The Red car went a 13.83 @ 105.61 mph, but lost to a 375 hp, 396 c.i. Yenko Camaro. He ran .6 seconds under his qualifying time @13.54 and 103 mph. I went a .34 under my 14.17 qualifying time. You are allowed to run .3 seconds under so we both broke out, and they awarded him the round win. In NHRA the rules are first or worst and I would have won. In the second race I lost a blower belt and slowed to a 14.03 @103, the Camaro smoked the tires, but went a 14.02 for the win. Both Races the Ford was gaining at the end, and actually going faster than the much lighter Camaro. I lost, but they knew we were there! Got a LOT of questions and startled looks from the younger fans who'd never seen a blower '57 before. Got some compliments from the older guys, mostly "heard about these, but never saw one" told them "You have now!"    

Frank/Rebop

Bristol, In ( by Elkhart) 

Frank:

Way to go!  Shake 'em up a bit.  I can't understand how they ruled the camaro the winner, you should have both been disqualified for running too fast.  Or, as you said, you should have won by breaking out less.

John

John - "The Hoosier Hurricane"

Frank - How "pure stock" are these things anyway? And who is doing the inspecting? And that break-out ruling was whacko! I've never seen a "real" pure stock, big block, early Camaro that could do anything but fancy burnouts (Yenko and Nickey cars included). They usually have to have slapper bars, a way stiff right rear spring and 90/10's in the front to even get out the first 60 feet. The best running pure stock AHRA Camaro I ever saw was later disqualified due to flunking a durometer test of the front and rear tires. (It would have been fun to make him swap'em front to rear and try to back up his best run). On the street, the rascals always were begging for a rolling start......

Are you busy making some "geez those look perfect" deep groove pulleys for the sedan yet?

 
 Steve Metzger       Tucson, Arizona

Good show, Frank. Way to stay out there!

To bad about them "technocalities and rules", etc. In my rule book you won just by showing up.

You've got a great car.

       A  L  A  N   F  R  A  K  E  S   ~  Tulsa, OK    

Steve,

    In most cases they're "optimized". Some of the rules are enforced and some aren't. Stanton is more strict than Martin. Check out the rules section at Pure stock muscle car drag races.com. The Red Ford would easily pass an NHRA stock class tech. You're allowed to run up to an F-70 tire, (I don't, they're 205/ 75's). You can run a locker in the stock rear end (I do) you are supposed to run the original transmission, (I don't, it's a Mustang toploader). All castings are supposed to be as original to the vehicle, no replacements ala Chevies so called replacement castings.

      The Camaro's a real 375/396 Yenko, the tires were 4 or 5 years old, and the guy driving's a buddy, we like to bash each other's brains in, but I doubt if he'd cheat just to win. His son runs the program, so they play by the rules. Right to the edge, but we all are.

     The whole point was to get them to take a new look at Y Blocks, and seeing a 50 year old Ford run him down got his attention, let me tell you!  

     You live in Illinois don't you? come and see it at Stanton in September. Really a good time.

          

Frank/Rebop

Bristol, In ( by Elkhart) 

www.purestockdrags.com

Rules seem pretty stiff, but looks like fun - my car is definately not allowed (of course it's also pretty slow  )

John: Lake Forest, IL



'57 Fairlane 500 - Looking better every day.

Didn't figure you were legal, but you can still spectate, no rules there.

Frank/Rebop

Bristol, In ( by Elkhart) 

Frank,

Do you just race one car, best out 2 out of 3 races?  What kind of awards do they offer to the winners?  I have been looking at their web site and it looked like you just race one car.  Are the races heads up or bracket/ET adjusted?

Paul J. - '57 E Code

Paul,

       You qualify on Friday, with a series of timed runs. Gives you a chance to experiment with tire pressures, shift points, etc. They take your best time (ET) and pair you with the car that has the closest time to yours. Sat you race that car in a best of three runs. 2 of 3 wins,will win the match. Same format is used at Stanton, Michigan, Muncie, Indiana and a new race at Kansas City, KS. Also some East Coast races are being run, some for Pure Stockers, but most for the FAST class cars ( Factory Appearing Stock Tire) cars. They also do not allow cars built prior to 1960 or 1964 at some of the East Coast events, Effectively eliminating my car. According to the sponsors "Real muscle cars started with the GTO!!"  That statement makes it important to me that when I get a chance to blow off a GTO or scrub I'll do it. At Stanton two weeks ago, we were matched with a '68 GTO, 400 HO. Beat him in two races. He did have transmission problems, or it would have been a very close race. The cars were evenly matched. I went a 13.70 @ 105 in the second round, best ever. The car gets a lot of attention and questions in the pits, And that's half the reason I do it.

Frank/Rebop

Bristol, In ( by Elkhart) 

Thanks Frank,

Your ET's are great, especially considering that your running street tires. I guess the idea is to make it sort of like it used to be in the era.  Do the winners get a trophy or anything?  I think the muscle car/high performance cars first appeared in 1955 with the "Power Packs" and in 1956 Dodge had the D-500, Chrysler the 300, the 56 Chevy had the dual quad Corvette engine and Ford had the dual quad dealer option.  Pontiac also had a dual quad option in 1956 and then went to Tri Power.  One could argue that the Hudson Hornets with the Twin H option were pretty strong and Oldsmobile was pretty much at the head of the pack when they added the 4 barrell carbs to their cars in 1952.  I guess the manufacturers got serious in 1957 with the F Code Fords and FI Chevy's and Plymouth Fury with dual quads, Buick Century's, Old's J2 and the Studebaker R series cars.  If any of you get close to Ocala, Florida, be sure to visit Don Garlits museums.  One is for drag racing and the other for other antique cars, etc., both are great.

Paul J. - '57 E Code