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TopFuel@Lions said:
Great answers folks. It was so intense on those So-Cal nights, when you had Beal, Anderson,Armstrong, Veney,Gasperelli in the house. Just to make a show then was so tough. Many times there would be 25+ going for a 8-car show and well over 30+ for those 16-car shows. Just to make the show was something. At that point, the California cars had easily the toughest competition. Great class.



TopFuel@Lions
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Mark, please don't interpret my response as argumentative ...

While I understand the sentiment and thrust of your post, and recognizing the general habit of people to project their experiences to be centered in their perception...

Not taking anything away from your experiences, nor, any respect taken from any of the division 7 drivers.... In that time period the div.7 guys got alot of press, and attention. That seemed to lead to making the stories abit more colorful than if filtered with a more wordly vision...

Don't get me wrong, my respect , admiration, and thankfulness for having known a number of those div 7 stars is a cherished memory...


BUT,....The intensity of of those So-Cal nights , , , were merely a primer for each - and all of those mentioned, to come back to Division 3 and face what was truly the toughest competition in the country..

The depth and breadth of talent, frequency of events, regional climate ( including the challenges of three completely different seasons within the scope of each year of racing ) , and some of the toughest / most experienced / innovative / and inventive people racing in the core of the country's industrial / manufacturing activity produced an environment that made division 7 an after thought...

Just in Ron P's Pro-am III circuit, there were more national champions, national record holders, and Indy champs of more classes than any other division had campaigning bb/fc's in total... ( trust me, a list of pro-am III drivers is a real eye opening exercise when veiwed with the advantage of time to see the accumulative accomplishments ..)

Trust me, sooner or later, every div 7 hero made their way through here.. None of them are known for being as much of an overwhelming force here - as they were there... just another racer...

As far as the original topic.. I'm going to recuse myself, due to a bias... However, If I didn't have an inherent bias, I don't know that I would really look forward to trying to even whittle it down to my personal top ten... So many great racers, owners, talent , crew... Great class - as well as combined with the other side to make the best of all competition together as Pro-Comp...
 
No problem Jeff, good points. Great discussion. The deal about my views is that I indeed get to travel a bit in the 70's and other times to see how the rest of the country raced. Caught some of those UDRA shows with what I believe they called suicide qualifying, 1 shot and then a final. Caught some Div 3 area shows at US131, Egdewater and Columbus. Will still stick to my guns on Div 7 alky wars being the toughest with out even getting into the BAD class. But we are all in the same family when it comes to this.



TopFuel@Lions
 
TopFuel@Lions said:
What was your favorite BB/FC? This pre-dates the change of class to TAFC.

Wild Wilfred
Ken Veney
Lou Gasperelli
Brad Anderson
Chuck Beal
Tom Lemon
Frank Harris
Frank Manzo
Arnie Karp
Fred Hagen


Just a very few to tickle you newbie's brains.lol.


TopFuel@Lions
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All of them. Happy to say I know or knew half of them personally. All hard workers.
 
TopFuel@Lions said:
No problem Jeff, good points. Great discussion. The deal about my views is that I indeed get to travel a bit in the 70's and other times to see how the rest of the country raced. Caught some of those UDRA shows with what I believe they called suicide qualifying, 1 shot and then a final. Caught some Div 3 area shows at US131, Egdewater and Columbus. Will still stick to my guns on Div 7 alky wars being the toughest with out even getting into the BAD class. But we are all in the same family when it comes to this.



TopFuel@Lions
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Well , too bad that we can't go back to re-see it to come to a consensus...

But.., I'm sure that we could at least agree on the greatest all time AA/DTA of all time... , right..??

I'm gonna give that to the guy from div. 2.. Don't tell me that you guys had the toughest and best AA/DTA car out there in the "three hour later" land too... ;)
 
Just trying to lend some reality to the conversation... KV lived in eastern OH, and if Dale spent any more available time in NorthWest Ohio he woulda' had to have changed his division... good thing it wouldn't change his number at that point...

It just seems like the opportunity to go back to D7 , and get ready to race, and try to be the best, when the weather was warmer.... just kept bringing the best racers back to " the land of champions" ....

Really, I'm just standing up for the midwest talent pool. The racers who had overwhelming talent, character, heart, camaraderie, and loyalty to continue to show up race after race - season after season, and challenge the shit out of each other, to make the midwest the toughest place to win - season after season. While the div 7 boys were posting pseudo accomplishments all winter long as the real racers were shoveling snow. Funny how those Herculean accomplishments of western supremacy, toughness, and divisional superiority got tempered when the frost broke, and the other parts of the nation started to race... jus' sayin'..
 
Ken Veney was from Ohio. Moved to L.A. area & ran that injected cars at Lions, etc. Lotsa SoCal racers were transplants from other parts of the country. Came to Calif cuz of the ability to race all year long.
 
Mr. Titsworth you are right about the alky car counts in the Ohio and all the area close by I think half of the racers at that time were from Ohio--unless you lived it you would not believe it-Mike
 
You know what's cool is how the whole Pro Comp thing even got started. OCIR used to run a "Combo Elim" & this was after Top Gas Dragster had been dropped by NHRA. So Combo had injected nitro dragsters & a few T/G dragsters, real AA/FA (nitro) & alky F/C (I think). Anyhoo, NHRA used that as a model & introduced all 5,000 Pro Comp classes (heh). I loved Pro Comp, always such a mixture and guys like Veney & Armstrong running all kinds of combinations. You all know how eventually the dragsters & F/C seperated to what we have today, but what a rich history. It really amazes me how quick & fast the 2 classes are today, even with all the restrictions. Just let me see one 4 second run, that's all I'm asking..... :)
 
I always was a fan of Chuck Beal's BB/FC... Mr. Kommel's pic...
Chuck Beal.jpg
 
This looks like right at the hit, & some clutch dust coming from Beal's car. Don't remember the Vette, altho it's "kinda familiar". Loved seeing Chuck Beal VS Bad Brad Anderson. Wow, this is a cool shot, brings back lotsa memories.
 
Mark, Combo Elim at Lions? Didn't remember that. Would have been T/G AA/FA and JR/F, right? You know the one that always sticks out in my mind was OCIR in 1973, when Don Enriquez, Adams & Enriquez A/FD, ran the first injected nitro 6 second ET. I was screaming like an idiot, "it's a 6!" HA
 
Cliff said:
Mark, Combo Elim at Lions? Didn't remember that. Would have been T/G AA/FA and JR/F, right? You know the one that always sticks out in my mind was OCIR in 1973, when Don Enriquez, Adams & Enriquez A/FD, ran the first injected nitro 6 second ET. I was screaming like an idiot, "it's a 6!" HA
Click to expand...

I remember the late Bernie 'Bird' Partridge raving about the Adams & Enriques car at Indy.
 
Yep Cliff they did, saw Chuck Beal win one with partner Brannon one Sat night.


TopFuel@Lions
 
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