Drag Racing 1970

appear in many words which are used when talking about drag racing today as in prototype proceeds progress promotion [Music] [Applause] [Music] having a schedule which boasts to nearly 20 national events drag racing is now being referred to as the sport of the seventies and one of the prime movers in the evolution of drag racing has been the Plymouth Rapid Transit System [Music] what's it like to be a full-time drag racer to be sure it's not all big checks and trophy queens there's a lot of hard work heart breaks in between let's hear the story from some of Plymouth's pros you get up at 6 o'clock in the morning you go out to the track tomorrow and you run all day and then you come back tomorrow afternoon and you so late tomorrow night or maybe all night making sure that everything's ready to go again Saturday and it's not just a job that's true but we can do it right that's right I think it was two years ago that I decided I was either gonna do better or quit cuz the hours I put in if I would pick another profession I would have to make as much money maybe more for less hour do you put all the energy and all of your money and your time into it to make it make your car run as good as what it can to make your car look you know look as good as what it can sometimes I tend to psych myself out by just by worrying about the clutch and worry motor and that's what I constantly think about just the whole machine all pros in a tough game called the sport of the 70 a sport which traces its origin to the wastelands of Southern California there it was nurtured carefully by tough sportsmen this is where drag racing came from in the 30s and into the 40s cars raced against the clock straightaway times miles on the dusty windswept dry Lakes and salt flats baked by an unmerciful son that's where the drag action was by 1946 Southern California timing Association had some 25 clubs and a major meet would draw 200 the more cars the cars ran the gamut creativity with speed the sole objective in the middle 40s this was the look flathead for Bangor running with v8s and even be twelves on in active military strip a lot a 300-dollar mustering up check put the hot waters back on wheels then came men likes to hilburn magician with carburetors camshaft fuel and the like some real motor science they tamed the v8s added streamline chassis and proceeded to break the hundred fifty mile an hour barrier by the middle 50s drag racing had its basic ground rules and definition and acceleration contests over a quarter mile distance from a standing start a single car run or a competitive run between two cars [Music] the rear-engine dragster Oh little did they realize then what they have ingenuity is the real heart of drag racing but the sport is still trial and error that's the fun of it in 1951 the first press for Hemi engine came on the scene a couple of years to harness the power of this giant of an engine but most of the pros realized then it could be the foundation power plant for years to come [Music] as more horsepower became available the drag tires got more attention by 1959 Jack Chrisman really going after the speed records 181 miles an hour the stock cars were given their own class drag racing had moved to a new era [Music] by 1963 the stuck car had its place advance stands a population explosion fair enough super Scott wedge sixty-four winter nationals ever the innovator Don Garlits relied on to a double a fuel win 1966 again Pomona a tough team comes in from North Carolina Ronnie Sox driver buddy Martin team manager this the meet in which surely Shahan becomes the first ever to win a major drag racing championship as she defeats Joe Smith [Music] 1967 Valley Bristol Tennessee National Hot Rod Association Spring Nationals professionalism obvious the best drag equipment ever like this sleek Plymouth with Ronnie socks Manzini another and if money Sox winning back to India again in 68 for the NHRA national first-time total prize money's for a meet had gone past $150,000 and again it's uh Plymouth in the Superstock final Arlen Bankia back [Music] thank you livers darkly top-end its Akron Arnie for the win after a long winters worked the 69 national racing events begin in Pomona California bigger crowds bigger prize money's and the most professional field of drag racers ever assembled this describes the NHRA winter Nationals where longtime regional champion Don brother first in the national prominence by defeating Jerry Harvey's Cobra jet Mustang to pick up all the gold and with it the Superstock the Eliminator title [Applause] [Music] on the Phoenix d-line Dragway the site of the American hot rod associations winter national it is here Ronnie socks is honored by AHAR president Jim theis as the association's driver of the year mr. Ward is in the right hands when Papa Doc is Luminator honors and his fleet any roadrunner [Music] arlynn Becky completed the plymouth sweep the d-line as the six for speeds is Hemi Cuda fast Antares Cobra jet for an easy Super Stock Eliminator championship further proof of limits track strength shown at the NHRA Indy national the personable team of my tack and Morgan take their war wagon the venerable wedge powered plymouth wagon that has terrorized the East Coast for years to a decisive stock eliminator Championship the red white and blue Cooter's option mark backs up the Superstock Eliminator crown they won out of 69 spring why once again defeating Superstock tonight pick up a second major eliminator [Applause] [Music] later in the year in Top Fuel Don the snake Prudhomme was a picture of consistent he notched his second Indian acronym not have made it this far without a strong assist from the weatherman brief rain shower gave him the time [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] 1970 has been referred to as the super season as NHRA expanded its schedule of national events to seven and AHAR instituted its ten race and American Championship the crowds were bigger than ever the purses were too and a new classic cars the probe stocks simmer bringing the fans to their feet whatever they were [Music] 1970 was truly a super season as notables like Saxon much John and Don Prudhomme carried the rapid transit systems colors to the winner's circle again and again and again at Indianapolis stock Eliminator finals so Harlan bike racing [Music] in an all any number gunmen [Music] [Music] what an blue car got there first to claim their second straight India national crown and their second straight NHRA Pro Stock 11 had a championship in NHRA competition for the year the snake Don Prudhomme what picked up his third by defeating Jim nickel on the final run [Music] an observers claim this was most spectacular drag race ever seen [Music] both drivers reported stop six and a half second [Music] to nip nipple at the finish line disaster cause his car and a hat a rollcage section with gym inside tumbles into the grass the nose section crosses / Dom's path [Music] moments after for a time for real soul-searching [Music] was the glory worth the risks involved minutes later hearing that his friend Jim Nicole was these thoughts vanish and attention turns to the winner's circle and the next race Ontario California the NHRA super national the last event on the 1970 national racing schedule a fitting end to a season that saw Sox and Martin with four major NHRA Pro Stock eliminators including the NHRA World Championships and these along with eight out of ten AHAR Grand America and AHAR World Championship Plymouth also won the NHRA manufacturers championship rapid transit system had made its mark the last race of a super Nationals marks the close of national drag racing biggest season ever but the Plymouth pros who helped make drag racing the sport of the seventies do not rest on their laurels now because they all know how quickly the fans will forget if they quit winning for pros like sucks and Martin Don groesser there's a full schedule of plymouth supercar clinics to be conducted tips are given on everything from good driving practices to the importance and maintenance of clean air system in short this essential element in Plymouth's rapid transit system delivers the kind of knowledge it takes to make a guy a winner anywhere meanwhile there's new race cars to be built the upcoming season and if that's not enough to keep everybody busy there's a continuous program of test and evaluation for new parts and technology while craftsmen like Jake king or Joe Smith they're busy helping prepare new mounts for Sox's Martin and Don groesser they too are determining the advantages of new manifold configurations carburetor cylinder head and the light engineers are hard at work on drawing board in dyno room at racetracks across the country trying to get that come which will keep women on top

Channel: Empire TV

Views: 51,040

Keywords: Drag Racing, NHRA, US Nationals, Winternationals, Sox & Martin, Pro Stock, Don Prudhomme, Don Garlits, Keith Jackson, Top Fuel, Funny Cars

Id: 6RqbADo7hQ0

Length: 14min 17sec (857 seconds)

Published: Wed Mar 25 2020