NHRA Winternationals

[graygun]

Did anyone watch it yesterday? Only 13 of 16 slots in Top Fuel were filled. Both Torrence cars were absent after good qualifying efforts.

 

[Ale-8(1)]

Photo gallery and articles . . .

https://www.nhra.com/news/2020/lucas-oil-nhra-winternationals-sunday-photo-gallery

https://www.nhra.com/news/2020/doug-kalitta-makes-top-fuel-history-third-straight-winternationals-top-fuel-win

https://www.nhra.com/news/2020/jack-beckman-collects-first-winternationals-funny-car-victory-infinite-hero-dodge

https://www.autoweek.com/racing/nhra/a30854948/winners-and-losers-from-the-lucas-oil-nhra-winternationals-at-pomona/

:mrgreen:

 

[Captain America]

Attendance looked awful too, the left lane sucked for Fuel and the right lane sucked for Pro Stock...made for some bad racing.

 

[graygun]

Attendance has been slipping for many years;in the 90s it was much higher. I found an article about Torrence and the two Capco cars;the qualifying runs I'd seen them make on YT were done at Vegas.

https://motorsports.nbcsports.com/2020/02/05/steve-torrence-to-miss-nhra-season-opener/

 

[Rick Courtright]

Hi,

A couple of years ago, I lost a friend who'd run top fuel in the very early '70s. He moved to AZ after he retired, but always came out to the Winternationals. He had dozens of people to visit and catch up with every year--family, friends, old time racers and such. We always looked forward to his visits, and I paid attention to what was happening then, but since he's been gone, I guess I just don't think about it much. We miss ya, "Mr. C"!

Rick C

 

[graygun]

I went to the Finals in 1992;back then I knew someone who lived not far from Pomona.

 

[RSIno1]

About 4 miles away and I haven't been since the 70s. I hadn't even thought about it since we were out of town until Sunday afternoon. It dawned on me when there were so many cars at our favorite Mexican eatery we didn't even stop.

 

[Cholo]

Mention the NHRA and I have nothing but good memories. '79 in Atlanta got me hooked. Went to the Nationals in Indy thru '88. Great times! I learned early what a b**** Shirley Muldowney was. John Force was the biggest ham I've ever met. Great guy! Happy to sign my poster

 

[Heliman]

The only Winternationals I saw live was in 1969 at Pomona I believe. Really exciting! I hardly ever watch drag racing on TV. Need to be there for the total effect....

 

[Cholo]

↑ Need to be there is an understatement! Bring hearing protection!

 

[Acorn]

I haven’t been to an NHRA National event in years but I do agree that you have to be there to get the full experience.
We were in the pits and one of the Top Fuelers crews were buttoning up the between runs tear down. They fired her up an the engine sat there popping and cackling. Then the chief reached over and goosed the throttle. WOW! It felt like all the air was sucked out of the area, plus a literally ear splitting roar. It was great!
Gotta get back.

 

[Ale-8(1)]

↑ Need to be there is an understatement! Bring hearing protection!

Amen! :shock: :shock: :shock: :mrgreen:

 

[Bull Barrel]

Nhra has been going downhill for the same reasons na$car has been.

 

[Snake45]

Haven't followed NHRA racing since the early or mid-'70s.

This would be the 50th anniversary of the inaugural Pro Stock race, in which Bill "Grumpy" Jenkins in his '68 Camaro Grumpy's Toy IV honkey-stopped Ronnie Sox in his brand-new '70 Hemi Cuda. Da Grump repeated the victory a few weeks later at the Gatornationals. THOSE were the days, my friend!

These days I'm really enjoying the Street Outlaws/No Prep Kings shows on Discovery Channel. They remind me of the "run whatcha brung" match race days of the mid to late '60s in A/FX, funny car, and what eventually evolved into Pro Stock. Good stuff! :wink:

 

[Bull Barrel]

That was back in the days when nhra handicapped MoPars with their lb/c.i. rules.
And that is a reason why NHRA has been losing fans.

 

[Snake45]

I don't recall NHRA handicapped Hemis in the first year of Pro Stock, but they started doing so a couple years later--largely at Grump's urging, at which point he started coming on strong with his beloved small-blocks.

 

[Bull Barrel]

See? Grumpy couldn't beat em so he had to get nhra to do it.
Uh...what small blocks...441 ci? Lol

Btw, the hemis won the series the first two years...before the handicap rule.
Seeing if you were paying attention.
Lol
Grumpy and Smokey were cut from the same cloth.

 

[Snake45]

See? Grumpy couldn't beat em so he had to get nhra to do it.
Uh...what small blocks...441 ci? Lol

Btw, the hemis won the series the first two years...before the handicap rule.
Seeing if you were paying attention.
Lol
Grumpy and Smokey were cut from the same cloth.

Yah, Sox & Co cleaned up after the first two events, but Grump got the first two. AND ran the first Nine. In a two-year old car.

Yup, Grump & Smokey were sure cut from the same cloth: Innovate, innovate, innovate, and if the rules don't say you can't do it, you can do it. (They weren't the only ones, either.)

 

[Heliman]

Uhhh..... I think Bob Glidden had a thing or two to say about who won Pro Stock also.......but then his major competitor was Warren Johnson.

 

[Snake45]

Uhhh..... I think Bob Glidden had a thing or two to say about who won Pro Stock also.......but then his major competitor was Warren Johnson.

That was a couple years later. And I think he was driving a 4-door Maverick to take advantage of another loophole of some sort in the rules. :wink:

 

[Heliman]

Uhhh..... I think Bob Glidden had a thing or two to say about who won Pro Stock also.......but then his major competitor was Warren Johnson.

That was a couple years later. And I think he was driving a 4-door Maverick to take advantage of another loophole of some sort in the rules. :wink:

I think Glidden and a guy named Barry Poole campaigned V8 Pinto's in the beginning. Poole in Superstock and Glidden in Pro Stock. Not sure of the original time line. Glidden was pretty much alone in the Ford camp with no "official" factory backing. He was my favorite driver, me being a Ford guy.....

 

[kramden]

All motorsports are in trouble. Younger people have little interest. I believe as the baby boomers go so will go motorsports.

 

[smoke-eater]

Last drags I went to were the Summernationals, back in '81. My buddy and I brought our wives. Major embarrassment. Every time a woman would stand up and leave the stands, she'd be met with a chorus of "Shows your t*ts!" Our ladies were afraid to budge from their seats. Never again!
Did have some comic relief, tho, when a funny car engine blew right in front of us. One guy thought he'd take home a nice souvenir when a piston flew out from under the car. He jumped the fence, ran over and picked it up with his bare hands. I can still remember the sound of his scream!

 

[Snake45]

Uh...what small blocks...441 ci? Lol

Not 441, 331. Running 441 ci would have cost him another 700 pounds, regardless of block size.

 

[Bull Barrel]

Oh no, Mr Inspector. Thats a 331. Truuuuust me!
Nyuk nyuk

 

[gunzo]

Oh no, Mr Inspector. Thats a 331. Truuuuust me!
Nyuk nyuk

First of all, the components for a 441 SB didn't exist in 1970. Not even with Grumpy or Smokey.

Secondly, if you told the NHRA your engine was 331 cu. in., it better be as they had, even then, an apparatus that could determine engine size down to to a half cu.in. by doing no more than removing a spark plug & screwing a hose into the hole. If any other questions arose, the wrenches came out & a head got pulled. Refusal to do so is grounds for immediate disqualification.

And.... after each pass down the 1/4 mile, you crossed a set of certified scales on the way back to the pits.

My point, pounds per cu.in. rules have been a rule of thumb to classify in all types of motor sports, not just the NHRA. Pretty much the beginning of the rules for any given class, with the amendments following.