Super Gas - circa 1983 and on TV

[Bobby Bennett]

http://www.competitionplus.com/drag...1983-nhra-super-gas-racing-before-electronics

 

[DrRocket]

Thanks Bobby. That was fun to watch, and really brought back some memories.

One of the things I really liked about Super Gas in its original form was the wide variety of cars.

A Corvette that still has a roof! What a concept!

 

[Bobby Bennett]

And a Doug Nash 5-speed

 

[Percboy]

Gotta love those 15th generation VHS copies
Thanks though, good stuff.
Saw Mike Mazza every weekend during my bracket racing days at NTR here in Cols.

 

[whipster61]

I worked on starting line during this time at Central Mi.-the thing I loved was the stands were always full -the crowd really enjoyed the heads up-no delay box,balls to the wall runs-really miss that alot.

 

[Crash]

I worked on starting line during this time at Central Mi.-the thing I loved was the stands were always full -the crowd really enjoyed the heads up-no delay box,balls to the wall runs-really miss that alot.

Since nobody in the stands can tell if a car has a delay box. I'm going to assume you were referencing throttle stops? Anyhow, I would put the percentage of "balls to the wall' runs in the history of Super Gas, even in the "good old days" at about 2%. There were not the electronics, but people were still playing games at the stripe, just like Super Stock and other forms of bracket racing.

 

[StockersRock]

A Corvette that still has a roof! What a concept!

A-freakin'-men.

 

[Crew Chief Pro]

I still like the newer racing much better. It is more fun to watch a car 150 feet back with only 70 feet of stripe left. It makes the finish line so much more exciting than 2 cars going 120 mph ever did.

I saw Joe Roubicheck run down Tommy Phillips at Vegas a few years ago and it was a killer race. Joe was going 190 mph at a 10.05 Super Gas index and he was so far back that Tommy felt he wasn't going to make it, but he did. Watching a car close on another holding 50 miles per hour is where this racing is the most fun.

I go nearly 180 mph in Super Comp, and I have run others who were going 218 mph. Very exciting at the stripe.

The stripe is where all the fun is, try watching from the last 150 feet of the finish line.