The third annual running of the National Challenge in Center Moriches,
Long Island, will undoubtedly go down in history as one of the worst major
drag events ever held, as racers, spectators, sponsors and even officials went
home completely disappointed. What was to have been a crack show, produced
by the elite racers in the sport, was, from the start, a boring and confusing
display of disorganization and downtime, all of which led up to an extremely
anticlimatic finale.
But understand going in that the fault does not lie with the track operators,
Ed Eaton and Gil Kohn, who are usually the subject of criticism and controversy
for their own style of operation. The situation must be charged to the racers
running the Professional Racers Organization (PRO), as they repeatedly changed
procedures in midstream and ignored the ground rules which they had laid down
about 48 hours earlier.
Two and one-half years ago, on May 8, 1972, the Professional Racers
Association (PRA), consisting of many of the top-name Top Fuel, Funny Car and
Pro Stock owners and drivers, was formed. Their goal was to arrange and conduct
drag races of a major caliber, featuring only the three professional categories
as entrants, and to race for higher purses than had ever been seen in the sport.
The leaders of the PRA were admittedly unsatisfied with the progress of drag
racing under the guidance of Wally Parks and the National Hot Rod Association,
and were anxious to show that they could do it bigger and better.
So, on Labor Day weekend 1972, the PRA staged a major race in Tulsa,
Oklahoma, in direct conflict with the 18th annual NHRA Nationals, and titled
their event the National Challenge. A total cash payout of $151,000, not counting
any contingency awards, was established, with $25,000 cash to each major eliminator
winner and $500 per round for all three categories. Jim Tice, president of the
American Hot Rod Association, was the benefactor who put up the money.
While the event featured an incredible array of racers, and the Saturday
night qualifying session was a spectacular show in itself, the event lost money.
Many racers blamed the site, as Tulsa can't provide the crowds of fans needed
to make a show of this size pay for itself, and a major metropolitan area such
as Chicago or New York was needed. Others said that the purse was too high and
unrealistic, and that their $151,000 cash payout was at fault for the financial
failure.
While NHRA officials will argue that this was not the case, because annual
increases in their purse are commonplace occurrences, racers pointing to the
sudden jump in U.S. Nationals round money and purse attributed it to pressure
put on the NHRA by PRA. Winners at the first Tulsa PRA event included Don Moody
in Top Fuel, Tom McEwen in Funny Car and Bill Jenkins in Pro Stock, and each
took home about $35,000 (purse plus another $10,000 in contingency awards).
Tice went for it again at the National Challenge in '73, held at Tulsa,
but there were two important changes. First, the event was moved off Labor Day
weekend to the weekend before, so it was not in direct conflict with the NHRA
meet. Second, round money and purses were cut substantially so that the winner
received about $15,000 in each bracket, plus about $10,000 contingency, for
a guaranteed total of $25,000. Turnout by racers was good, but the event just
didn't have the drama of the year before. Winners included Don Garlits in Top
Fuel, Don Prudhomme in Funny Car and Bill Jenkins in Pro Stock. Then everybody
loaded up and headed for Indy.
In November of 1973, negotiations started between the PRA and New York
National Speedway for National Challenge '74, and the actual contract was drawn
up and signed during the peak of the Energy Crisis in early March, '74. Because
of the threat of the Energy Crisis, New York National Speedway agreed to pay
the same round money as the previous National Challenge but only $15,000 per
eliminator winner. The $15,000 purse for each winner included any and all
contingency awards, where the $15,000 from the '73 race excluded contingencies.
New York National officials felt this was a fair offer, considering the threat
of the Energy Crisis, and that there might be zero contingency awards come Labor
Day weekend. So the purse was set at $110,000, including contingency money,
where the first PRA race had a $151,000 purse not counting contingencies.
Perhaps it was the far east location of the event, or it could have been
the reduced purse, or a combination of other mystic reasons, but the end result
was a poor racer turnout come National Challenge '74. The association decided
to change its name from PRA to PRO (Organization rather than Association), and
sadly reported a 45-percent decrease in membership.
At a membership meeting on Friday morning preceding the New York National
event (which was held two weeks prior to the Nationals because New York National
officials wanted a rain-date weekend to avoid conflict with Indy), rules were
set down by the members for the members. No car would receive more than one
single run in eliminations, a minimum of 45 minutes between runs in eliminations,
qualifying would be between certain hours, and those who didn't qualify during
those hours would be added on at the bottom of he list, even if they turned
quicker times than the guys who qualified during the proper hours, and some
hard and fast rules about break rules and low e.t. returning. . . or something.
Then it rained. Many racers, who paid $100 per car entry fee, as was
the case at previous National Challenge events, didn't get a chance to run.
Canadian Terry Capp made a qualifying pass of 6.24 but redlighted in the process.
Now the PRO rules also stated that a red-light qualifying run counted, but
because of the way in which he did it (rolled to the line, grabbed the brake
for a second and then left, leaving another Fueler sitting on the line to watch
Capp rather than run). Eaton, Flip Schofield and John Wiebe agreed that Capp's
run should not be allowed. Garlits insisted it should. Capp and Garlits lost
the argument, and Capp didn't make the show.
Another sour spot on Saturday was the fact that a number of fans, who
had paid a whopping $10 per head to spectate, demanded their money back because
much of the action was rained out. Only those who had purchased their Sunday
tickets ($12 per head to sit in the spectator stands, or $15 to watch from the
pit side) got rain money back for Saturday. That decision rested with the New
York National officials. Eaton and Kohn did have an undisclosed amount of rain
insurance on Saturday to offset the financial loss somewhat.
Sunday dawned with 32 Top Fuel cars qualified, 21 Funny Cars and 23
Pro Stockers. Rather than cut the Funny Car and Pro Stock fields to 16 cars,
it was decided to run as many cars as possible, since the radio advertisements
had promised three 32-car fields. Some last-minute qualifying on Sunday morning
finished things off and set the stage.
While the Top Fuelers are billed as the kings of the sport, you'd never
have known it at New York National. Round one took over two and one-half hours
to complete, whereas round one of a 32-car Top Fuel field at the recent NHRA
U.S. Nationals was accomplished in a comparatively few minutes. At least seven
engine explosions repeatedly brought out the cleanup crews, with their assorted
sweepers, tractors and trucks. Some sort of record must have been set, as a
reported 55 bags of Speedi-Dry were used to clean up the mess of round one.
A lady came to the base of the tower and asked to see the PRO officer
in charge of the dragsters, as she wanted to tell him this was the worst Top
Fuel show she had ever seen. Photographers played with a Frisbee between races
to kill the boredom. The fans were very patient and never got unruly, which
is quite a credit to them, in light of the inaction on the track. Despite all
the motor blowups, no one was injured, but everyone wondered why the breakage.
Was it the "fantastic traction," or did everyone have junk motors in their
cars, saving their good equipment for Indy? Nobody knew.
Low-qualifier Wiebe (6.12) started things off on the right foot as he
laid down the first PRO five-second run ever, a 5.96 - 217.38, to topple Hurst
& Pryor, who blew their engine at the 900-foot mark and brought the sweeper
trucks out for their first of many jobs. The first round followed this pattern:
There would be a pair of fuelers. . . followed by a pair of tractors with brooms.
It sounds like a gross exaggeration, but it was just plain gross.
Garlits surprised everyone, including himself, by leaking something on
his tires and then losing to the Souter Brothers in his first pairing. Garlits,
who had qualified second at 6.14, reportedly resigned his post as president
of the PRO on Sunday, although the letter he submitted said his resignation
was effective on the Monday following the race. Don Schumacher filled in as
the acting president and bore the brunt of the abuse from the racers, although
he was clearly not at fault.
The rest of round one went about like this, and we'll skip all the explosions.
Grant Stoms beat Tony Ceraolo; Childs, Albert & Walker topped Dale Funk;
Junior Kaiser put Tommy Ivo away; the Pleasure Seekers eliminated Marvin Schwartz;
and in a good race, Greer & Greer cut Chris Karamesines, 6.36 - 203.32 to
the Greek's 6.43 - 204.08. Billy Campbell snoozed in Jack Hart's Golddigger,
and his 6.35 wasn't enough to catch Gary Ritter's 6.41. Shirley Muldowney brought
the fans to their feet when she edged the number three qualifier (6.14), Larry
Dixon in his Howard Chevy rig from California, and Jim Bucher's Chevy retaliated
by putting John "Tarzan" Austin on the trailer.
Jim Walther shut off and coasted to an easy win when Roger Toth and Jim
Johnson's Hemi Hunter Chevy sneezed a blower on the line. Gary Beck, fresh from
a Grandnational win, uncorked a strong 6.07 to shut down Dale Thierer in the
Lewis Brothers' Sparkling Burgundy, and Flip Schofield fouled against Jeb Allen.
Sarge Arciero caught a single in the Jade Grenade when Surfer Hank Endres failed
to fire and Teddy Wolf got a solo shot in Jim & Alison Lee's car as R. Gaines
Markley, all the way from the state of Washington, lost fire on the burnout
and failed to refire when his crew and others made a hand-push attempt. Larry
Bucher reeled off a 6.35 to stop Ronnie Martin's chute-out-early 6.74 to cap
round one.
In round two Wiebe stomped Stoms in perhaps the best race of the event,
6.05 to 6.08; Jim Walther got the best of Gary Beck, 6.19 to 6.58; Jim Bucher's
Chevy ran a strong 6.05 to stop the Souter Brothers; and Wolf, Lee & Lee
topped Larry Bucher. Jeb Allen ran 6.14 to finish the Jade Grenade; Cha Cha
unleashed a 6.09 to trailer Blood, Sweat & Nitro (Gary Ritter); Greer &
Greer topped the Pleasure Seekers; and Childs & Albert finished off the
Kaiser Brothers.
Normally a procedure is followed to determine who races whom in major
drag events. A "ladder" or "bracket" is drawn up pitting the low qualifier
against the ninth or 17th qualifier (depending upon whether it is a 16- or
32-car field), arranging the cars in such a way that the four lowest qualifiers
wouldn't meet one another until the semi-final, assuming they all won their
races. Because of the bizarre PRO qualifying arrangements as far as special
hours were concerned, it was difficult to determine who was to have raced whom.
To compound the situation, what transpired during round three was a confusing
mix-up that really befuddled racers and spectators alike.
As far as we can make out, this is what happened. When the 45-minute
time period between round two and round three of Top Fuel had elapsed, there
were only three cars in the dragster lanes, rather than eight. The cars were
Wiebe, Jim Bucher and Jim & Alison Lee's car, as Jim Walther, Greer &
Greer, Cha Cha, Childs & Albert and Jeb Allen were all in the pits thrashing.
The three cars in the lanes were told to push out and run, so Wiebe got the
single (although Jim Bucher's 6.056 from the previous round was quicker than
Wiebe's 6.057). Bucher should have had the single or Wiebe singled
because his competition (?), Walther, was in the pits repairing a broken brake
caliper. Bucher put Teddy Wolf and the Lees' car away, 6.09 - 229.00 to a shutting-off
12.11. By any stretch of the imagination, the five cars in the pits would have
been out, and it would have been Jim Bucher's Chevy against John Wiebe's Donovan
for all the money. But that's not what happened.
Jeb Allen, who everyone marvels at because he is just a young kid, behaved
like a young kid and lost his temper. He took his pushtruck into the dragster
lanes after the three cars had run and demanded that he had not had his "hour"
between rounds (note again that PRO agreed to 45 minutes between rounds before
ther ace). Allen then almost ran over several track personnel (Bernie Shacker,
"Slim" and Chud Barberia, all three of whom were ex-dragster drivers who volunteered
to work the dragster push-out road for free, just to see that things ran smoothly)
and raced his truck down the fire-up road, parked it diagonally on the burnout
area and proceeded to throw a tantrum on the starting line. Allen then went
into the base of the tower where, reportedly, Garlits and Flip Schofield decided
to let the guys who were not in the lanes run.
The second group of round three consisted of Jeb Allen, who redlighted,
to many people's chagrin, and his opposition, Childs & Albert. Also in
group two of round three were Greer & Greer and Cha Cha. Shirley lost, 6.40
to 6.22, and suddenly there were FIVE cars going into round four. If that doesn't
make sense, because you know that drag racing competition usually goes 32, 16,
8, 4, 2 and a winner, the PRO race was the sport's first exception to the rule.
Jim & Alison Lee's car, which had lost racing to Jim Bucher, was reinstated,
on the grounds that Bucher and Wolf (Lee's driver) were both on single runs,
side by side, when they ran in group one of round three.
Now if all that sounds confusing, imagine trying to watch it and understand
what is going on. It took a week to find out what had really transpired. Five
cars rather than four meant an extra round, and Flip Schofield had reportedly
agreed to pay the extra round money, as Eaton and Kohn were understandably
having none of the whole reinstatement business from a financial standpoint.
One more thing: Round two winner Jim Walther repaired his brake caliper and
could have had the motor ready for group two of round three, but nobody told
him that group two existed. He, like many others, was frosted.
So round four was not the semi-final. Bucher raced Wolf for the
second time; this time Jim's rear broke and the Lee machine won it, and the
Addict beat Greer & Greer. What about John Wiebe? He got another single,
a 6.08, although the PRO rules specifically say that only one single run per
car would be allowed during eliminations. Don't make John out as the bad guy,
as he was the first car in line for every round of Top Fuel (except for round
five, where he didn't show at all) and simply did what the officials told him.
In round five, the Addict, with Bruce Walker in the seat, eliminated
Teddy Wolf and the Jim & Alison Lee entry. As we said, Wiebe never made
a pass, or at least not a pass that we saw or could find any record of.
Round six was the last race of the meet and took place about nine or
ten hours after the event started. Actually it wasn't a race at all, as Walker
fired the Childs & Albert car and then shut it off on the line as Wiebe
soloed for the Big Bux. The really unfortunate thing was that Jim & Alison
Lee had reportedly asked Childs & Albert (who reportedly knew they were
broken and unfixable at the conclusion of round five) why not let the unbroken
Lee machine, with Wolf driving, make the final so the fans could at least have
a good show? Lee had conceded to give all the winnings to Wiebe and the runner-up
money to Childs & Albert, but C&A were having none of it and decided
to spill their engine on the line instead.
So there you have it. The kings of the sport. One of the push-out line
personnel summed it all up when he said, "After round two it wasn't racing.
Each of those guys had only one thought in mind, the $15,000 prize money. You
could see the greed in their eyes. It was sickening."
Funny Car Eliminator was to have been a 32-car field, but only 20 cars
made qualifying passes. Actually 21 cars made the first round, as the Bruce
Burkhardt-Jim Harrison U.S. Marines Charger never got an opportunity to run
and threatened to sue everyone in sight if they were not allowed to run (after
paying a $100 entry fee and waiting hours in the staging lanes on Sunday). Don
Prudhomme was low qualifier at a strong 6.19, and the only other FC racers of
superstar posture who were in attendance were McEwen, Schumacher and Snow. The
other top-name Funnys were racing elsewhere for guaranteed money.
Round one featured ten races and one single and took one hour and five
minutes to complete. It might have gone off a lot quicker except for a nasty
accident in the shutoff area. Machine Gun Kelly and Paul Smith's Fireball Vega
collided after Kelly experienced a bad finish-line fire. While it looked bad,
both drivers were seen walking around in the pits later, after a looksee at
the hospital. Kelly singed his neck slightly under his chin, and Smith was
okay.
Snake's bye of 6.31 was low e.t. for the round, and Tom Prock also got
a single as Jim Nicoll experienced problems and couldn't fire in the staging
lanes. Pat Foster scooted to a 6.45 - 200 as his opposition, the Wahlay Brothers'
Warlord Camaro, shut down with handling problems. Tom Hoover experienced bad
tire shake on his 6.89 - 159.28, but his opponent, Al Segrini, accidentally
deployed the chute at the 400-foot mark, handing Hoover the win. In a good
race, Snow's Vega ran 6.68 to edge Bob Mayer's 6.79. Charles Lee cut Kosty
Ivanoff as both cars ran in the seven-second bracket, and Bob Parmer shut off
Charlie Hill's Bad Habit Pinto per Ed Eaton's directions when the car leaked
something on the line, giving Bill Leavitt an easy solo. McEwen's Navy boat
made short work of the U.S. Marines Charger, Schumacher cruised to a 6.55 as
King and Marshall spun the tires to the tune of 17.89, and Shirl Greer had an
easy time of it as Curt Watson's Superstition Vega never staged. The Funny Car
guys seemed to be providing a better show, racingwise versus downtime, than
their unfendered brethren.
Round two was pretty good racing as Snake zapped Prock, 6.29 to 6.66,
Foster and Leavitt paired off with two singles (the competition, Paul Smith
had crashed in round one and Foster drew the odd-lot single), Tom McEwen managed
a 6.86 to topple Charles Lee in the Hartsoe Brothers & Elmer Gwynn Vega,
King & Marshall returned on the break rule (Schumacher couldn't repair)
so they could lose again, this time to Shirl Greer, and Hoover shelled his motor
after smoking the tires against Snow.
Round three was a little bit of a bummer as McEwen dumped Foster, wounding
his motor in the process with a 6.50, Prudhomme put Shirl Greer on the road to
Georgia, and Leavitt singled while his opposition, Gene Snow, was about one
minute too late in getting his Vega back together. Shortly after Leavitt made
the bye, Snow fired his car in the staging lanes and drove it out to the burnout
area and down the track to show the fans that if Leavitt had just waited they
would have seen a race.
That left McEwen, with a sick engine, Leavitt and Prudhomme. The next
scenario on the agenda was an argument between McEwen and Prudhomme, complete
with a lot of that index-finger-on-the-other-guy's-chest-in-a-thumping-motion
business. Seems as if McEwen wanted to split the money three ways, while Prudhomme,
who was looking good equipmentwise, was having none of it. Remember they are
not partners as they once were.
After a bit of shouting, McEwen reminded Prudhomme of the PRA race in
Tulsa just one year earlier (where Prudhomme asked McEwen for a split of the
bucks before the semi-final, McEwen agreed, and Snake then laid his crankshaft
on the starting line in his burnout). So Snake agreed to split the winner,
runner-up and third-place money three ways, equally among Leavitt, McEwen and
himself before the semi-final. McEwen broke before Leavitt broke (20.91 e.t.
as compared with an 8.56 for San Diego Bill), and Snake singled (his second
single, contrary to PRO rules) with a 6.61. That left Snake and Leavitt, but
since Leavitt knew he had one-third of the money no matter what happened, he
put his car on the trailer. McEwen was too broken, motorwise, to fix, so all
Prudhomme had to do was single again for the title.
And then of course, there was Pro Stock, which easily comprised the
best racing, with the fewest problems and blowups of the event. Rules said
6.75 pounds per inch, regardless of what kind of body or motor you had, but
the 6.75 break included the driver's weight on the scales. This would have
made the cars about 6.25 except that the scales read 85 to 100 pounds heavy,
thus permitting cars lighter than a true 6.25. Nicholson wasn't there, as he
succumbed to the guaranteed match race money elsewhere, but then he never was
a very strong PRO supporter, come to think of past Tulsa events.
As you might have expected from the light weight factor, qualifying
times were low; Bob Glidden's Pinto was first at 8.67 - 156.79. Jenkins at
8.71 and 21 other guys. That meant another incomplete 32-car field -- with
23 cars. Glidden drew the odd-lot single and ran 8.75, just limbering up, while
Herb McCandless' Mustang II sent Mark Harrington packing in the Mimi Vega, 8.77
to 9.82. Roy Hill (in Butch Leal's old car) punched out an 8.95 against the
red-lighting Terenzio Brothers. Lee Edwards' Camaro peeled off a 9.04 to stop
Rich Simone's Mustang II; Jenkins, with Jenkins himself driving, cleaned Charlie
Castaldo's clock with an 8.81; and Richie Zul had an easy time of it as John
Rosler fouled while staging.
Stewart Pomeroy in Nelson DesChamps' Hemi-Colt (remember, anything goes
at PRO as long as it's unsupercharged, gasoline and 6.75 pounds with the driver)
pumped out a "scintillating" 9.62 - 123 to eliminate Joe Varde's fouling Mustang
II. Wayne Gapp's muscular Mustang II (normally his match race car, which was
more suited to this type of racing than his NHRA-legal Pinto) sent Nelson
DesChamps' other car (Kenny Hahn in a Duster) packing with an 8.74 to 9.24
matchup, and Don Carlton singled at 8.85 in the Hodge's Dodges rig when Bob
Ingles' Vega punked out on the line. Mike Fons made short work of Harold Robinson's
Vega, 8.86 to 9.40; Bruce Larson's Vega advanced, due to a fouling Marino Brothers'
Camaro; and some guy named Ronnie Sox, driving the Hemi Colt of Ronnie Lyles,
cut an easy pass of 9.06 when his opposition, Brian Gillis, fouled while staging.
Roy Hill kicked things off in round two by chopping Stewart Pomeroy
in a close race, 9.00 to 9.01; Gapp & Roush put away McCandless 8.68 to
a good 8.76 in a close Mustang II duel; Zul shelled a rear against Carlton;
and Fons squeaked by Larson 8.80 to 8.98. In what must be considered a "lambs
to the slaughterhouse" pairing, Jenkins mopped up a fouling Ronnie Sox, 8.81
- 152.80 to Ronnie's 9.04 - 150.00. It was never a fair race, because the good
396-inch motor in Lyles' Colt had gone south several days earlier and Sox was
forced to compete with a "big" 426, making the car far too heavy for its intended
use, since it had to carry an extra 200 pounds. In what was either a big holeshot
upset or a starting-line foul-up (depends upon who you ask), low-qualifier Bob
Glidden lost (at 8.73) to Lee Edwards' '74 Camaro (at 9.03). Some say Glidden
snoozed, while others say Edwards left without a foul before Glidden had finished
staging.
Round three was not without hubbub as Wayne Gapp's throttle linkage
broke on the burnout, giving Don Carlton a free ride to round four. After Jenkins
had passed a fouling Roy Hill, 8.79 to 9.09, and the Motown Missile dispatched
Lee Edwards 8.79 to 9.02, Gapp came back for what was purported to be "a single
for the folks," at 8.76. Then he showed up on the starting line five minutes
later to see if he could wangle back into the competition on the "low e.t. of
the previous round gets reinstated" gambit of the event, his appeal was denied.
The semi-final pitted Jenkins against Carlton, and the Grumpy Person
did it to Don, 8.78 - 155.17 to Carlton's close 8.88 - 153.52. Fons singled
with an 8.85 - 145.86. Now you must remember that Jenkins has done rather well
at the past PRA races, winning $60,000 in cash and contingency money at the
last two Tulsa events. When asked why Larry Lombardo wasn't pulling the levers
on the Lenco, Bill replied "political reasons," which could have either been
interpreted to mean because of the PRO, because he hasn't done bad at these
events in the past, or that he had another 15,000 reasons, all of 'em with
George Washington's countenance on the front. It was a close race, but you
guessed it, Jenkins dispatched Fons in the Motown Missile, 8.80 - 155.44 to
Mike's 8.88 - 151.51. When asked if they split the money Mike Fons replied,
after the race. "Split? Naw, I honestly thought I could beat 'im." Next time
Mike will think twice.
In summation, the Long Island PRO race, despite its rainouts and poor
racer turnout/show, was the first time the racer association made money. The
track P.R. man sent out a letter a few days later to manufacturers, telling
them not to speak harshly of the race because we shouldn't tear down our own
sport from within. Then a few days later the P.R. man's boss sent out copies
of the contract with the PRO, pointing out how the PRO had not lived up to their
end of the contract. It wasn't meant to tear down the sport from within, you
understand, just to set the record straight.
And so for those who are critical of negative-sounding race reports
in their favorite auto magazines, perhaps they had better concern themselves
with the more immediate problem of how to prevent another drag race disaster
like this from taking place, because it won't take too many more to permanently
turn off the spectators, the big-time big-city sportswriters and, yes, even
the racers themselves to drag racing.
