D/Dart in Stock

[bill dedman]

Thanks for the good info, Bob. I remember one car, a '61 Pontiac that had a dealer-installed "hop-up" package that would have been neat to see in Stock, but since it was never a showroom option, it never will be, I'm sure.

It was a '61 Catalina 2-door hardtop driven by Charlie Mitchell, who was a new car salesman at a Pontiac dealerhip in England, Arkansas, and one of those cigar-chomping, larger-than-life characters that are so rare, nowdays.
The engine was a high-compression 389 with three two barrels on an ALUMINUM intake manifold, with special big-valve heads and streamlined exhaust manifolds. It was the last gasp for the 389 before the 421's came on the scene, and ran 13.30's with a 4-speed. It had a decal on the front fender, "Ray Nichels Engineering" (a NASCAR guy, I think,) That engine was rated at the time, at 363 horsepower, but I have also seen it referred to as a 369 HP motor.... dunno which is correct.

It was the scourge of Stock that year, locally, until a dirt track racer showed up one day with a '62 Plymouth 413 cross-ram car with a 3-speed stick; instant 12.90s... )

Charlie traded in his '61 for a '62 421 and raced for a long time, but none of his cars ever impressed me like that white '61 Catalina... it just LOOKED "fast"!!!!!!!!!

[X-TECH MAN]

Originally Posted by bill dedman

Thanks for the good info, Bob. I remember one car, a '61 Pontiac that had a dealer-installed "hop-up" package that would have been neat to see in Stock, but since it was never a showroom option, it never will be, I'm sure.

It was a '61 Catalina 2-door hardtop driven by Charlie Mitchell, who was a new car salesman at a Pontiac dealerhip in England, Arkansas, and one of those cigar-chomping, larger-than-life characters that are so rare, nowdays.
The engine was a high-compression 389 with three two barrels on an ALUMINUM intake manifold, with special big-valve heads and streamlined exhaust manifolds. It was the last gasp for the 389 before the 421's came on the scene, and ran 13.30's with a 4-speed. It had a decal on the front fender, "Ray Nichels Engineering" (a NASCAR guy, I think,) That engine was rated at the time, at 363 horsepower, but I have also seen it referred to as a 369 HP motor.... dunno which is correct.

It was the scourge of Stock that year, locally, until a dirt track racer showed up one day with a '62 Plymouth 413 cross-ram car with a 3-speed stick; instant 12.90s... )

Charlie traded in his '61 for a '62 421 and raced for a long time, but none of his cars ever impressed me like that white '61 Catalina... it just LOOKED "fast"!!!!!!!!!

Those SD parts were considered stock at one time back in the stone age. When NHRA decided to stop allowing over the counter parts and 4 speeds and Hydro's in 57 Chebbies all of those great SD 389's (1960-1961's) were eliminated. There were several racing in my area back around 62-66 and they were called the "INDIAN TRIBE". Max Sterlings White Lightening, The Pawnee of Sam Samuels, Mike Miatico who owned the M/T 61 Ventura that was driven by Carol and Lyod Cox in 61. Dick Hill out of Penn. with a 60 Catalina with a 4 speed and many more. The NHRA ruling made them all junk.

[bill dedman]

Thanks, Terry, for the info.

That is the sort of car that I think could bring a lot of variety back into Stock Eliminator in the new millinneum, but it's about as likely as the sun rising in the West, tomorrow morning...

[X-TECH MAN]

Bill....There were a couple of others I forgot to mention. The 60 Pontiac of Ronnie Broadhead (same class as Dick Hill) was a SD car from the west coast and the car won class at the 66 Winternationals with Butch Leal driving. One more ws a Div. 1 1960 station wagon called the "Big Bruiser" driven by a Joe Perzan (one of the INDIAN TRIBE) who was the Division points leader for awhile in what was then I/SA. Also a 389 SD with 3 X 2's. The guy who ran the M/T 61 Ventura also ran a SD 61 Wagon. These were neat cars and looked great with the 8 lug wheels and wide white wall tires. Bruce Morgan (a west coast guy) won a 61 SD Prize from Hurst Corp. for being the world champ when he was driving a 57 283 FI Belair Hard top in 61. OK Im done,,,,,LOL

[bill dedman]

Great stuff, Terry...

I remember when Bruce Morgan won that Pontiac at Indy.... (I was there that year.) Bruce was an over-the-road truck driver who made enough "time off" from his day job, to follow the Points Tour that year and power-shifted his 283 270 HP Bow Tie to a Championship.

That was before the day of professional drivers in Sportsman Eliminators. A different world...

[Jim Wahl]

Damn Bill! Your old! Jim

[bill dedman]

Thanks, Jim....

I was 23 in 1961...
I'd gone to the Oklahoma City NHRA Nationals in 1957 and '58; skipped the Detroit race in '59 and '60, but went to Indy in '61 and '62.

It was a little different than what we have, now...

No Christmas Tree, Handicap Starts, Breakouts, Dial-ins, Indexes, Contingency awards, Fuelers, Funny Cars, Pro Stockers, Motorcycles of any kind, Pro Mods, Alcohol Dragsters or Alky Funny Cars, Two-steps, Delay boxes, Radial slicks, '.90 cars of any kind, TV coverage, Major brand sponsorships, Multi-car teams ala Force's current stable, 1,000-foot racing for fast cars, Reversers in dragsters, 60-foot traps, Slicks on Stockers, "THE COUNTDOWN," (gag!), Eighteen Wheeler semi-trailer car haulers, Fuel injected Stockers, Lencos, Burst panels on supercharger manifolds, Jet track dryers, Reaction times, Wheelie bars on Stockers, Fines for oiling down the track, Insurance payments to cover Pro racers (there were none) attached to Sportsman entry fees,.... and, the list goes on....

What we DID have, was 1,200 race cars entered, and EVERY RACEwas a heads-up race!!!

You have no idea how that ENHANCES a drag race!!!

'nuff sed.