Forum: Racing From The Past (go)
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Early NCRA Supers used a mixture of induction systems, as Jim would say that was an area that you could work outside the box, most teams ran just a single 4 barrel, but some ran 2-2's or a pair of weber's, intakes varied also the alum. Z-28 maniflod worked good at little tracks but alot of guys ran Eledbrock's Torkers/Trannula's, or a few had good luck with the High Rise Tunnel Rams in was really just your preference.

Gas was the fuel didn't start on alcohol until Champ Dirt days but let me tell you there was alot of fuel mixing going on I DON'T CARE WHAT ANYBODY SAY'S!!! They didn't check fuel as often back then, might have been because you could work out of the box there some also. I can tell you this with alot of confidence there were some real back yard chemist's in those days. As far as the Hydrozine goes it is bad stuff but if you could control it it made Nitro look like a pimple on a fat girls rear!!!! When Constant got burned he oviously didn't have it under control same for Ken Brewer when he got burned, he would probably deny it but the way his engine exploded it reminded me of Hydrozine!!!

Jan Opperman actually drove the Wilson super during a comeback in '78 I think. The Speedway 4x days were before that until sept. '76 when driving for Longhorn racing at the Hoosier 100, he got on his side and another car went into the cage area. His comeback ended in '81 at Jennerstown due to more head injuries. He died in 1997 or late 1996.

He was an artist of another world.

Sounds like when it was out of control, it would split a motor at the seams. Reminds me of a picture I saw years ago of a fuel altered. The driver had just dropped the hammer on the starting line. Under the motor was a gush of oil, and in the oil was the rotating assembly with the flywheel. A true Kodak moment. A bad day is running over your crankshaft.

The 2 car is the Jim Toombs/Larry Hall car from Wichita. 1971 I think. Jim passed away about 2 weeks ago. Larry is still building vintage cars.

In '83 at the NCRA race at OKC Howie Sewell was driving for the old man we started outside frt row for the A-Fea. Howie took off and was gone by about lap 20 the water temp lite on the Murphy gauge was yellow which kicked on at 220 degrees by the 30 lap it was red which came on at 240 degrees, well Howie could never see a lite if it bite him so he kept going and on lap 46 leading by 1/2 lap and having lapped up to 5th the motor exploded as he came off turn 4 it was really neat everything went straight down as we ran heavy alum. side panels, he was lapping cars when it happened and I thought he say the flagman waving the move over flag and mistook it for the checkered flag, as he just drove straight off the track going into turn 1, well when he finally returned to pits I asked what happened he told me to look at the belly pan, it was full of holes coming up from the bottom, in the engine compartment on the left side there was nothing left from the head down the timing chain cover was still there but the cam over half the lifters were gone, the rear main was gone along with the crank from the flywheel flange forward, the flywheel and clutch where still inside the lakewood bellhousing, 7 rods & 6 pistons were gone also the 1 remaining rod #8 was impaled into the side of the block, the front stretch was littered with parts quite a few drivers came over afterwards and told us they ran over a bunch of parts, a fan came by and gave us part of the cam back (3 lobes) that hit in the seat 2 over from where he was setting!!!

I have no idea how much Hydrozine was in the fuel the old man told me he just pepped her up a little, this is when I learned alittle went along way with this stuff.

I know Ewell tried the (2) 2 Bar. Holley's at a Muskogee NCRA back in the late 70's win his Stanton car, Before we drove all the way up to Muskogee we had to stop at The Devil's Bowl and make a few laps around the place on a Sat. morning to see if it worked and it did but I think Bob did not care for it after a few races, guess it was pretty high maintenance keeping everything right on them and then he did away with that set up and went back to the 4 bar.deal.

I have a question to ask , Do any of you remember the first Sprint Tail Tank or Cover you seen on a 100" car in this area? , NOT a Sprint Car but only 100" car, I believe my first was at Lawton in 74 on a Super #7777 driven by Ed French from Dallas, thought it was the ugliest thing with the four # 7's all the way down the tank and today it is the norm for everyone but back then to a 15 yr. old it sure looked wrong.

1975 the Kansas cars were 24 Leep, 15 Copeland.

Posted from Spearfish, SD

Warren Vincent
Cans 4 Kansas Heroes

Here's a shot for discussion. Mike Monotoboy sent me the next several pictures,

Good stuff goin on guys.

Just read this morning in Okla Tidbits about Danny Daniels Passing! Wow, another shock, another one of our guys gone. Danny was always good competition & drove hard. Remember in 78' when they came out with the "wedge car" how everybody pointed & cried. Just another examble of thinkin outside the box!

RIP Danny.

The first sprint tail cars I remember wre I believe Carl ferguson & Hank Malone in 69'. Of course in 70' Evard went from Sonic blue to Black magic & it was sprint design. In 72' Bobby Reynolds in the red # 50 kicked some butt! Don't forget Benny Taylors "Okie Sprinter" with an almost sprint tail. More later, Jim

Real carnage.  Surprised that Howie had any eardrums left.  Good thing it was near the end, or could have been a flamer.  Did Howie kick off his boots and count his toes, just to be sure??

Dig this- Jiggs Founds has been restoring his '76 Nance. Get out your bibs,

I got some pics of that wedge car Danny D. drove , it was at Wichita Falls NCRA in the late 70's , it was sure different.

Brian , Your right , that is one nice piece he is restoring there , I got pics of that car to from an Amarillo and Wichita Ks. NCRA. I think it was white with blue numbers w/black outline and sponsored by a Tile Co. Car was sweet then and looks like it will return to that way again. Really Nice.

I was walking along in the pits at the '78 Nationals and walked right by him. I was so surprised I didn't have the presence of mind to say hi, introduce myself or anything. It was like seeing the president walk by or something. Complete surprise! I said to my cousin "that was Opperman, what's he doing here." He said something like "that guy's around all the time now." Can't remember how he finished, but I do remember he was driving Chet Wilson's car. I agree, it must have been '78.

mike

From the main site I found pics of Jiggs ride from back in the day,