1979 25th Anniversary Top Fuel Entry List

[TR]

That's cool!

Just a side note... Arley Langlo has been blowing stuff up for over 30 years!!

That don't sound right.

Rick

 

[Nunz]

I was there that year with Lou Patane and his TF car, I had just graduated from HS, and spent the last weekend of the summer in the fuel pits before starting college a few days later. Great memories, tons of fuel cars, tons of Pro Comp cars as well.

 

[Bluey]

A list of the 'Who's Who' of Top Fuel Drag racing.......

Some great names on that list....

 

[TSK]

That car needs to get out of the sticky part of the lane to do the tire smoking runs. Big did that full pass tire smoker at E-town a decade or so ago, he was just a few feet from the wall start to finish. The tracks are just to sticky today for that car.

Here's the picture I shot of Garlits' "tire smoking" run at Indy '79. I was at about half-track.

 

[go]

I figured what the heck, I will scan the FC section, so here it is.

 

[DrRocket]

Tommy "Showtime" Hoover, and Al Hoffman..........

Man.............


What a lineup...........................

 

[go]

Here is a interesting car from Indy 1979, the Ruffalo & Ehler Top Fueler. The entire crewcab and dragster was gold plated, not a speck of chrome anywhere. The dragster on the near side is Jim Head's Pro Comp digger.

 

[Percboy]

I figured what the heck, I will scan the FC section, so here it is.

Thanks not nice to tease us with only half the PS field.

 

[DrRocket]

I'm certain I saw that truck at the inaugural North Star Nats. Not sure who was using it, but I'm certain I saw it. Or one like it. I do remember the gold plating.

The entire crewcab and dragster was gold plated, not a speck of chrome anywhere.

 

[go]

[Thanks not nice to tease us with only half the PS field.

You want the PS field too?

 

[Nunz]

I remember one day during the event, late after qualifying was over, that Big took that old car out of his pit and wanted to fire it up. Most fans had gone, so it was mostly racers still hanging around. A group of guys, including Snake, surrounded Big and helped push him to get the car fired. When it lit everyone was pumped, it was like a group of kids who just put together a go-kart!

 

[go]

 

[go]

One thing that I specifically remember about the 79 Indy is, there was no qualifying format so in other words the quicker you could get into the staging lanes the better your odds were of getting in a qualifying pass.

On Sunday morning the gates were suppose to open at either 8 or 9 am, anyway the gates were over a hour or so behind schedule of opening. We were running Pro Comp and being we were not qualified yet me and Bubba Sewell were persuaded by our fathers to jump the fence and get the dragster out of the trailer and into the staging lanes. We set the tool tray on the injectors, got the car out of the trailer and pushed that sucker what seem to be over a mile as fast as we could. Everything was going ok, until we hit a bump and the tool tray fell off the car and tools went everywhere. We kind of figured getting the car up front was more important then the tools so we kept pushing. We were only 16 & 17 at the time, but pushing the dragster that far as fast as we could literally whooped our butts, we did go back and get the tools or what was left of them as some folks helped gathering them up also.

We ended up qualifying on that morning only to have the splined coupling strip the teeth on the transmission during the burnout against Joe Amato in the 1st round.

 

[Nunz]

Wow Gary seems like you're about the same age as me. I remember Bubba Sewell from back then, didn't realize he was that young. How awesome was that Pro Comp entry list? And, I remember that Ace Manzo actually was running his BB/FC with a '23T body as a AA/A, the lowest stance roadster ever I think.

 

[Bullet]

This is EXACTLY why Indy is the best drag race on earth..... well, was.... now they all seem so much the same.... it's kinda sad.

 

[BaldyLochs]

Interesting to note that of all those nitromethane entries only one lists an Ed Pink Motor (Connie Kalitta)

 

[Toejam]

This is EXACTLY why Indy is the best drag race on earth..... well, was.... now they all seem so much the same.... it's kinda sad.

As Many races as I have been to, Indy is still my favorite! Still pulls more cars than just about any other race.

 

[Nick Name]

How about stock eliminator

 

[Taunsie]

I was fortunate to be involved with the Over The Hill Gang for its only year of competition, I was unable to go to Indy as we just bought a new house and in the middle of reconstruction. Those were the days before cell phones, I recieved a collect phone call from either Sonny Diaz or Kelly Brown every hour of so so I was able to keep up on the activity. After the race I got a call but there was such noice in the background I figured that they won or crashed. Kelly won 4 or the NHRA's 9 national events that year but did not win his second championship. It was a shame, but in those days NHRA counted the points from local points races so Rob Bruins , who did not win a single event took the Championship. NHRA realized the inequity and changed the system thereafter.

Keep your eys peeled for the Over the Hill Gang ll, Sonny is putting a replica together for the new Nostalgia Front Engine Dragster class, it will be a close clone. I restored the original OTHG T/F car and donated it to the NHRA museum , where it resides today.

 

[Nick Name]

Tom;
Did you work for Arias?

Jay