More vintage Pro Stock

[C Body Bob]

Stuart McDade is one of the most under appreciated drivers of the Pro Stock wars of the 70's. This cat was in the thick of it for many years. Always in fast Mopars. From Challengers, Dart Sports to Arrows. All Hemi powered. Won his share of match races too

 

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Larry Griffth

 

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Arlen Vanke

 

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Ken Montgomery & Ronald Lyles

 

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Ben Hicks

 

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1972 Summernationals at Englishtown. Missile owner Ted Spheer working the jack

 

[C Body Bob]

Ken Dondero driving the Dick Landy smallblock powered Dodge Omni 1980. The Omni/Horizon's where US built cars. Robert Landy ,Dicks son stated that they had this car running faster than the Arrow Bob Gliden ran in 1979, but the NHRA twice added weight to it to slow it down. Landy & NHRA had been in a bad riff for several years that had even gone to court. So he firmly believes NHRA was not going to let him succeed so he retired. This was the car that had the lifter valley relocated allowing it to rev to 10 grand reliably. All the racers got hit with weight penalties over the years in the 70's, but the Ford & Mopar teams got hit harder.

 

[C Body Bob]

Former John Pietre Duster now Alban Gauither's Duster in this pic

 

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Don Phillips in the Bsktimore Bandit & Don Carlton in the S&M Duster

 

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Doug Brinjak

 

[C Body Bob]

I was reading about how the weight breaks of the 70's came about & I realized that today in Pro Stock motorcycle they are going through the same thing. Kawasaki, Suzuki & Harley Davidson have all been factored out & then back in as NHRA tries to find a balance. It's a lot of politics in it as teams & manufactures jockey & lobby for an edge. It's very similar to what happened in the 70's

 

[C Body Bob]

Here is what I have found out. In 72 NHRA started the weight breaks. 6.75 pounds per cubic inch for small blocks, 7.00 pounds for big block engines & 7.25 pounds for canted valve engines. So Bill Jenkns small block Vega at 331 cubes had to weigh 2234 pounds. Big block Hemi's ran 396 cubes & had to weigh 2871 pounds. So that's 637 more pounds. Plus the Vega was narrower & shorter than the Dusters & Cuda making it a bit more aerodynamic. If the Hemi's went with the 430 inch max cube limit then they had to weigh 3117. As a result a lot of Vega's started showing up. Then Ford realized their 351 Cleveland was a smallblock & in 73 they went with Pinto's. Using the 6.75 rule. NHRA put weight on them as they dominated. The Mopar teams tried to counter with the Colts & Arrows to reduce frontal area in hopes of being more aero, but the big heavy Hemi's where nose heavy & handled poor. A lot of them crashed. I'm still trying to find out about the 340 W2 Mopars & what exactly they where up against.

 

[70bigblockdodge]

I think the weight added to the Ford's is what caused Bob Glidden to switch to a Arrow with small block in 78/79. I may be wrong on year.

 

[C Body Bob]

He claims Ford wasn't giving him a dime despite all the success he was having. Instead they where funding Dyno Don. So when the folks at Plymouth talked to him he quickly jumped on the factory deal. Said he would have stayed with Plymouth, but when Chrysler file bank ruuptcy his contract was nulled. Yes he fought the weight breaks too with the Ford.

 

[C Body Bob]

Don Grother's Plymouth Pinto. Well just kidding. Don was a top Pro Stock driver from the early days. He was forced to run a Pinto in 72 due to the weight breaks. So he put this big MOPAR decal in his back window to let all his fans know he was still very much a Mopar man

 

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Bob Riffle with a BIG wheels up launch in the Rod Shop Challenger

 

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Dick Landy gets his first Pro Stock win

 

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Yep....I had a pair of pants like this. Back in the day of course. Not something I'm proud of

 

[70bigblockdodge]

I had a couple pair of pants like that lol

 

[C Body Bob]

Even the paint job on that Duster is kinda crazy