.
.
What made Super Stock Drag Racing So Super?
Part 3
Behind all the smoke and fire of the AFX’s, Super Stock was still the mother of all Drag Races. Those Saturday night “Run what you bring” matches were still the bread-and-butter of what now had become a large group of touring Professional Drag Racers. Match racing meant traveling all over the US. By the end of 1967, Sox and Martin and a dozen other door slammer teams, were the most popular people in drag racing. This coast to coast match racing had giving them a personal connection to their fans that other racers just didn’t have. Herb McCandless; “the fans knew that when they paid their four or five bucks to get in back then, you can walk right up to the cars, and have a close look and talk right to us. That’s what we liked and that’s what they liked”.
In 1963, Top Stock Eliminators were turning 13 second ETs and they looked like the cars in the parking lots. Now the FXers were running in the 8-second range and burning Nitro fuel. The fans loved it, but some racers missed the old fashion side-by-side racing. Sox and Martin were having great success with an AFX Barracuda, but Chrysler racing chief Bob Cahill thought it might be time to get back to a more buyer friendly package. Martin; “Bob Cahill was heading up the program at that time when he told us that Chrysler did not sell that many fuel Barracudas that year. What can we do to get back to who we are, what we sell, what we represent?” The Answer was a 1968 Hemi Barracuda. Hurst was contacted by Chrysler to build about 70 Dodge Darts and 70 Plymouth Barracudas. The reason for choosing an outside company like Hurst was because they were cramming the massive Hemi engine into a small A-body frame. So it was a car purposely built for Super Stock Drag Racing. The car ran a 10.3 in a quarter mile. By 1968 Factory Experimental cars had become a class unto themselves… You guessed it! Funny Cars. But Sox and Martin, among others, decided to go back to Super Stock and “dance with the one that brung them” to quote Martin.
And now Sox and Martin red white and blue traveling road show is so popular around the country they needed help from other drivers to fill their match race dates. So they called up their old friend Herb McCandless and offered him a job. Herb; “I just jumped on it.” But just when it looks like the Super Stock Hemi Cudas and Darts were unbeatable, Chevrolet decided to get back in the game. After much prodding from the racing community, General Motors finally decided to put the 427 engine in a Camaro; it was a real exciting time. Gordy Faust, and another race driver from Detroit, Dick Arrons, built two 427 Camaros for Super Stock, one with a four-speed transmission for Gordy, and the other beauty, an automatic to run in that class. Was there ever a better time for a muscle car shopper? Just ask someone from those golden days who bought one, or was given one, and if the planets aligned… still has it!
There’s more to come. Like what you see and want more? Click here for my posts What Made Super Stock Drag Racing So Super? — Part 1 & Part 2. Enjoy!
– HKK Productions
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Images of The Sox & Martin 1970 Superbird
Copyrighted 2015 by HKK Productions Inc
.
Images of The 1969 Dodge Daytona Wing Car
Copyrighted 2015 by HKK Productions Inc
.
Images of The 1968 Dodge Polara Patriot Car & Ragtop Convertible
Copyrighted 2015 by HKK Productions Inc
.