan from Atlanta....

Re: 30 years ago at Indy
 

I can't believe its been thirty years. Like they say, time marches on.

Re: 30 years ago at Indy
 

The sixth car in line in that photo, with the off-center hood scoop, is Cotton Perry from Ringgold, Georgia. Cotton won that race. I saw him race through the seventies at my home track, Brainerd Optimist Drag Strip, in Ringgold, Georgia. He was rarely beaten.

MEMORIES.

Re: 30 years ago at Indy
 

I never did understand why NHRA did that. Around here we had more Modified cars than Comp cars. I would have expected Comp to go before Modified.

Re: 30 years ago at Indy
 

Most people dont really realize or just forget what really happened in modified. It really was just was split in two. We had just finished our 69 TA in 1982. Marty Barrett said the split would be better as we had a break out class. It would give us a place to cut out teeth until we were ever fast enough to run with the big boys in Modified. We spent tons of 1982 dollars for the best stuff from the Pontiac camp and trying to learn.

What destroyed Modified for many was the alum SBC head being legalized at the same time. No one had anything for that! We had a 3450 lb 440 inch cast iron head 69 TA which was right on the mph record. We were learning how to hook that puppy! We used to call it, "Stacy turning on the spin cycle" (being the washer salesman:))

However, Harold Stout's new 82 firebird with the 392 (I think) cu in SBC and alum heads at a much lighter weight bombed the record from 9.41 or so to about 8.92 in the flash of the pan. (Mike McKinney driving) It was a killer combo no large cubic inch engine could compete!

We were told that the alum heads was so much........a disadvantage :rolleyes: yawn, but if we couldnt run with it.........build one! Our combo with cast iron heads and 440 inches was dead! It rusted in the cornfield for 20 years. Oh well rules change so we found something else to play, but not really quite as fun.

That is where we learned that racing has a big stroke of the pen and hard work with tons of money is sometimes marginal. So, we started working on some of those pen strokes for ourselves! I am so glad that many other brands have gotten into the picture like the Fords and Chryslers with those killer small blocks, but it did take awhile.

Lynn McCarty

Re: 30 years ago at Indy
 

i was their that year and remember that ordeal,146 mods for a 48 qual, field wow,you could get real close to tree and see some tachs during qualifying for modified,that class planted spectators in their seats,what a shame,,,,,,,,,

Re: 30 years ago at Indy
 

Seems more like 29 to me.

Re: 30 years ago at Indy
 

It was not just split into two classes. Some classes were eliminated, Cotton Perry's car was in one of them, and he couldn't just move to the next class or two up. Putting Modified cars that ran off their indexes into Super Stock with slower and more consistent automatic cars running off of dial ins made them uncompetitive. It also diluted the traditional Super Stock class, they just arbitrarily "stuck" some cars in Super Stock, none of them actually fit, nor were they in keeping with the spirit of the class. It was a truly stupid and short sighted decision.

Re: 30 years ago at Indy
 

Alan explain further cause I dont really get your point. As far as I knew it was all just weight per cubic inch. When you say eliminated was it like us just made obsolete?

Lynn