Last Year of Modified? Question

[Jim Wahl]

Bob or Tom, do you guys have or know of any pics of the silver Camaro that ran in MP out of the Corvette Shop in Winter Park FL? Chris Trabulsy(sp). We used to call him "The Camel Jockey". Not very PC now. The shop used to employ a guy named Rick Mann before he worked for Bo Laws and now Dale Jr. jim

[MEMORIES]

Does anyone remember who won the NHRA modified title the last year it was run, 1981?

[Mark Yacavone]

You're from Tulsa?

Mike Edwards

[Tom P]

The same Mike Edwards who seemed to be doing OK in Pro Stock yesterday ?

Is the Jim Head listed the current funny car guy?

Nice to hear FJ pipe in on this.
I only ever saw the last season of the class though some of the cars continued to run a few years afterwards. What flywheels did you guys run?

It seemed to take longer to wind down after being revved than my bench grinder.

[Ed Wright]

Originally Posted by Tom P

The same Mike Edwards who seemed to be doing OK in Pro Stock yesterday ?

Is the Jim Head listed the current funny car guy?

Nice to hear FJ pipe in on this.
I only ever saw the last season of the class though some of the cars continued to run a few years afterwards. What flywheels did you guys run?

It seemed to take longer to wind down after being revved than my bench grinder.

If this was answered and I missed it, I appoligize. yes, that is the same Mike Edwards. I'm in Tulsa, Mike's race shop is about fifteen miles from my business. It's located between Broken arrow and Coweta. Two small towns next to Tulsa. My C/SM Camaro was a blast, but as Rich said, it about broke me. I finally had to give up in 1979. I began break parts much faster than I could buy them. If I had any sense, I would have stayed away. Super Stock now is not near as much fun as Modified was then. Unless you luck into a heads-up, it's become basically a friggin bracket race. You had to actually know how to make one fast then, and most guys did their own work. Not nearly as many "check book" racers as now. If you weren't reasonably fast you went home real early. One year at Indy there were so many C/SMs, if I remember correctly, seems like they ran a round of us the day before the other classes to thin us out. I took one of my too-frequent naps in the semis of class. I remember like fifty C/MP, C/SM, and I think about that many F/MP in different years. I remember Dick Moroso in C/MP with his Vette "Spastic Plastic". Very nice guy. More cars than classes then. Nowhere to hide from the fast guys. Somebody fast in every class. Now NHRA has become like the old AHRA, way too many classes.

Btw, Billy Mansell put his on the pedal wood when the 1st amber came on, and held it there until time to go. Billy was one of the nicest racers I ever met. Really a great guy. His mechanical tach's tattle-tail was always past ten grand after a run. Pete Smith's too. Loved to watch those cars. With those 50lb flywheels, some guys might have had a problem with these new three amber trees.

[Jimmy Smith]

Thanks for the pic of Billy Mansell, I see Joe Minga sometime as his shop is 75 mile from me and a good friend goes to church with him. Joe is Late model racing with his son Marcus and still same ole Joe. Later J.Smith 4621 racing

[BlueOval Ralph]

1976 C/SM there were 39 car fro the first round of class, back then you Had to win cass to run in Elminator

Originally Posted by Ed Wright

If this was answered and I missed it, I appoligize. yes, that is the same Mike Edwards. I'm in Tulsa, Mike's race shop is about fifteen miles from my business. It's located between Broken arrow and Coweta. Two small towns next to Tulsa. My C/SM Camaro was a blast, but as Rich said, it about broke me. I finally had to give up in 1979. I began break parts much faster than I could buy them. If I had any sense, I would have stayed away. Super Stock now is not near as much fun as Modified was then. Unless you luck into a heads-up, it's become basically a friggin bracket race. You had to actually know how to make one fast then, and most guys did their own work. Not nearly as many "check book" racers as now. If you weren't reasonably fast you went home real early. One year at Indy there were so many C/SMs, if I remember correctly, seems like they ran a round of us the day before the other classes to thin us out. I took one of my too-frequent naps in the semis of class. I remember like fifty C/MP, C/SM, and I think about that many F/MP in different years. I remember Dick Moroso in C/MP with his Vette "Spastic Plastic". Very nice guy. More cars than classes then. Nowhere to hide from the fast guys. Somebody fast in every class. Now NHRA has become like the old AHRA, way too many classes.

Btw, Billy Mansell put his on the pedal wood when the 1st amber came on, and held it there until time to go. Billy was one of the nicest racers I ever met. Really a great guy. His mechanical tach's tattle-tail was always past ten grand after a run. Pete Smith's too. Loved to watch those cars. With those 50lb flywheels, some guys might have had a problem with these new three amber trees.

[Ed Wright]

Originally Posted by BlueOval Ralph

1976 C/SM there were 39 car fro the first round of class, back then you Had to win cass to run in Elminator

Yes, and not so many classes to hide in from the fast guys. Don't remember many, if any, singles for class. More like real racing then, not et brackets. I still have a problem putting the words bracket and racing in the same sentence.

[Frito]

The same Jim Head? YEP it is. He ran a C/Dragster and I still remember his hometown listed as Sunbury, Ohio.

[Tod Lane]

Originally Posted by Frito

The same Jim Head? YEP it is. He ran a C/Dragster and I still remember his hometown listed as Sunbury, Ohio.

I remember Jim about biting his tongue off one night in that car, I think it was at Muncie IN where the drainage culvert always sank a bit and bounced your behind in the air if you didn't get clear over by the grass at the finish line... Semi finals as I recall, bit it bad enough the wanted to drag him to the hospital but he wouldn't leave...