Another informative post from "Old Tech Inspector" -- KUDOS! It most-likely will help some folks that were not 'around' and/or not born yet clear up some of the 1960s/1970s Stock-classification 'confusion.' All I recall for sure, was that I built my I/SA Pontiac iduring the winter (brrr -- no garage at the time) of '66/'67. It was a bit heavy for I/SA at 16.20 lbs per HP because it was a 'Hard top' as oppossed to a 2-door 'post' car which 'fit' the 'class better.' Ed Beyer, Gary Ledbetter, and Ed Hamburger all ran those 2-door 'post' cars. THEN, a year or two later (this boring saga continues!) NHRA went to the 'more-logical' even-numbered classification system -- chronicled by "Old Tech Inspector" above. That's when I did the (bit 'shabby') 'change' job on my frront-fender .. *turned the 'I' into and 'N.' *See image below. 'Gee-se,' I was sooo 'buck$ down' back then. By the early 70's my 16.20 lbs per HP car fell into NHRS's *P/S (*lower stockers no longer had their 'own' automatic classes). I sold the Pontiac, and 'bailed' about that time (1972 ish), unhappy that bracket cars inundated the staging lanes. I wish someone would post a more-comprehensive (60s/70s) Junior Stock classification 'Timeline.' It would be interesting! Cheers ... Steve
"Did you see that Barsky /Mcmath 57 Super Stocker wagon??That thing flat gets it too!!!!!!!!!" I know what you mean about tow rigs. It is hard to imagine where all the money comes from.
could you by chance send me the first pic or send a link?Anyone who has any pics of Tokyo Rose lemmie know please and send,besides bob rice of course lol i have seen all those!Thanks Bob!
As I recall, someone on here remembers passing up a old "swiss cheesed" '55 Chevy either in the late '60s or early '70s that he later found out was the original Monster Mash, the unwanted car was subsiquently sent to the crusher. -Dean
Bob, The Pontiac next to George in the staging lanes -- could that be the '58 4-dr that George later bought and ran for a while? I 'think' that was Freddy Bourchek's(sp?) injected Pontiac. PS: I've got about 300 ft of 8MM MOVIE film that I took @ The '66 Bristol Springnationals. Last week I took one of the rolls to a local photo lab for transfer to a DVD -- it's a bit 'pricey' and a 3-week wait, but no problem. Alas, the 'tech guy' there was 'clueless' as to if/how I could have 'select frames' printed, or put on a disc. Anyone have a 'suggeston'? Thanks, ... Steve
Steve, I'll try to remember to email George and see if that was Freddy's old car. I do remember that George said that he only ran that car for one year. George also had a lot of old 8mm video that he sent to Jim Amos with Bee On Video. Bob Rice
Thanks Bob! Speaking of Pontiacs, this very 'rare-bird' Canadian delivery (below) would have really been (as Arte Johnson used to say) ... "Ver-r-r-ry Interesting" as a Junior Stocker. AND the 'legitimacy' of the Hydro would have been indisputable and probably not subjected to the later ban.
Dang!! I was standing at the fence and the burnout box watching these cars run. That means you were right there in the stands and we could have done this in person! My loss for sure..........
"Bob, The Pontiac next to George in the staging lanes -- could that be the '58 4-dr that George later bought and ran for a while? I 'think' that was Freddy Bourchek's(sp?) injected Pontiac." That doesn't look like the same model as George's car. If I remember correctly, there was a guy named Pete Hamilton that ran a Pontiac around that time. Maybe it was his.
Spider (William Stankus) is back from the Grove and said this about his Monster Mash cars. He owned THREE. #1 was a Belair Sedan. #2 was a 210 Sedan. #3 was the 150 business coupe. The best he ever ran was a 13.34 @ 103. That's I/S. Not bad huh? He had the "Forged-True motor "(pistons) in it when he ran the East Coast Drag News event at York and melted a hole in the piston (Jenkins had it set up very lean). Believe it or not, they sent a guy to JC Pennys that evening to buy a set of .060" pistons. They were plain cast. They changed them at the motel and put it back together. I guess 3 or 4 guys with a pole could get it done. Anyway, Jenkins was there and that's what he told them to do. The first day the #3 car was out was at Vargo and Jenkins was there. IT had the long Stahl collectors (to the back of the door). After the first run, Bill told him to cut a foot off the collectors. He did and it ran faster. Told him to cut another foot off and it ran faster again. Spider sold the car to a guy named Dink Lawrence from Reading, Pa. He said the guy couldn't drive and he went through 3 transmissions. Spider ran the car with the 3rd one and it still went under the record. The car was changed to an automatic so the new owner could drive it, but he still didn't do well and sold it to someone else. That owner had a wreck with a trailer and the car rolled into a ravine and was it for the car. That info is from Spider. Verne
"Spider sold the car to a guy named Dink Lawrence from Reading, Pa." Barry Musser must have been saying Dink and I thought he said Tink since the car was called "Tinkers Toy". Dink is/was Barry's father-in-law. Barry was obviously mistaken when he said there was only one car. There is a photo of the car in a montage in a recent issue of "East Coast Drag News".
Thanks Verne. Good to see the mystery of the Mash cars unfolding. The info on this board never ceases to amaze me.
Yes sir that would be me! The paving year is ending here and layoff soon to come. Just getting an unbearable itch to start restoring "something".Oh and By the way if you shoot george an e-mail tell him i said HI!
I emailed George last night about the Pontiac and also gave him the link to the site. I'm hoping that he will sign up and provide us with some valuable information. I don't think that he's forgotten anything about his racing days. Bob
Doug, looking through your absolutely incredible online photo album, it occurred to me just how many of us are 'still' ... how should I say ... 'normally aspirated.' You have images (and many names) of, what ... 100+ cars/drivers/owners posted. And that's just the 55/57 Chevy crowd. If you count the remainder of 'The Junkyards for Lunch Bunch' from that exciting and tumultuous 10-year period ... '62-'72, there must have been 2-to-300+ semi-serious (and determined!) racers back then. The amazing thing is that most had jobs and familles, but still were able to build, campaign and maintain their cars, with very-little 'reward' offered. In many cases a class trophy and a case of oil was what you returned home with. A 'good' weekend with a 'Junior Stock Eliminator' win would put 25-to-50 bucks in your jeans. A Jr. Stock Elim. win at '75/80 Dragway' (Frederick, MD) would 'reward' you with a $25 (or at a 'special' meet) $50.00 U. S. Savings Bond ... worth $37.50 ... as I recall. Perserverence did pay off for a few of the 'giants' of this not-really-so 'Junior' sport. Just ask George Cureton, or Dave Bortman, or ..... Well ... I was thinking (dangerous for me now 'daze') that it would be pretty neat to compile a list of names of Junior Stock racers from that era. Anyone like to 'start it' ? Then we could all 'add to it. Could be fun! Cheers! ... Steve
And so far as to the people i have met on line they have all been helpfull beyond belife! And i'll start a list now George Cureton!
I just got lucky when I stumbled onto the queries about the Mash cars, because I have a good friend in Pa who is in contact with the Spider regularly. He's told me many stories about that car. I asked him to give Spider a call and get it from the horse's mouth. He didn't ask him about the fate of the first 2 cars, but I'm sure those rocks can be turned over too. I'll follow up. My buddy doesn't have a computer. He's still locked into 1962! Verne
The August 1969 issue of Car Craft has an excellent article on Junior Stock racers. It lists the racers by class and there are a lot of familiar and not so familiar names. Here are a few for the list. Warren & Register Matthews & Bender Jim Waibel Wayne Walker
Great initial response! Here's 'The List' (with a few I added) so far. It's in the order 'generated,' I guess we can always 'alphabetize' it later. George Cureton Jere Stahl Joe Allread John Barkley John Dianna Bob Lambeck Warren & Register Matthews & Bender Jim Waibel Wayne Walker Bill ('Spider') Spanakos John Archambault Frank Iaconia Ed Beyer Ed Hamberger Gunning Bros. Wheatly Bros.
A few more names to add to the list; Wayne Jesel (Yoo Hoo Too 56 chev) Carmine Rotundo (55 chev sd) Cal Method (57 chev etc) Marv Ripes (57 chev) Bo Laws (57 chev)
I think we should add Steve Perrault's name to the list (aka 56 Pontiac I/SA) Verne I just happened to pull out my Oct. 29 1965 issue of Eastern Drag News and I found this car "on the cover". Anybody recognize it??????
"I think we should add Steve Perrault's name to the list (aka 56 Pontiac I/SA) Verne I just happened to pull out my Oct. 29 1965 issue of Eastern Drag News and I found this car "on the cover". Anybody recognize it??????" YES! that's Ed Beyer's '56 Pontiac 317 Cu in, 227 HP *I/SA ... * before the later NHRA 'weight break' that put it (and me too) into N/SA. In a pretty-short time the emergence of the killer deliverys 'usually' put us on the trailer ... Oopps! 'Tow Bar'! A few years after they hit the scene, Neil Young rubbed 'salt in our wounds' and recorded (great song!) 'SEDAN DELIVERY' or as he sang it ... Cee-dan Dee-livery'! As to Ed Beyer ... last I heard he went on to work for Hurst as (I think) 'The Shifty Doctor. Nice guy, he later gave me some great performance (carb/header/timing) tips! Ah ... those were the daze! Cheers! ... Steve PS: Verne ... Thanks for the nice gesture!
This was the first special feature section for Junior Stockers in Eastern Drag News, Oct. 1, 1965. Look which 2 cars they featured! Even though the Mash car shown is the third car, it still says "II". My apologies to Bill for spelling his name incorrectly. Verne
"As to Ed Beyer ... last I heard he went on to work for Hurst as (I think) 'The Shifty Doctor. Nice guy, he later gave me some great performance (carb/header/timing) tips!" I recall a '57 Chevy that ran at E-town in '68 that was called "The Shifty Doctor". I bought a used Hurst from him for my '62 back then. Verne
Probably was him Verne ... not sure. He was a bit older, very-robust guy back then, but you have to wonder if (like so many) he is STILL 'normally aspirated.' After all 'The Grump' 'hisself' will be 79 in January! Doug, by the way (RE: 'The List') ... 'Good idea' adding the 'best-known' year/model car and/or the car's 'name.' I'll do a (cut 'n paste) 're-post' of 'The List' sans any (bound to happen!) 'repeats' late tonight. From there, we'll see how it goes! ... Steve
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