When was the "Golden Age" of Stock Eliminator

[Scatpacktom]

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?

[Bobby Zlatkin]

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

[X-TECH MAN]

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.

[treessavoy]

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.

[FrankChastain]

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....

[art leong]

Originally Posted by treessavoy

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.

I tried that and was fairly sucessful at it from 96 to 02. I generally drove the car to the track. Spent next to nothing on the car.
Got thrown out for having to little compression. And for the most part I wasn't really appreciated. LOL
I could have spent some money and really gone fast. And passed tech. But I chose not to.
I think most stockers like to spend money,

[Bob Pagano]

Fred that is not what he asked, the key is Golden Age the best of times, they wont come in the future.

[Frito]

Originally Posted by art leong

I tried that and was fairly sucessful at it from 96 to 02. I generally drove the car to the track. Spent next to nothing on the car.
Got thrown out for having to little compression. And for the most part I wasn't really appreciated. LOL
I could have spent some money and really gone fast. And passed tech. But I chose not to.
I think most stockers like to spend money,

In 1970 I won class ( G stock, I think) at the local strip(Riverside) with a 383 roadrunner. Drove to the track, installed slicks (bought used), opened headers and ran. These were the only changes to the car as it came from the showroom. TWENTY ONE cars in class. Just a normal Saturday night!!!!!!!!!!

[Robert Swartz]

Originally Posted by treessavoy

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.

Mid 70's. I ran with the Meek Brothers. They ran a 72 Pinto, converted to a 71, think we changed the front bumper. There was nothing "trick" in that car, just alot of hard work. Trickest part were the 4:88 rearend gears out of some kind of jeep? Modified the housing to get it to fit. We got from it Tom Reider. They set NHRA and a couple IHRA records with that car.

Robert Swartz

[Neil Smedley]

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............