I don't believe Willard ran Stock with the Biscayne...Only Super Stock. Also, I thought it was white, though I never saw it. Jimmy Parker would know.
It was definitely running Super Stock when I saw it, it was in '72 I'm sure and that's the year NHRA did away with traditional stock and we all went to SS. I thought about it later and he was at the Warner Robbins points race after that running SS, he did a dry hop behind the line and when he put on the brakes the right front brake drum shattered and parts of it went everywhere. I don't remember seeing him after that but heard or saw results were he was running the Chevy II wagon.
Gary, the only one I have is visual one and the only thing I can see in my mind's eye is the trunk lid and it's pulling away!. Honestly, I don't think that he ran the car very long. Perhaps Jimmy can remember it. I recall that it was fairly nondescript, had minimal (if any) lettering, and was a silver-gray color?
Loudbang....the second picture is Tony Janes. Not sure about the third one but do not believe it is Marv Ripes. Sure Mr. Norton will fill us in. I was told that the wagon still looks the same and is in Pennsylvania.
Damn, Loudbang! That's kind of like going to a high school reunion (except that those guys don't really tip the beauty scale as far as some of the debutantes that I remember in poodle skirts and turned up collars in the 50's. Actually, there were multiple "camps" of Junior Stock racers in the late 60's in SoCal. (Gary Glover should be ready to jump in with corrections and additional comments.) The most prominent of the very tight groups was "The Valley Boys." I don't know exactly when that name developed because I was out of the state for 14 months between July 1968 and September 1969 and it is my recollection that The Valley Boys really took shape around the time that the Car Craft series entitled, "Building the Ultimate Junior Stocker" appeared in late 1968-9) Counted among the members of the unofficial roster of "The Valley Boys" were Joe Allread, Marv Ripes, John Barkely, Bob Lambeck, and our own Gary Glover in addition to a number of others. who came and went. In this reference, the "Valley" in question was the San Fernando Valley located north and northwest of Los Angeles. At one time, there was a drag strip in San Fernando but I remember also seeing those guys in "our valley," the San Gabriel Valley, that lies east of Pasadena and northeast of Los Angeles by about twenty miles. The San Gabriel Valley was home to the track where I first became involved, San Gabriel Raceway (it closed in 1963 but Dave Kempton was the tech man and it was a hotbed of activity for Stockers up to that point. I saw Bruce Morgan, Dick Landy, Gas Ronda, Les Ritchey, Bill "Maverick" Golden, Bill Hoefer, Bill Hanyon, and a host of others race there in Stockers, Super Stockers, and A/FX before it closed.) Fast forward a couple of years and Irwindale opened about three miles northeast of the former site of San Gabriel Drag Strip. For the uninitiated, the site of Irwindale is currently occupied by a huge Miller brewery and no vestige of the old track remains. Further east of Irwindale lies the Los Angeles County Fairgrounds, site of two NHRA national events per year in these times but open as a regular drag strip every Sunday during the early-to-mid 60's. Returning to today's photos posted by Loudbang, of course the top photo is of the West Coast Father of Powerglides, Marv Ripes. Just exactly which '57 that may be is unclear those guys traded, swapped, bought, and sold cars so often that I could never keep up but that's Marv, no doubt about it. The second picture is the car that I think was originally built by Big John Barkley and then sold to Tony Janes. Both John and Marv were involved with it at one time. There are many stories about that car but the most prominent in my memory is the one told to me first-hand by Tony. He took the car to a points meet in Carlsbad one year, set a national record, and showed up for teardown with only a Crescent wrench and a screwdriver for tools. (Tony has never been all that mechanically inclined and he'll admit it to this day.) The car was painted yellow on one side and blue on the other but it had gold leaf lettering and, in its day was a very striking combination. I don't remember the paint job on the car in the 3rd picture but there's no doubt about that smiling face. Big John was at the top of his game between 1967 and 1971, the end of the original days of Stock. The paint job in the top picture is the way I remember the car that won the '68 Winternationals. This might be the same car but I'm not sure. The fourth picture is, of course, Marv again, pre-'57 Corvette. The fifth picture is the really pristine, orange '57 wagon that Marv built along with s partner to two. I think that Tony may have been involved with that project but, if I recall correctly, it came after the Corvette. That car was running the same FI, hydraulic dammed (250 horsepower) combination that worked well in the Vette. I believe that was the car that Marv was running when Stock became Super Stock at the beginning of the '72 season. They found out fairly quickly that the FI motor didn't respond to the liberalized manifold rules allowed by Super Stock and it was sold to a racer near Pittsburgh, PA and it is my understanding that it truly does exist in the same form to this day. During our grandstand bull session at the Winternationals a couple of weeks ago, John, Tony, and I talked at some length about the way Stock (and Junior Stock) Eliminator was structured and how that affected the on-track racing. In the first place, only class winners were a part of the "Sunday Show." It was very common for really good drivers to be eliminated during class run-offs at major events without ever having a shot at the big trophy or the best money. Most people built their own motors or had close friends build their motors (note the name "Joe Allread" on many of the Valley Boys' cars). That meant that the choice of cars had to be made very carefully and led to some odd combinations in all brands. Having the second fastest '57 Bel Air 2-door hardtop in town could mean that you NEVER raced on Sunday but the same motor in a four-door station wagon might be a free pass into the Show. Really successful Stock racers might have had multiple bodies in their backyards complete with lettering and much of the needed accessories. It might become necessary to swap to another body within a couple of days if the record for a combination was "buried" by another racer over a thousand miles away. In the second place, all dial-ins during eliminations were based off the existing class records. Setting a record carried the bonus of extra championship points so anyone's very competitive car on any given weekend could be rendered a pile of junk if there was a record-setting meet at any of the "mineshaft" tracks anywhere around the country (among the "mineshaft" locations were Atco, NJ, Suffolk, VA, Englishtown, NJ, Fremont, CA, Half-Moon Bay, CA., Long Beach, CA. There were others but you get the idea. Hint: sea level was a plus!) In the third place, not all class winners were capable of running below the national record. Out of twenty or thirty cars in the field, sometimes only half could be expected to "run the number." In the fourth place, tires were limited to 7" width and the compounds and the track prep left a lot to be desired at most venues when compared to today's conditions. That made station wagons particularly desirable and driving an A/SA on that rubber was a definite challenge. In fact, driving anything on 7" tires with six pounds of air pressure could get dicey. Good times! c
Chuck Thanks for the first hand play by play as you experieced it, for many of us; it's almost like being there. I had not quite reached drag racing puberty until about 1970 so I missed the bulk of all this but I was able to follow it in Car Craft, Hot Rod, Popular Hot Rodding, etc. I did have a friend (older) that campaigned a 66 Belvedere I 4 speed street Hemi here in Div. 6 in SS/D about 1970/71. Because of this I was able to go to many of the NW tracks helping him. I witnessed a lot of heavy hitters such as Paul Smith, Cal Method, Ralph Van Papegham, Cal Quihepama, among others. Thanks for jogging some good memories.
The most prominent "Valley Boy" omitted was John Dianna. Couple of others that were partners on my sedan delivery were J.R. Smith and Gerry Davis.
Of course! John Dianna's name was on the Corvette. How could I forget? I also remember Gerry Davis from the Irwindale Championship Series during the '70s. Don't think that I ever met J.R. Smith. Thanks for the editing. c
J.R smith was a friend of mine from WV. He helped John Dianna with his Dusters. He lives just across the river from me now.
Evickberg Fred Gray Legal posted by swi66 in the vintage thread George Vestali Poppycock Gerry Robison Golonka Bros Ice Wagon Yes posted before but this one is much bigger. What a beauty
This one would be high on my list today...with unlimited financing, of course. Four speed legal again, no roll ball required in N/Stock. 283/ 245 , knocking on the 11's ! Of course, you could probably buy a new COPO for less.
Rich Evick is still in the Toledo, Ohio area as of the last time I spoke with him a couple of years ago. Don't know about the car.
A friend sent this photo from the 2016 Winternationals, not knowing I'd much rather have a photo of the Barkley/Ripes car. I Imagine this post will be gone soon.
Found this car on a old Ind. dragstrip site.Says it was a 283 fuelie car that won "a lot of trophies."
Skip Assay Smyly Buick posted by swi66 in the vintage thread Snake Pit Express Tijuana Taxi Weibell Bros & Engstrom Black Light
Mr 265 Becky Willman Mr Twister Bill Niedergesan Mr. Zip for sale Nelson Chevrolet Overtaker at Richmond Dragway
This is not the Mr. Zip car that I remember or was later painted. Wayne had a black 57 sedan delivery that I'm sure ran stock, it was very clean and had all the optional chrome on it and I'm sure I've seen pictures of it on various threads, maybe this one. If I'm not mistaken Wayne runs Zip Corvette parts now. The Olds rear end tells us this car was probably run in modified production as rear ends were looked at very closely in the early days and it wouldn't have been legal for stock. I don't have much luck using the search engine on this site for "NHRA Junior Stock", any ideas on what I'm doing wrong?
The Jalopy Journal
