The track looks like US 13 in Delmar Delaware and it looks like the late 60's (69 0r 70?)lettering job on the '09.
Terry, Must have been '69 or earlier and yes, it is Delmar. My military service ended in Nov. 1969 and I returned to Delmar on a weekly basis for the 1970 season. Al was running a Chevelle then and tuned several other cars.
Steve, According to Chevy data, the shipping weight of Al's car was 3450. I'm not sure if NHRA used that weight or not. "Curb" weight is listed as 3610 which includes 121 for gas and 45 for water. (409 radiator) I know those numbers don't add up right but those are the ones published. Maybe they didn't count the gallon of gas the car was shipped with?
Verne, I'm 'pretty sure' NHRA used the factory shipping weight, not the "curb weight." That would put the 380 HP, 3,450 lb car very-nicely at 'the top' of C/S (at a 9.07 factor) in 1968.
Tom; That confirmation letter for Indy 69 is priceless!!! Thanks a bunch for posting it. It should be in the Junior Stock Museum and just as soon as I win the lottery, I'll build it $$$$$$$$.
Some good Indy footage here. There's some Stock coverage about 3/4 into the video. Check it out....... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uyU-M0Pw51o
all the weights are taken from the AMA specs that each company sends to NHRA-IHRA , there like 30 or 40 pages with all the dimensions on each car and model--- all engine specs, body mesurments and on and on, even down to the weight of trans, when we were serious about a teardown we would go to the AMA specs
Thanks Jack, I checked my AMA specs and the weight would be 3560 plus 13# for the super sport and about 7# for a radio. Verne
nhra did not add weight for options only for a heavier engine or transmission we used the nada used car guide for the shipping weight and called nhra to to make sure the engine body combo fit the class we wanted.
OK, not exactly Junior Stock but since we're on the subject of 409's, I thought I'd post this letter from a Ronnie Sox fan to Hot Rod magazine in the October 1962 issue. Great example of Ronnie creating a stir early on in his career. BTW, Note the "Big Money" sponsorship from Ronnie's Dad's Gas Station. Ah, the good old days!!!!
I'd like to have the Quinn Bros. (Bill & Don) '55 Olds added to the list. I was building a '50 olds when rules changed after 1970 & Quinn's 55 was no longer competitive. So we became partners in the '53 Olds. Because Jack Mullins & Johnny Bartlett had the 3 speed manual working for them we decided to try it again. After Don made a new valve spring- loaded selector shaft & I ground the rev. idler in-half, and found a 10" disc and clutch without centrifigal weighted weighted levers. Bill shifted it to some 14.15-14.25 times at 99 mph.....But we had no SS/X the following year...why? Did the early Pontiac use this selector 3 speed also? Bill said his hand was allways sweating when shifting this trans! -Rob Ludwigsen
Stock staging lane photo from the NASCAR Grand Points Finale at Atco, NJ October 14 & 15th 1967. I believe this was the very last NASCAR sanctioned event. That's Wayne Jesel's 56 in the foreground, anyone recognize any others?
Verne, I had a couple of B&W photos of Ronnie Sox's personal '62 Bel Air Sport Coupe, but unfortunately they were on my old computer that crashed. Ronnie even had a business car back then where he specifically mentioned super-tuning of 409's, in particular. He also shared driving duties of an assembly-line built aluminum nose'd '62 Impala for a fellow named Junior something in the Carolina area. I may have photos of that particlar car somewhere also. I'll look around. On a side note, I recently learned that Arnie 'The Farmer' Beswick purchased & raced a red-on-red '62 Bel Air Sport Coupe very earlier in 1962 after he could not get the Pontiac Catalina that he really wanted. After much pushrod-bending and only a few months, he sold the car and went back to Pontiacs.......and the rest is history! He quickly became Pontiac's greatest Drag Racing spokesperson. I wonder if Pontiac has any idea of the things that man accomplished for that company even after they left him hanging after the 1963 racing ban?!
Well, found it but the pictures aren't loading for some reason. Ronnie Sox drove two different '62 Chevy's named "Mr. 409 I" and Mr. 409 II". The first car was actually owned by Dan Holyfield and was a Bel Air Sport Sport Coupe, while Mr. 409 II was the above-mentioned aluminum front end '62 Impala and "Junior Clark" was the name of the owner. I'll try to get the pictures up soon.
saw it in HRM that the new owner of the RAY ALLEN chevelle is going to peel off the lettering and "cruise" around a 91 mile original world champion LS6 convertible oh well , no room for heritage anymore
in 1971 my brother and i had a 1966 chevrolet bel air four door sedan 220 hp that ran P/S this was before we switched to the wagon. sometime in april 1971 we went to a race at raceway park in englishtown nj that weekend the track removed the concrete starting line and replaced it with blacktop.the traction was terrible i had to launch the car at idle i do not know how many rounds i went but i ended up in the final against the 57 chev of malone-rodriguez & kennedy. the run was a double brake out.i ended up the winner in a close race does anyone out there have a raceway news that covered this weekend in 1971 i would like to have a copy. lost mine a long time ago. merry christmas to every one Robert
There is NO way that car has 91 REAL miles. IT was raced a LONG time. That car was actually raced with '71 front nose and rear bumper--it was painted white at that time. Maybe 91 miles after restoration. There is a lot of controversy surrounding that car, especially during and after the sale at Barrett-Jackson. I want to wish EVERYONE a happy and healthy holiday. Get those Jr.Stockers signed up for July!!! Until next time....Dave
In case you missed the 'auction' piece, see --> http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showpost.php?p=3411600&postcount=1130 (post # 1130 ) *Ray was pitted about 30 feet away from the M,R,&K 57, shown in the previous post. By the way, that's Ralph Truppi (R.I.P.) in the brown suede jacket, with his back to the driver's door.
I asked ralph truppi why he sold the chevelle he said at the the time briggs chevrolet owned the car . When the car was sold i think the name on the side of the car was changed to the tape peddler robert
Tom, Much appreciated, you sharing this. Now, if I can only invent a time machine and go back in time.... Pete
Rob, cool pic and history! Thanks! I never seen this car much less knew the Quinn Bros. were involved with anything but Camaros. I hope you don't mind me taking the liberty of enhancing and resizing your photo (for better viewing). Best regards, Pete
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