An Idea for the Future

[Bobby Bennett]

So, am I to assume you guys believe there's merit in a pre-1970s rule for those 3 Modified classifications?

[Ed Fernandez]

Bobby, as an automotive journalist why don't you try and get an interview with Gracia,Bruce and Graham Light about these new cars?And ask them the tough questions being addressed on Class Racer?

[BlueOval Ralph]

The car count in those classes is so small, it just doesn't mater to the masses, only to those building a new car, right Bobby?? The more important fight is fixing the big picture items like CJ & DP classes.

Originally Posted by Bobby Bennett

So, am I to assume you guys believe there's merit in a pre-1970s rule for those 3 Modified classifications?

[Ed Wright]

Originally Posted by BlueOval Ralph

The car count in those classes is so small, it just doesn't mater to the masses, only to those building a new car, right Bobby?? The more important fight is fixing the big picture items like CJ & DP classes.

I agree.

[Steve Williams]

Originally Posted by Ed Wright

Were you actually racing in the late 1970s, 1980s? Where were these 32 & 64 car shows? The WCS races were all run, national events were all class winners. Comp Eliminator today is not the Comp of those days. Mostly Econo dragsters back then.
Thinking maybe the car count fell off drastically after I quit at the end of the 1979 season when Modified greatly out numbered Comp. So after reading your " rant" I emailed Bill Long, Mike Edward's partner when he was running B/SM with his Maverick. Bill says Modified greatly out numbered Comp right up to the end. I'll take his word since I know for certain they were there. Modified Eliminator World Champs, right?

Sorry Ed,

I may have misled you in some areas of this topic. I don't dispute the large turnouts for Modified. You convey an idea that Comp had no turnout and that was not the case at all. Comp was strong back then and not so much currently. Econo dragsters were plentiful, but then again I believe they were out numbered by altereds. Edwards was the Champ, the last Champ and there is no dispute there. It was the same situation then as it is now concerning car counts if comparing SS to Comp. It only makes sense that Comp does not have the counts as it is terribly expensive to run one of these cars competitively as compared to most SS cars. Although there are a few operations out there currently that are spending Comp money to race SS. That makes no sense to me. Comp never qualified off class winners and I never remember an all run situation. Stock&Super Stock all run I agree with that, Comp was not that way in the late seventies. I will say that I read Phil Burgess' article about Modified's demise and was wondering where he got his facts about car counts. The only division that was weak was Div 6. I remember that at the Fall nationals there were more Div 1,2,3,4,5 cars than there were Div 6&7 combined. Ed, about driving back in the 70's-I would if I could have but as a 15 year old that didn't have two nickels to rub together it became apparent that that would have to wait. Now I got the nickels to run Comp but the currency changed to big dollars (it may never happen for me on my own). Atleast it didn't deter me from building an affordable stocker. One last point that I want to make. Modified did not have to be axed. It was healthy as were all sportsman classes at that time. But on a side note, they bring in more SG and SC cars now than Modified and Comp combined did back then. This axing of Modified made NHRA alot of money and put many people in business selling electronics that a rocket scientist marvels at. It also cost alot of guys alot of money on cars that were not worth .50 cents on the dollar. I worry that at some point that this will happen again to some class and we will write and talk about what a travesty it is but have no voice with the sanctioning body. It's all good isn't it? History could repeat itself.

[Sean Kennedy]

Does somebody have a copy of Modified Eliminator rules?

Or at least, since I'm too young to have been around for modified, the difference between modified and comp.

[Ed Wright]

I don't know where you're from, but in Div 4 we always had many more Modifieds than Comp, which was mostly econo dragsters, not all that many altereds. All ran at div races, paired off qualifying just like Stock, SS and Comp right now. Could be that we never had enough Comp cars for a full field, but everybody ran. I was not a 15 year old kid watching, I was about 25 years old and running a C/SM Camaro in Modified.

[Steve Williams]

Ed,

Talked to a old Comp racer and he tells me that he thought that all run in Comp ended around 1979 (maybe 78) but no later than 1980. He also said that his opinion of why cars counts dropped in Comp was due to escalating expenses (cylinder heads primarily). You are correct about Div 4 having alot of Modified cars, much more than Comp. Same scenario in Div 3. I don't remember your C/SM Camaro, but they were a popular combination as I remember seeing many of them. The idea of classes for updated older vehicles is appealing I am sure to many people.

[SSDiv6]

Originally Posted by Steve Williams

Ed,

Talked to a old Comp racer and he tells me that he thought that all run in Comp ended around 1979 (maybe 78) but no later than 1980. He also said that his opinion of why cars counts dropped in Comp was due to escalating expenses (cylinder heads primarily). You are correct about Div 4 having alot of Modified cars, much more than Comp. Same scenario in Div 3. I don't remember your C/SM Camaro, but they were a popular combination as I remember seeing many of them. The idea of classes for updated older vehicles is appealing I am sure to many people.

Comp Eliminator evolved in the same way as Stock and Super Stock. Today's Comp cars have a lot of the Pro Stock chassis and engine technology that makes it a very expensive class to run. I still remember when Super Modified were limited to the original suspension and the trick was to use the leaf-link system. They were also limited to a 10.5" rear tire.

[Ed Wright]

Originally Posted by Steve Williams

Ed,

Talked to a old Comp racer and he tells me that he thought that all run in Comp ended around 1979 (maybe 78) but no later than 1980. He also said that his opinion of why cars counts dropped in Comp was due to escalating expenses (cylinder heads primarily). You are correct about Div 4 having alot of Modified cars, much more than Comp. Same scenario in Div 3. I don't remember your C/SM Camaro, but they were a popular combination as I remember seeing many of them. The idea of classes for updated older vehicles is appealing I am sure to many people.

Comp was still all run, same as Modified, when I quit at the end of 1979. The econo dragsters had the same heads and engines as super modifieds.