The Best P/S Years (1 Viewer)

[stitcherbob]

 

[TSK]

P/S was a great class for 1970 and 1971. But, it started falling apart in 1972 after NHRA allowed Grumpy Jenkins, through his creative rules interpretations, to run a tube chassis in his Vega.
That was also the beginning of weight breaks that penalized the high horsepower cars, namely all those powered by a Mopar Hemi.

 

[chop]

I think they were fighting a losing battle with the weight per cubic inch rule. They were having to adjust to keep somebody from having an advantage. When they leveled the playing field with the 500 CI and 2350 # it was the thing that saved P/S IMHO.

 

[n/a]

P/S was a great class for 1970 and 1971. But, it started falling apart in 1972 after NHRA allowed Grumpy Jenkins, through his creative rules interpretations, to run a tube chassis in his Vega.
That was also the beginning of weight breaks that penalized the high horsepower cars, namely all those powered by a Mopar Hemi.

Agree. As well as allowing the Lenco IMO.

 

[stitcherbob]

Those years were the hero years. The guy building and driving , as well as the make of his car were the reason the fan base was so large. If P/S were still 4 speeds and stock chassis , with the motors that belong in them, would there be a Erica as multi time champ? Would the hired drivers be as popular as the owner drivers? When the Grump put different drivers in his car instead of him , was it the same?

 

[Randy]

P/S was a great class for 1970 and 1971. But, it started falling apart in 1972 after NHRA allowed Grumpy Jenkins, through his creative rules interpretations, to run a tube chassis in his Vega.
That was also the beginning of weight breaks that penalized the high horsepower cars, namely all those powered by a Mopar Hemi.

Tube chassis made the cars a lot safer. Geno Redd, driving for John and Betty Milwee, in a 1971 Cuda P/S Sox and Martin car formerly driven by Herb McCandless, was killed at OCIR when the roll bar was pushed through the stock floor in a testing accident. One of my former TA/FC crew guys was working on the car the day it happened.

Motorsport Memorial -

The objective of the Motorsport Memorial website is to honour the memory of all those that paid motorsport’s saddest price - by remembering their histories, reviewing their careers, celebrating their victories, cherishing their lives.

www.motorsportmemorial.org

Here's the info on this web site:

Geno Redd

Complete name: Gene Lee Redd

Birth date: 17.Sep.1930

Birth Place: Los Angeles County, CA, United States

Death date: 22.Nov.1971

Death Place: Tustin, Orange County, CA, United States

Nationality: United States

Gender: male

Age at death: 41

Event date: 22.Nov.1971

Series: unknown

Race:

Event type: private test

Country: United States (California)

Venue: Orange County International Raceway (CA, United States)

Variant: 1/4-mile paved dragstrip (1967-1983)

Role: driver

Vehicle type: car

Vehicle sub-type: dragster

Vehicle brand/model: Plymouth Barracuda "Milwee Racing"

Vehicle number: ??

Notes: Veteran drag racer Gene Lee "Geno" Redd, 41, from Rowland Heights, California, was killed at the Orange County International Raceway, in East Irvine, California, when the car he was testing went out of control and slammed into a guardrail, while making a practice run on Monday, 22 November 1971. Geno Redd had just taken delivery of the new Pro-Stock Plymouth Barracuda named "Milwee Racing", and was trying it out at the track. The car had been previously raced by Herb McCandless who drove it to second place in the Pro-Stock finals at Ontario Motor Speedway. During his run, Geno Redd's engine blew and showered oil under the car's left rear wheel, causing it to skid. Redd was unable to regain control and it ploughed into a barrier at a speed of more than 135 mi/h (217 km/h). The drag racer overturned and its driver was pinned inside. Geno Redd was still alive when extricated from beneath the wreck and was rushed to Tustin Community Hospital, where he died shortly after admission. Burial was at Rose Hills Memorial Park in Whittier, Los Angeles County, California. Geno Redd was survived by his wife and three sons. This was the second fatal accident which happened at the Orange County International Raceway during the 1971 season. On 19 May of that year, Heber Pond was killed.

Sources: 1940 United States Federal Census. California Birth Index, 1905-1995. California, Death Index, 1940-1997. Book "The History of America's Speedways, Past & Present", by Allan E. Brown, third edition, first printing, November 2003, by Allan E. Brown, America's Speedways, Comstock Park, MI, United States, ISBN 0-931105-61-7, page 153. Newspaper Fort Lauderdale News (Fort Lauderdale, FL, United States), issue of Tuesday, 23 November 1971, page 46, article "Auto Racing", retrieved by website https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/3827859/ . Newspaper Redlands Daily Facts (Redlands, CA, United States), issue of Tuesday, 23 November 1971, page 9, article "Drag Racer Killed On Tustin Track" by UPI, retrieved by website https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/15101910/ . Newspaper Progress Bulletin (Pomona, CA, United States), issue of Tuesday, 23 November 1971, page 15, article "Drag Racer Redd Killed" by UPI, retrieved by website https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/70201436/ . Website Drag Strip Deaths. Website Ultimate Racing History, page http://www.ultimateracinghistory.com/racelist2.php?uniqid=46474 . Website Find-A-Grave: Gene Lee "Geno" Redd.

 

[stitcherbob]

BTW my friend and neighbor 2 houses up from me owns the Scott Shafiroff car in that vid (the bye run) and is going to restore it with power by Scott himself

 

[Pete]

There are different arguments for every decade being the "best PS years". 70's were known for innovation and no one seemed to have an advantage due to that. If you were behind a tenth, work your butt off and you can make it up. 80's, full tube chassis ruled the roost, 500" max displacement and the field started leveling. Only the teams with factory support seemed to have the advantage (i.e., Glidden, WJ, R&M). 90's ushered in the era of leased motors...walk around the pits on a Thursday/Friday and a whole bunch of cars were under the awing, waiting for the engine to be delivered. This boosted the car count and afforded for some great action. The 2000's saw a significant dip in attendance, but the racing was good, as long as the KB express wasn't in the other lane.
The current product I believe is back to the 90's era, which is showing signs of increasing car counts once again.