On another thread we have been talking about the HAMB HA/GR rules and the conversation drifted to old dragsters. By 1957 most really fast dragsters were slingshot type. Cook and Bedwell, Gene's Brake Shop[worlds fastest flathead], Bean Bandits, Bobby Langly, to name just a few ran slingshots in 1957. THe ones that ran HAMB type rails were the lower classes like C and B dragster. Cook and Bedwell went on a tour to Florida with their dragster and met Don Garlits who had just built his first slingshot. Emery Cook told Don Garlits how to set up his Stromberg 97's for fuel and the rest is history. Don Garlits went 180 mph in 1958 and set a new Drag News record for A fuel. No one believed that a carburated car could go that fast. I was at Riverside raceway in Nov. 1958 when Art Chrisman in the Chrisman Cannon car when 181 and set the record. This set up the March Meet in Bakersfield in 1959 when a group paid Garlits $5000 to run at 4 or 5 west coast strips. Every fuel dragster in the US showed up for that meet. It was the Woodstock of drag racing. They started eliminations in the morning and ran all day until dark. Art Chrisman won. Don Garlits broke a rod but he was fast for an unblown car. In those days there was no qualifing, you paired up and raced. If there were 100 A fuelers there was 50 races then 25 etc. There was over 100 A fuelers from all over the United States there for that meet. The Smokers car club cancelled all other classes but fuel classes for Sunday eliminations. Thats how I remember it. Roy
Thanks, I thought that the slingshot design took over in the late '50's. Could someone define a "B" or "C" Dragster (back then)? I'm pretty sure that engine size and type of fuel are factors. What else? I'd like to see a 1954 NHRA rulebook.
In 1957 and 58 NHRA had banned fuel [NITRO] the only thing you could run at an NHRA track was gasoline. The fuel cars ran at non NHRA tracks and there were plenty of them. A B dragster usually was a 300 cu. in with a blower. A C dragster was 300 with carbs or fuel injection. If you wer over 300 cu.in. like say a 331 Hemi you were a B dragster that had to run against a blown 300 cu. in. and you lost. Your gas classes were cu. in. into weight, like 300 cu. in. into 3000 pounds would be a 10 which would be at C gas class. The gas class had to be licensed for the street it wasn't until the 60's that the gas class wasn't restricted to the street. Flatheads had to run against overheads which with only a few flatheads could compete. John Bradley drove Gene's Brake Shop and it went 150mph on Nitro. A good 354 Hemi could do that on 50% so the flatheads were out of the running. Guys ran flatheads in gas class dragster like I did in 1957 just because there weren't to many Chevy dragsters yet. By 1958 the flathead was done. Cyr and Hooper had won the NHRA Nationals in 1958 they won a new dragster chassis and they were at the Riverside meet with both rails one on gas and the other on fuel. They didn't have the bugs out of the fuel car so they didn't do well. The key to the fuel cars was to dump mountains of fuel into the engine and most everyone was running the fuel cars to lean. Thats what made Garlits so fast he had fuel dumping directly into the blower manifold as well as through the injectors. By the way Garlits never ran unblown after the 1959 March meet. I'm sorry I just go on and on. Roy
really enjoy the info buddy of mine he has me wound up im building a copy of 58 chassis research car k/88 sbc enderle injected ill pm you 348 with some pics how many years did you race ? thanks rich
I raced from 1956 to 1962 then started having kids that put an end to the racing. I have a 58 Chev Bel Air that has a 348 3X2 that I ran at the Hamb Nationals 2005. But I've really got the bug[ no pun intended] to race the Hamb Dragster class. If we can keep it simple and don't let money ruin it. I'm going to sell the 58 Bel Air to finance this venture. Roy
Guys, Roy (348 chevy) and I talked on the phone for an hour last night and he's a very interesting person. He also has a lot of knowledgeable about engines. He's going to build a 270 GMC for his HA/GR dragster and should be a serious threat to all of us. Very nice guy. Ron
Love the history. Saw Cook and Bedwell run at San Gabriel, and Bradley run the Gene's Brake Shop flathead at Colton. Great racing back then and the spirit still lives on. Good to see another HA/GR on the way.
Great post! from one 348 owner to another. I had the Blue Touring witht he 348 at Mokan in 2005, I think we talked?
Yeah I remember you T man. You didn't come this year or you didn't have your T tub. I didn't run the 58 because I am trying to sell it and I don't want to beat on it at the races. I want this HA/GR thing to take off and we can really have some fun again. I'm really tired of the NHRA races today and bracket racing. There could be a lot of fun to be had with these rails if we just don't let the money take over. When I used to race Super Stock the car could only have headers period. You had to run street tires, my 58 came with 8:00X14 bias ply and that is what we had to run. This HA/GR class needs to not let the whiners take over and start adding things or we will be with wrinkle walls, nitrous or whatever. The nostalgia classes are anything but like it was in the old days. Sorry for the rant but somewhere the little guy has got to have a chance to race. Roy
Roy, that is exactly why we have stuck to our guns on the tranny rules (no autos) and carb rules (no modern 4 bls) etc even though we have caught some flack for it. I think the rules are fine the way they are and I hope they stay that way. I also think maybe next year we should talk to Carl about having a race series at MOKAN (maybe 4 races with the HAMB drags being the Nationals) for the HA/GR cars Since the SDRA races at Tulsa gives a place for the auto/4bl crowd to run. Any thoughts on that? Brad
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