Was there ever such a class or was that just a "local drag strip" class back in the 60's (Starlight Drag Strip)....
After the advent of bracket racing, class racing fell out of favor at the local tracks. A lot of the tracks combined both eliminators in order to get the car counts up. That still goes on today with the S/SS associations. NHRA never combined the two categories at the national or divisional level, to my knowledge.
I don’t recall exactly when the SS/S class began but I’m pretty sure it might have been around 1958-1959. The class was for the hottest combinations that were available from the factory. Then there were cars running in O/SS (Optional/Super Stock) in 1960 (maybe earlier) in the NHRA for cars running parts that were not regular production options. I think there were 409 Chevys and 389 Pontiacs in O/SS and probably Fords and Mopars too that had equipment not readily available to the public. SS/S class remained while O/SS became the Factory Experimental class in 1961 and there were three class breaks- A,B and C/FX. Mickey Thompson’s ‘61 Tempest ran A/FX at the Winternationals with a 421. SS cars ran equipment anyone could get, but FX was for those cars that were not regular production like M/T’s Tempest, or the Don Steve’s Chevrolet sponsored Chevy II station wagon with a 327-360 horse FI engine/4 speed.
Good point. It depends on what part of the 60's we're talking about here. Although can't imagine there being too many Super Super /Stocks at Starlight Drag Strip back then..Unless that's all they had at the time for a heads-up class. Probably need to narrow this down to time frame for one thing.
It was in the mid-60's.....Usually it was 427 Galaxys(with fiberglass fenders/hood)...427 Falcons/Fairlanes/Mustangs.....426 wedge Plymouths/Dodges...occasional ChevyII's with 409/427 engines. For a little "cotton mill town" there was often a dozen or so just about every Sunday. (after church of course and over with by evening church time) Upstate SC 6sally6 You shoulda been there!!
Bill Jenkins proposed a new class to NHRA in the late 60's that he called Super Super/Stock. NHRA agreed to the format but decided to call it Pro Stock.
SANCTIONED!!!!...LOL The "retaining wall" consisted of a sagging steel cable. We could almost touch the cars when they launched!! (early/mid 60's) The wooden fence(10') separated the strip from Highway 25. It was just behind the start/staging line. The really quick cars could come back up the strip because the return road was only partly graveled (no asphalt) We had a sweeeet 41 Willys come back up the strip and front brakes failed. He went through the wooden fence...between a couple of parked cars.....across a parking lot .... across the highway...and into a ditch. Front axle and wheels all bent outta shape and sparks flying. He hit the fence about 40 mph!! Thankfully no body was in the way. Nawwwwwww...they din't have no stink'in sanction!! 6sally6
SS/S and SS/SA were Stock Classes at NHRA National Events in 1962 only. 0.00 to 9.89 Lbs Per Advertised Horsepower.
The classifications in NHRA Stock Classes "back in the day" was always a moving target. For instance, in 1961 there were only 12 Stock classes. S/S down to K/S. Cars were classified by shippping weight divided by advertised horsepower. S/S was 0.00 to 10.59, A/S was 10.60 to 11.29, etc. In 1962, the number of Stock classes jumped to 14 classes, SS/S was 0.00 to 9.89, S/S was 9.90 to 10.59, A/S was 10.60 to 11.29, etc. In 1963, there were 15 Stock classes. Super Super Stock disapeared and the top Stock class reverted back to S/S, which was 0.00 to 8.69, A/S was now 8.70 to 9.49, etc. What this all meant was that if you raced your stocker over a few years, even though the car's weight and horsepower remained the same, you might have been classified in a different class each year. Again, these were the "official" NHRA clasifications and used at National or Divison events. Individual tracks could classify the Stock classes anyway they wanted...
As you prolly know.............."we can be a little backerdz in the South" especially back in the good-old-days. Although the Starlite was by no means a NHRA sanctioned strip I guess they kinda stole the classification part, and then held on to it for a few years. Time period I was talk'in bout was 62-67. I'm just glad to find out there WAS a Super Super/S class. Sweeeet! 6sally6
So, apparently, they just stole the class designation. As George pointed out, it was just the top class for Stock in 1962. 409/ 427 Chevy II's would have been quite far removed from any NHRA Stock class.
In the early 1960's, the stock classes were the most popular classes (based on the volume of entries) at the local drag strips. And many local tracks were not affiliated with or sanctioned by the NHRA. Lions Drag Strip was AHRA and I never knew who sanctioned San Fernando Drag Strip, or if anyone sanctioned them. Many cars in the Stock classes were not even stock, teardowns were few and far between. Alot of local SoCal tracks permitted stock cars to run drag slicks and put non-stock scoops on their hoods. You have to remember, there was no bracket racing (or dial-in racing) back then. Some tracks had actual "brackets", in lieu of delayed starting line racing. For instance, 11.00 to 11.49, and 11.50 to 12.00, etc. Most tracks still relied on flag starts, the X-Mas Tree had not become popular until later. When a "stock" car was found to have too many modifications to fit into a stock class, they usually bumped them into a Gasser class. Real or "honest" stock car drag racing, following the NHRA Rulebook, was reserved for NHRA National Events or Divisional Events.
The Jalopy Journal
