What REALLY happened to Drag Racing in 1964?

You know, if you look back on the history of alot of racing, there is a period of experimentation, finding what works best. The early rail frame midgets were all pretty different, and not factory built or perfected, in the later Kurtis years things changed, and the cars became more homogonized. Same can be said for oval track modifieds. Probably the only place left wth constant creativity like the old days is maybe Bonneville. No reason why drag racing should be any different. Add in the social factors and maybe thats why 64 is sort of a cutoff date. This is a pretty interesting topic....

 

Just found the thread and youtube link by TIM CONDER ...HE Nails It ...All thats been said here ...save you the hunt:
http://autoculture.org/?page_id=272

 

Terry O ...I'll post some more ,At work now...Got 3000, but will find some that are On Topic with Discussion here.Question ...When did NHRA rule books Make the "Elim Switch" . Can anyone scan and post the early rule book pages that outline elim -cl*** eligibilty.Would like see who they changed from year to year.

 

Great topic....I wasn't around when the good times were, but hit as many NOstalgia events as my tiny budget allows...now if the tracks can read this thread to figure out how to run nostalgia events....that way I don't have to line up next to a pro mod nova......

 

Don...WE just ran our First Dover Nostalgia Drags at Island...Also why I'm looking into Eliminator History,to fine tune that area for 2nd annual. Had 196 cars ..Lot of Real originals ...everybody all smiles and RAN FOR TROPHIES.... Dover ran up to '76, and didn't want to, not include all that ran there originally.There are, with everything ,Good and bad ...Nostalgia events, too I guess. Ours was more of a Alumni 'get-together" Which ones do you favor.?

 

Well, this is an easy question...but so many events seem to miss it....heads up, run as often as you want....don't care about thophys or purse.....most people only watch the first 60 foot anyway....cl***ify the cars by types...G***ers V. G***ers, Hot Rods v. Hot rods, dragsters v dragsters, etc....

 

I agree 110%, I went in the Army in '64 back in '67, the changes were not for the better.The "Hippie" mentality and their offspring became the liberal idiots we have screwing up things today.

 

My shortlived drag racing career ended in 1967. Got back into it in the 70's but just couldn't afford to compete. In the begining Gas cl***es were what they were, modified street cars that mostly were driven to the track. Then came the towbar and then came the trailered cars. I ran an A/G Stude coupe at the local tracks doing very well until the gl*** bodied, well sponsored cars showed up and constantly blew my doors off.
I recall the start of the M/P cl***es. If they wanted to change cl***es due to too much compe***ion they would pull the front bumper off and run Gas.
Once the bracket racing started I lost interest in it. Now, as we all know, it's just big bucks. The more you spend the faster you go.
Good on all you guys that keep it alive with the nastalgia racing. It ought to be televised !!

 

Good question Dino, Pre 1965 is a milestone date in auto history IMO. I think factory hot cars were a big reason, political things changed the world forever as well. I can't think of anything built from 1965 to the present I would want to keep longer that it took to sell it.

 

Stock and the lower gas cl***es went to hell as far as a lot of guys were concerned because all the sudden unless you had a pure race car that was set up just to race you were way off the record most of the time.

In the early 60's a friend Ernie Sanchez held the J stock automatic national record several times with his Pontiac Catalina. He drove it to tracks like Madras, Oregon towing his club members Corvette and then went out and ran on the record. That wouldn't happen just a few years later.

Put a 312 Y block in a 52 Ford Vicki and in 1956 It could hold the C gas record at Ellengsberg, Wa. By the mid 60's the same combination still fit C gas but was no where near competative.

I think the fun went out of it for a lot of guys when they learned that they couldn't manage to keep a car competative the way things stood.

Bracket racing was supposed to even things up but that is a love it or hate it thing and the sides are just about equal on that.

 

Dino, Of all the Dover photos i lent you that one is my all time favorite. You just feel like you could walk into that pit area.

 

Heck yeah! So many things that work in that photo, and the Hellzapoppin Dragmaster to boot. Too cool!!!

 

JeffB2 wote: "I agree 110%, I went in the Army in '64 back in '67, the changes were not for the better.The "Hippie" mentality and their offspring became the liberal idiots we have screwing up things today.<!-- / message -->"

Jimi: Yeah, even street and (my fave) back-road racing changed. Early '60s, the motor heads were some of the real outlaw hoods of the high schools & small towns. After the Oil Embargo and EPA ****, even factory hotrods started to ****. You HAVE to go back to vintage stuff to hold onto some shred of the '50s/'60s drag racing CULTURE. (And, as LittleWing said, THAT sure ain't CHEAP nowadays!!!)

 

Fascinating thread...

As far as the "Factory" hot rods;they had been around since the '50s. You just had to know where to look. Think Black Widow '57 Chevs and J-2 Oldsmobiles. Hell,think Rocket 88. Then you had the lightweight goodies from the early '60s.

You have to wonder;with the sanctioning of most strips,and the inherent safety rules that went along,did street racing take a more serious turn and become more popular and,dare I say,"justifiable",at least in the participants eyes after this time period? I'm sure the "compe***ion" between the various manufacturers on the showroom floors added fuel to this fire.

 

very nice thread. One reason I started my blog of Texas nostalgic drag racing.

In all the old photos pre 64 the tracks had a very different look and in the way they operated. It just wasnt all fancy like in later years. In those days people just walked around hung out on the starting line and watched the races.

A promoter from back then in about 1957 told me it was hell rolling out the Chrondek timing light wire for one qtr mile at a time for each event they set up but very well worth it. At the end of the day they picked up an left as if nothing had ever happened on the landing strip they borrowed just days before. The only clues were tire marks.

Howard Deshazo photos -Big Spring, Texas 1957

 

I've said it before, but I think it was inevitable what happened and it had nothing to do with the Beatles or Vietnam. It's called progress. Racers are just as much responsible as anyone, but I never see anyone blame them. They wanted to go faster than the next guy, so you had this snowball effect. Cars become illegal to drive on the street, then towed, then trailered, each time more speed parts were added, more money spent. All in the interest in going faster. If racers didn't want to improve speed, we wouldn't have progress-or drag racing. I don't disagree that it has become so ridiculous today, but there were some damn good racing days from '64-'73 and even today there are a lot of fans of drag racing in it's present format. They may not be what you'd call "traditional" hot rodders, but they enjoy the earth shaking, nitro breathing TF cars. That is why it continues on, despite all the politics and BS that exists in the NHRA today. Yes, it's evolved from a participatant sport to spectator sport at that level, but don't forget the NHRA is a lot bigger than the professional cl***es. You can still borrow mom's station wagon, pop the hub caps and go racing. People seem to overlook that.

 

When did NHRA ban "Vintage" bodies & cars? Whenever that was it caused a lot of cars to go back onto the steet and "Street Rodding" started. Who coined the term "Street Rodding" and when dit it begin?

 

Dave Downs got it right. Plus it was the era that you went to your nearest car dealer and got a car that would run the better than most g***ers and altereds.

I think the money awards also started the downhill trend. Everyone who could afford it built new cars every year that ran faster to go for the money and the guys that that didn't have deep pockets to invest in new cars couldn't compete so there were less and less racers. The old cars like Model A's, and other 30's/40's cars couldn't compete so they went in the garage or to the s**** yard.

The only reason that tri-five chvys survived was because they were cheap, plentiful and the later big and small blocks bolted in easily.

 

They didn't ban "vintage" body cars, you can still run them. They did eliminate the fuel altered cl*** in 1973.

 

It's all the GTO's fault!

 

Drag racing in those days was top fuel. And what was happening in top fuel from about '60-'68 made it the best era in drag racing's history.

 

those *******s!!!

 

Sooo... the slower car's time and speed was meaningless vis-a-vis his time trial performances where he presumably ran the entire quarter? And how was that better than the handicapped start off a Christmas tree?

 

I started drag racing in '65 with my '61 Chevy ragtop... then graduated to a '64 GTO in '67.

I could go to the drags, race my friends and maybe go home with a trophy. But it wasn't long before the pit p*** cost increased, more $$$ was being thrown at the cars making mine a slug and you could buy a "racecar" right at the dealer.

I got married in '67 and that was it for me... too expensive.

 

This is possibly the best thread I've seen.I actually learned something about true HAMBers and old school drag racing.I now understand the pre-1964 drag racing mind set.The way it should be...This thread has been an eye opening experience for me...Thanks.

 

****og....Co-Rect...I'm learning Too and was about 14 on the spectator side watching cool coupes HEADS -UP( see photo,"first round" B/Gas-1964-Dover). Here's what one of Our guys on the Dover forum said...Just says it all (circa say 65-66):
"Dover,
When anyone could take their street car, pop in a set of headers (******s if you had a little extra money), 4.10 or 4.56 gears, a Hurst shifter, Sun Tach, traction bars (remember them) and used 7" slicks (from some other Jr. Stock racer who was moving into S/S or Modified
Production) and spend a nice Sunday racing in eastern Dutchess. Where you would be
happy to run high 13.00's, get a Dover cl*** winner sticker and a trophy. Leave that
shoe polish "T" on your front window for the whole week, and brag to all, about how you blew away the big guys.
All this for about $25, including gas, a few burgers at the concession stand and maybe a
beer or two at "Sam's" across the tracks, or "Jerry's (pink bar/lounge) on 22. If you wanted to brag, you could stop at the "Red Rooster", and let the family play miniature golf.
NOW THAT'S A SUNDAY "

 

Agree with Tom D. Too...Top Fuel Was where it was At ! push start' em....Stage, Wheels in the Air ,Nitro up your nose, ground pounding, Hold your ears, Holding on half track to keep it straight....Smokin all the way. 32 car fields at Indy.We had plenty booked in Fueler Match races at Dover...The Stands Were Packed !

 

Our Guys Are Tryin ,to keep the old days alive"! Hows this ! Ron Abbotts "Hellapoppin" FOUND (1962 Version) on Ebay ,and a "Dover Guy" grabbed it to restore it to Its original Form.
http://www.doverdragstrip.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=1801&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&hilit=Hellzapoppin

 

The Frenchtown Flyer
It wasn't better I would lose most of the time,the spectators didn't like it, but that is all we had to work with.

 

Really like reading this thread. We need to hear more from the fellas that were "there".