Five Second Pro Mod--Legal-Outstanding

[animal jim]

Hernadez sets IHRA record at Rockingham to 5.99.

Man, It seems like only yesterday we were striving for the sixes.

In my best perfoming Pro Mod "Hay Days" 92-96 I was running 6.60s to 6.70s best.

6.70 were great et's in 92/93. My best Mph was 210 at that time.

It must be quite a ride to go 5.99 and 239 mph in a door car.

If I had $250,000 to build a new Pro Mod car I would find out.

That is $100,000 more that my new Haas Wunderbird was valued at in 1992. A 6.70 back then was hot You would be in the top 4 qualifying at an IHRA race then. Now you would be # 36

Let's see seven tenths for $100,000. That is almost $15,000 a tenth!!!

[Mike-Casella]

cough cough..... choke!!

Congrats to Hernadez for being the first!!

[Rapid Randy Baker]

That really is an incredible run. Our friend Bill Kuhlman ran 6.03 or a 6.003 a few years ago.

I wish it would have been one of the old school guys do it first. Charlie, AJ, Wally, BK, Gordy. But, not to be I guess.

I have a question for the masses here. Back in the day, Robbie Vandergriff had the best working car on the planet chassis wise. It was the swoopy 57-Thundercraft car.

About the best I remember him running was 6.70's. Is the low 6-second runs due to Engine and clutch advances, or more because of chassis changes. I think it is power related. I know they have the electric Koni's now, but by and large, I am not aware of any "Major" chassis changes. I am sure they have moved a few bars around, but 7-tenths would take some serious changes to find that, I think.

So could you take Robbie's car, and in the course of a season, make it run a 5-second run?

I am not speaking about a 15-year old worn out Robbie's car. I mean if you had it, in its prime and working well. Would you be able to put enough HP to it to run the number.

Anybody???

[flyinhillbilly]

i would try i figure part of it all is the swoopy bodies too, how much drag is on that helmet at 200 rapid? ever try to lift your head at that speed?

[Andamo]

Randy, there was a lot of controversy surrounding Bill's low 6 second run. I know he wanted to be the first into the 5's and if you can believe the rumor mill, he might have been using some nitro mixed in with his fuel. Wasn't it around the same time he pushed the crank out of the bottom and had the bad fire ? Another racer, who had a Pro Mod style 51-52 Chevy in the same time era, had a bad fire from a huge engine explosion also. This wasn't during IHRA competition, I think it might have been during the Super Chevy events. The rumor at the time was that was why Summit lifted Bill's sponsorship.

[Gator]

Rapid
(The swoopy '57's are made from the same mold as Robbie's last 57, including Carl's last P/M)

Subtle changes on the old chassis' and with todays clutch's& tires.....
6.20's & lower...I agree with you! ( a lot of our old cars)



(Josh's 5.99 was super!)

Bill's car was a Nitro Coupe (Super Chevy)
nitro was legal.

[Andamo]

Wally, thanks for the clarification on Bill's car. I had forgotten they were called Nitro Coupes.

[Gator]

Wally, thanks for the clarification on Bill's car. I had forgotten they were called Nitro Coupes.

knowng our old pal Bill...There probably was "controversial" stuff somewhere.
%? , I'm just glad he survived that horrible hit&fire in Va.

Mitch Stott (1st in the 5's /Darlington SC a couple of years ago) , still impresses me.
His car wasn't all that non-ihra.

[Rapid Randy Baker]

Thanks Wally for confirming. I loved alot of those cars, but Robbie's was the best chassis on the planet at the time. It was a thing of beauty to watch that car leave.

Wild Bill Kuhlman was fast because he thought about a lot of things, and how to make them work better. Some things people just take for granted are maxed out, without really checking to verify.

[Rapid Randy Baker]

Good point Gator. Just because it was in testing, it got kind of over looked JMO.