I don't know if anyone here follows NHRA drag racing, but it sure is different from what it was back in the 70's. I grew up in New Jersey which was a hotbed for Junior Stokers in the 60's and 70's. I started racing in 1969, and did pretty well in the 1972 season with my 65 Bel-Air with a 230 and 3 speed in O/Stock with less than $1000 invested in the car. The O/Stock record was 17.40 back then and I ran a best of 17.60. A little over a year ago I thought I would get back into racing. Well what was O/Stock in 1972 is now W/Stock with an index of 16.70. Okay they allow headers now and .060 over, maybe it's doable. But then I found out that only 4 cylinders can run in W/Stock. So, I thought I would build a car to run in V/Stock with an index of 15.55. I bought a 66 Chevelle and played with it, running a best of 19.07 with the original, tired motor. Doing more research I found that a 69 Chevelle with a 230 can run with a four speed while I could only use a 3 speed in the Chevelle. I found a 69 Camaro and had a friend replace the floorboards, trunk, and other sheet metal. So I now have over $6000 tied up in the Camaro only to find that the NHRA has adjusted the index down to 15.25. I thought that 15.55 was just barely doable, with the index at 15.25 I'm ready to give up on drag racing. It seems the focus is all on the Pro Classes with little regard for the lower classes.
