Super Stock and factory drag cars
By 1954, the horsepower race had already started to heat up. Ford introduced the 239 cubic inch
overhead valve V-8. Chevrolet countered with multiple carburetors and introduction of the Corvette,
which was also powered by the inline 6. Even Hudson had a multiple carb, high-performance engine
that was available at the dealer — the same engine that was winning at oval tracks throughout the
South. The race for super stock had begun. It was Olds, with first the 303ci, then 324ci overhead
valve V-8, and up to 165 horsepower, that was the hottest stocker at the drag strip.
In 1955, Rock and Roll made its debut with the big noise coming from a movie soundtrack,
Blackboard Jungle, which featured Bill Haley singing “Rock Around the Clock.” Later in the year, a
young truck driver shook up the music world with his wild gyrating antics and music: Elvis Presley. In
just a few months he would be crowned the King of Rock and Roll, although other performers such
as Little Richard and Chuck Berry would dispute that.
It was this year that NHRA finally had enough organization and recognition throughout the nation to
begin holding regional drag championships. The manufacturers fueled the fire in the stock classes
by developing high horsepower combinations for family cars available at any dealership in the
nation. The NHRA Stocker rules were simple: No modifications other than with factory available
equipment. Both standard shift and automatics ran in the same class. The exhaust system must be
complete in every way, with the spent gases routed through a complete exhaust system. Tires one
size larger than stock were permitted, but the tread had to be at least 1/8” in depth.
Ford sought to unseat the Chevrolet Corvette as the nation’s only sports car, by introducing the
Ford Thunderbird in 1955. The T-Bird was powered by a high-performance 272ci V-8 that offered
198 horsepower with a single four-barrel carb. However, most of the T-Bird engine options were
now available in any of the regular Ford car line, with either a 3-speed standard transmission,
commonly called a 3-speed stick, or with the Ford-O-Matic automatic transmission.
Chevrolet introduced the first of the legendary small-block V-8 series of engines — a 265 cubic
inch, overhead valve V-8 that offered up to 195 horsepower with a four-barrel carb, dual exhausts,
and a solid lifter camshaft that would rev over 6000 rpms. All the 265ci engines were available in
any body style, including the ‘55 Corvette, and could be ordered with either the 3-speed stick, with
or without overdrive, and a 2-speed Powerglide automatic transmission.
Pontiac also came out with an overhead valve V-8 in 1955, the 287ci V-8 that was rated at 180
horsepower with a single two-barrel carb as the only carburetor setup available. However, besides
using the standard General Motors 3-speed stick as in the Chevrolets, the bigger Pontiac had a
decided advantage with automatic classes in having the 4-speed Hydra-Matic, the same
transmission used by Oldsmobile. Oldsmobile increased the cubic inches of its standard V-8 from
303ci to 324ci, with 202 horsepower available to remain the hot stocker through 1955.
The Chrysler camp had multiple entries in the stocker field, headed by the big Chrysler 300. The
300 owned the NASCAR circuit using a 331ci hemi-head engine rated at 300 horsepower. For drag
racing, Dodge offered a 270ci Red Ram hemi-head V-8 in a lighter weight sedan, which was rated
at 193 horsepower. Plymouth offered a 259ci V-8 rated at 177 horsepower, but it didn’t have hemi
heads.
By the late Summer of 1955, NHRA had the classes and competition to conduct the first National
Drag Championship. It was held at Great Bend, Kansas over the Labor Day weekend in September
1955. There were twelve divisions in the hot categories, each one broken down by cubic-inches-to-
weight ratio into four hot classes. In Stock Division, there were just four classes, A, B, C, and D Stock; broken down by factory
advertised horsepower-to-weight ratio. The big Chrysler entries headed the top class — A Stock.
B Stock was filled with the lighter weight Olds sedans and the Chevys and Fords with the new high
horsepower V-8s. C Stock had the heavyweights such as Hudson and Cadillac, or the lower
horsepower, heavier Pontiac and Olds convertibles and station wagons. D Stock was the home of
the flathead Fords and straight 6- and 8-cylinder Chevys and Pontiacs.
When the first NHRA Nationals was over, the fastest stocker was a ‘54 Olds sedan tuned and driven
by a farmer from Morrison, Illinois. His was a name that would by synonymous with Pontiac super
stock drag cars for decades to come: Arnie “The Farmer” Beswick. Beswick’s ‘54 Olds turned a
speed of exactly 80 mph to win B Stock. Ken Peck’s ‘53 Ford flathead won D Stock with a speed of
67.41 mph. No elapsed time was recorded for stockers.
It’s interesting to note that at this time, there was so little media interest in stocker classes that no
NHRA National Records were kept. In fact, Hot Rod Magazine coverage of the Nationals listed all
the class winners except Stock classes. When listing the various official rules and classes, Hot Rod
also listed every class except Stock. This lack of official interest in Stock classes would remain until
1960, even though the stockers would be the most prevalent class at every drag strip on every
Sunday.
1956
In 1956, the horsepower race heated up greatly, but the results were the same. Ford upped the
cubic inches of the Thunderbird V-8 from 272ci to first 292ci, then to 312ci, and added a two four-
barrel carburetor option that resulted in a whopping 260 horsepower. Chevy countered with a
hotter solid lifter camshaft, high compression heads with bigger valves, and a two four-barrel
carburetor intake. The top of the line combination pulled 245 horsepower out of the little 265ci V-8.
The Chrysler camp offered two new sport sedans — the Dodge D-500 and the Plymouth Fury. The
Dodge had a 315ci hemi-head Red Ram V-8 that offered up to 260 horsepower. The Plymouth
Fury pulled 240 horsepower out of the bigger 303ci standard overhead valve V-8. Pontiac offered a
variety of carburetor and high-performance options in 1956, including a 285 horsepower, two four-
barrel equipped 316ci V-8. Olds opened up the 303ci engine to 324ci which gave up to 240
horsepower.
The Stock rules and classes remained virtually the same at NHRA strips — A Stock through D
Stock. Even though the Stock classes continued bringing in the most entrants, thus generating
the most revenue per division, the major associations and the print media continued to be
indifferent. While the major publications like Hot Rod and Motor Trend covered the big events,
they again completely ignored the Stock classes. National Records were still not kept for Stock
classes. The 1956 NHRA Nationals were again held at Great Bend, Kansas. The ‘54 Olds sedan
of Arnie “The Farmer” Beswick was the repeat top stocker at the meet.
Events occurring all around the world in 1961 changed the attitudes and lives of Americans. John
F. Kennedy was inaugurated on January 20th and he found his new job was not an easy one. The
Soviet Union, led by Nikita Kruschev, was clearly out for world domination, and Cuba was building a
communist power right in America’s back yard. On April 17th, the CIA-backed invasion of Cuba was
launched at the Bay of Pigs. It failed miserably and marked history forever. In South Vietnam, U.S.
personnel began using helicopters and an internal Pentagon report advised President Kennedy to
increase troop strength in that conflict. In August, the Soviet Union created a major crisis by
erecting electrified barb wire fences across the center of Berlin — the beginning of the Berlin Wall. The race into space continued as the U.S.S.R. launched Vostok I, putting the first man into outer
space. One month later, Alan Shephard, one of the original Mercury 7 astronauts, was launched
from Cape Canaveral, Florida. Shephard didn’t go into orbit, but it was a first step for the United
States.
In contrast to the world’s troubles, super stock drag racing had a breakout year in 1961. Teams
and personalities started to become known to the general public, and to automobile enthusiasts in
particular. Teams like The Ramchargers, Bob Ford Inc., and Jim Wangers and the Royal Pontiacs,
and individuals such as Don Nicholson and Arnie Beswick became the talk of local car hangouts.
This was also the year when the media finally began to sit up and take notice of the top stocker
categories at the strips. In fact, entire books started to surface dealing with how to race the family
sedan at the strip.
With the increased interest by the fans and media, and the high-revving, big-horsepower engines
becoming available, NHRA began to take a much longer look at the rules regarding stock classes,
both for safety and to allow the drivers to use all the available horsepower the factories were
building into the cars.
The first thing that NHRA did was to add additional stock classes, from top to bottom. In 1960,
Super Stock was everything from 0-12.59 lbs. per advertised horsepower. In 1961, Super Stock
only went to 10.59 lbs./hp. A/Stock was now 10.60-11.29, B/Stock was 11.30-11.88, and C/Stock
was 11.89-12.49. Additional classes were added from D/Stock through K/Stock, for a total of 12
classes.
Сообщения
