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bill dedman · 07-01-2007, 11:20 AM

You're right about Ohio GEORGE (Montgomery.) He showed Stone/Woods/Cook the way home nearly every time they got together.

But, the Pittman/Edwards B and sometimes C car was racing nearly every week (mostly at San Fernando and San Gabriel, and getting lots of coverage in Drag News, plus they raced the year 'round, something you just can't do in Ohio...

No doubt about it, Ohio George was a HUGE influence because of his unprecedented success and innovative ways. His cars were ALWAYS really, really fast (I remember the earlier Cadillac-powered car and its "Moon disks.")

I think that Pittman/Edwards were slightly ahead of him, chronoligically, but he (Ohio George) was VERY successful, having turned back the vaunted S/W/C car in most of their encounters, and with a small-block Chevy, to boot...

Maybe it was because Drag News was a West Coast (L-A area) publication, but Pittman/Edwards were in there constantly, with class winner results from San Gabe, San Fernando, Long Beach, and the many other L-A area drag strips in the period around 1960. They seemed to race every week, somwhere, and almost always won, so had many imitators. Such was their influence.

Thanks for bringing up Geroge Montgomery, though, His win/loss record is probably about the most formidable in Gasser history; he didn't get beat much; that's for sure!

The great bulk of the Supercharged Gassers from that era ran 4-speed Hydros, and I think Pittman/Edwards, and Ohio George (who both ran Dual-Range Hydramatics) wew probably responsible for a lot of those cars using the hydro drivetrain. There were a few exceptions, but the outrageous torque production in these blown cars would literally eat up a B/W T-10, and there weren't a lot of options, 'til the T-Flites and Turbo 400s came into vogue, later.

Before those cars (the supercharged gassers) showed that automatics could work in a high performace environment, nobody took them seriously. B & M, and some others like them (Vitar, Bee Line, and a place in Chicago, whose name escapes me right now) changed all that. And, it changed the sport.

07-01-2007, 11:20 AM	#9
bill dedman VIP Member Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Conway, AR Posts: 1,739 Likes: 0 Liked 6 Times in 4 Posts	Re: Best Modified racer? You're right about Ohio GEORGE (Montgomery.) He showed Stone/Woods/Cook the way home nearly every time they got together. But, the Pittman/Edwards B and sometimes C car was racing nearly every week (mostly at San Fernando and San Gabriel, and getting lots of coverage in Drag News, plus they raced the year 'round, something you just can't do in Ohio... No doubt about it, Ohio George was a HUGE influence because of his unprecedented success and innovative ways. His cars were ALWAYS really, really fast (I remember the earlier Cadillac-powered car and its "Moon disks.") I think that Pittman/Edwards were slightly ahead of him, chronoligically, but he (Ohio George) was VERY successful, having turned back the vaunted S/W/C car in most of their encounters, and with a small-block Chevy, to boot... Maybe it was because Drag News was a West Coast (L-A area) publication, but Pittman/Edwards were in there constantly, with class winner results from San Gabe, San Fernando, Long Beach, and the many other L-A area drag strips in the period around 1960. They seemed to race every week, somwhere, and almost always won, so had many imitators. Such was their influence. Thanks for bringing up Geroge Montgomery, though, His win/loss record is probably about the most formidable in Gasser history; he didn't get beat much; that's for sure! The great bulk of the Supercharged Gassers from that era ran 4-speed Hydros, and I think Pittman/Edwards, and Ohio George (who both ran Dual-Range Hydramatics) wew probably responsible for a lot of those cars using the hydro drivetrain. There were a few exceptions, but the outrageous torque production in these blown cars would literally eat up a B/W T-10, and there weren't a lot of options, 'til the T-Flites and Turbo 400s came into vogue, later. Before those cars (the supercharged gassers) showed that automatics could work in a high performace environment, nobody took them seriously. B & M, and some others like them (Vitar, Bee Line, and a place in Chicago, whose name escapes me right now) changed all that. And, it changed the sport. __________________ Bill Last edited by bill dedman; 07-01-2007 at 04:03 PM.