History Before Funny Cars, there was Match Bash

THAT WHAT ITS ALL ABOUT Gary

 

I never knew these existed.Thanks for the heads up

 

A very COOL time in history!!! THANKS Chris

 

Sunday! Sunday! Dawn to dusk! Great topic, raw racing.

 

Match racing lead to major changes in classes and the NHRA rules. It was a fun time with guys going heads up for a big purse the track put up. It spelled the end for some classes and cars, as it became so popular, and many big time racers switched to match race cars.

 

Cool! them were the days

 

& that Nova pictured has got to be one of the nastiest, wicked, meanest, looking junk-yard dogs of the lot! Luv it!

 

And the driver usually thumped his cigarette out the window, right before he pulled into the lights!! Great read, great pics,...great stuff. Thanks man!

 

Match Race Madness (anything goes - '64 or earlier) class @ the next H.A.M.B. Drags????

 

The peak of "Match Bash" was 1965 & 1966....

 

And don't forget the 'sideshows' that sometimes accompanied these match races; 'Wild Bill' and his Dart, Maverick's Dodge A100, E.J. Potter, 'Capt Jack' and his rocket kart, the list goes on...

 

hell ya that's where me and junk need to run,too bad omahoo and cb cant keep a track going

 

But of course there is more to the story really. It is generally accepted that the Term "Match Bash" didn't exist, that is something that was dreamed up by Steve Magnante when he worked at HOT ROD magazine and was doing a tribute to the Match Racers with his Nova, the Wilshire Shaker, back in 2001



Good gravey I thought I was loosing my freaking mind.
"Why can't I remember "match bash" I know the cars but never heard that"

 

"Think cobbled, flimsy metal shells held together by strands of hope and wishful thinking."

----Single-handedly the greatest line I have read in a long time. Very nice work.

 

If a drag strip within a few hours driving distance from Wichita put on a "Match Bash", I'd be there with my Chevy II!

 

It was the transition between A/FX and Funny Car. At least for the top-quality cars--guys like Landy and Beswick took their factory light-weight aluminum-nose cars and turned them into A/FX, but then got bumped out of the class because carbs didn't like standing on the rear bumper so they went to injection--no floats to make the car trip and fall on its oil pan.
Once injection was in, they were out, so they started match racing, eventually transforming to into Funny Cars.

-Brad

 

There's gotta be lotsa ballast in "Hillbilly" in order for that fella to lift the front end like that. The big wheelstands of both cars coming off the line were necessary features of these wild shows in the mid sixties.

 

Joey, I've said it more than once, but I'll say it again. You're a damn great writer!!

 

Match racing was the big thing on the East Coast in the 60's and 70's and it really had some very large crowds at the drag strips.

Many of the outlaw drag strips would put on a better show then sectioned associations were running at the time.

Jimbo

 

Badass. Great read.

 

X2. I never heard the term in Georgia. Yellow River Drag Strip was the zenith of Match Racing in Georgia and the term "Match Bash" was never heard.

 

I think you just described the format that Billetproof already runs.

 

Dig this era,and these cars……specially the Comets!

 

Like Don said... Hot Rod Magazine (the magazine that traditionalists don't read) did a altered wheelbase Chevy II over ten years ago. People thought Steve was nuts. It's nice to see that the idea is now being embraced!



Sam

 

Like others have said, good read Joey!!

 

New terms or old, if the spirit is there you can damn near call it whatever you wish. Hardcore cowboys breaking hundreds of wild horses at once, the aroma of nitro in the air, 'real' cars, hell yes! Who wouldn't want to see that action come back? But wait there's more! Even though safety rules and cages are beyond the wildest dreams of those legends from the day, the fact that they're hidden behind sheet metal doors and roofs make it easier to enjoy than a new FED, no? There's a couple of us in our crew slowly heading down that road. It's not a cheap proposition these days but we hope some little thing like $$$$$ won't hold us back for too long.

Nice read kid...as usual

 

great times and great people, no nhra ---sounds like MOKAN--- as for the term Gassers,Hot Rod Deluxe reprinted the" cam wars" ads from the mid sixties and the term Gasser is all over the place...

 

Thanks Joey. This was truly a time for innovation and experimentation. If there were any rules, I'm sure they were pretty loose and changed often. I have a few years of east coast mags that covered many of these match race events in every issue, some big names sprinkled in the local boys. Few sponsors, but lots of different creations all designed to be the fastest and the baddest. Some succeeded, some were scary, but few were ever the same. Might be time to dig these out and post some pics. Carp