Don Carlton's '74 Dart Sport...
Don Carlton's '74 Dart Sport Pro Stocker launches off the starting line at the 1975 IHRA Summernationals at Great Lakes Dragaway in Union Grove, Wisconsin. This was his personal Pro Stock car that he ran at select events when not testdriving the
North of the Border's Alban...
North of the Border's Alban Gauthier and his '73 Plymouth Duster makes a qualifying pass at the 1974 NHRA U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis. The ACTION Performance Race Team was based out of Montreal, Canada.
Here is Larry Huff's '75 Dodge...
Here is Larry Huff's '75 Dodge Dart Sport in the pits at Minnesota Dragway during a United States Racing Team event the following year, June 1975. This car is one of three Pro Stock cars that Dick Landy built (two were Dart Sports and the other was a Duster for Irv Beringhaus). The Duster was eventually repurchased by Dick and remains in existence today in Dick Landy's colors.
When looking back at photos from the good old days, most magazines have a select group of photographers that they choose from. That's fine until the group runs out of new images. When that happens, how do you get to take a look back at the history of racing without repeating yourself? One way is to find people who attended racing events back then. But how many people were actually taking pictures instead of watching the races? And if they were taking pictures, how many kept them after all these years? With the advent of social media, finding never-before-seen images is just a couple of typed words away. Take, for instance, this gathering of fine snapshots that we're certain have never been printed before. How can we be so sure? Because the photographer is not what many would consider a famous photographer. At the time, he was just a guy who went to the track and enjoyed the races. Lucky for us, he took pictures. Even luckier is the fact that he kept them after all these years.
Don Carlton is driving The...
Don Carlton is driving The Rod Shop Dodge Colt at 1976 NHRA U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis. This Gold Colt ran match races as a Pro Stocker, but in this photo it's running B/A, and won the Modified class at this race.
Arrows made great Pro Stock...
Arrows made great Pro Stock cars, and here is Cork Bliss' Plymouth Arrow,
John Hagen's '73 Plymouth...
John Hagen's '73 Plymouth Duster leaves the starting line at the long-gone Minnesota Dragway during a United States Racing Team event in June 1974.
But finding images like this isn't accomplished by making phone calls to people that might have been there. Were it not for the advent of social media, we would have likely never found out about the ones we have here. Again, luck was in our favor, and we stumbled across a Nostalgia Pro Stock Facebook page that gathers everyone with any interest in vintage Pro Stock racing. Now, this page is not limited to just the Mopar contingent; anything related to early Pro Stock racing can be found there, and all it took was for us to ask the guys and gals if they had any images they would like to share. Within minutes, we started getting images that we felt were cool, historically significant, and to top it all off, never before printed.
How could we talk about the...
How could we talk about the great days of early racing and not mention
Butch Leal's '77 Plymouth...
Butch Leal's '77 Plymouth Arrow is heading to the staging lanes at the 1977 NHRA U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis. In match race trim, this was the first Pro Stocker to run in the 7s.
How many of you guys can remember...
How many of you guys can remember when between race maintenance and repairs was done in hotel parking lots?
While racing in the Pro Stock ranks in today's world takes more money than is required to purchase a small village, the guys like Don Carlton, Roy Hill, and the team of Sox & Martin did it during a time when the money was good (if you won), and it was considered simply a way to earn a living.
Ronnie Sox in his "Sox...
Ronnie Sox in his "Sox & Martin" Dodge COlt finishing his burnout at Minnesota Dragways during a United States Racing Team event in June 1974. The car still exists today and is owned by Reed Koeppe who is restoring it.
Bill Bagshaw’s "Redlight...
Bill Bagshaw’s "Redlight Bandit" Dart Sport at the 1976 March Meet at Famoso Raceway in Bakersfield, California. While this car was considered one of the most "trick" Pro Stocks of its time, it mainly stayed on the West Coast.
Here is another shot of Roy...
Here is another shot of Roy Hill's '73 Plymouth Duster. This time it's launching off the starting line at the 1975 IHRA Summernationals at Great Lakes Dragway in Union Grove, Wisconsin.
Ronnie Sox standing by his...
Ronnie Sox standing by his '72 Plymouth 'Cuda in the staging lanes at Minnesota Dragways during a United States Racing Team event in June 1972.
Reid Whisnant's '73 Plymouth...
Reid Whisnant's '73 Plymouth Duster at the 1975 IHRA Summernationals held at Great Lakes Dragway in Union Grove, Wisconsin. From the great state of Georgia, Reid always had good looking race cars, and did very well on the IHRA circuit in the '70s and '80s.
Roy Hill's '73 Plymouth Duster...
Roy Hill's '73 Plymouth Duster Pro Stock in the pits at the 1975 IHRA Summernationals at Great Lakes Dragway in Union Grove, Wisconsin. This car was supported by Richard Petty Enterprises at the time. Note that Roy's NHRA driver number is 243, playing off the Petty Association.