When NASCAR raced stock cars

[mustang84]

Some interesting old vids

1965 Riverside 500

1956? Darlington 500 pt. 1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EehuwA7l5zE...feature=related

pt. 2

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfyPvYOFW5M...feature=related

1963 Riverside 500

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bbsY-ftcyc

[ocnblu]

Man, it's past my bedtime, but I had to watch the whole '65 Riverside race vid. That's real racing! Today's NASCAR is TOTAL CRAP by comparison! And those drivers, wrestling those big ass boats around that track, they could really drive! Thanks, mustang!

[balthazar]

Note the film & narrator at 1:00 in the '63 vid : "13 Pontiacs, 10 Fords, 8 Chevys, 6 Mercs, 5 Dodges, 2 Plymouths."

13 Pontiacs... and it looks like they're racked 1-5 to start. The F'ing good old days, long gone. But note, Pontiac, written off by some by '54, was murdering 'em on the road courses, tracks & drag strips only 7-8 years later, not to mention having a hammerlock on 3rd in U.S. sales. Given an enpowered GM, Pontiac's 'rebel' streak wrote chapters and chapters of history. Too bad that's "no longer possible" for some undoubtedly stupid reason.

Parnelli's big Merc was a formidable machine, without question. Also one of my favorite Mercs- '64. I owned a '64 Park Lane Marauder 390 for a short while- cool car.

[HarleyEarl]

Damn I wish car racing was like that today....raw, real, elemental. I wouldn't miss a race.

[XP715]

Personally, I think NASCAR hasn't been cool since the early 1960's, but it DEFINITELY hasn't been cool since they cut engineering, innovation, competition, and the horsepower wars off at the knees in 1971 when they banned the OHC Ford 427, the DOHC 426 Hemi that Mopar had on the drawing board as a response to it, and the Mopar wing cars, stating that they were "overly competititve." Actually, I shouldn't say that they banned the wing cars, but rather they castrated them out of competition. You could still race a wing car in 1971 if you wanted, but you had to run an engine destroked to 305 cubic inches. This was after they were unsuccessful in making them ineligible for racing in 1970 by suddenly upping the "stock" production requirement from 500 units to 1500 units without telling Mopar until the last possible second. 426 Hemis and Ford 429's also had to wear restrictor plates starting that year. This is where it stopped being a sport and started being a business. They had to cater to the masses, and, with a predominantly General Motors-loving fanbase, it wouldn't be good for NASCAR if Fords and Dodges were winning all the races. Much as I love GM and will until the day I die, they didn't have anything on the drawing board that could hold a candle to Mopar or Ford as far as something purpose-built for stock car racing was concerned at the beginning of the 1970's.

NASCAR today represents everything wrong with motorsports. It's a big pathetic soap opera now. The professional wrestling of motorsports: cheesy and fake, but millions of people still tune in anyways. Not one part of it has anything to do with what it originated from. There's no more racing in it, either: whoever has the biggest team with the most cars can form the largest draft line and push whichever driver they decide to be at the front of said line to victory, provided there's not a wreck.

Hmm, let's see....... a generic car with Toyota Camry stickers holding wide open throttle in a line of teammates for five hundred miles, or Hudson Hornets roaring across the sands of Daytona Beach? Guess which one I'd choose. Bet I'm not alone, either.

f@#k NASCAR and f@#k all of its brain dead fans that can't open their eyes and see how fake and worthless it is.

[Intrepidation]

Personally, I think NASCAR hasn't been cool since the early 1960's, but it DEFINITELY hasn't been cool since they cut engineering, innovation, competition, and the horsepower wars off at the knees in 1971 when they banned the OHC Ford 427, the DOHC 426 Hemi that Mopar had on the drawing board as a response to it, and the Mopar wing cars, stating that they were "overly competititve." Actually, I shouldn't say that they banned the wing cars, but rather they castrated them out of competition. You could still race a wing car in 1971 if you wanted, but you had to run an engine destroked to 305 cubic inches. This was after they were unsuccessful in making them ineligible for racing in 1970 by suddenly upping the "stock" production requirement from 500 units to 1500 units without telling Mopar until the last possible second. 426 Hemis and Ford 429's also had to wear restrictor plates starting that year. This is where it stopped being a sport and started being a business. They had to cater to the masses, and, with a predominantly General Motors-loving fanbase, it wouldn't be good for NASCAR if Fords and Dodges were winning all the races. Much as I love GM and will until the day I die, they didn't have anything on the drawing board that could hold a candle to Mopar or Ford as far as something purpose-built for stock car racing was concerned at the beginning of the 1970's.

NASCAR today represents everything wrong with motorsports. It's a big pathetic soap opera now. The professional wrestling of motorsports: cheesy and fake, but millions of people still tune in anyways. Not one part of it has anything to do with what it originated from. There's no more racing in it, either: whoever has the biggest team with the most cars can form the largest draft line and push whichever driver they decide to be at the front of said line to victory, provided there's not a wreck.

Hmm, let's see....... a generic car with Toyota Camry stickers holding wide open throttle in a line of teammates for five hundred miles, or Hudson Hornets roaring across the sands of Daytona Beach? Guess which one I'd choose. Bet I'm not alone, either.

f@#k NASCAR and f@#k all of its brain dead fans that can't open their eyes and see how fake and worthless it is.

[cletus8269]

i dont know if ya'll get the john boy and billy big show up north but they were interviewing cale yarborough one morning and asked him what he thought of nascar today, specifically the car of tomorrow. his main plus was safety because even he said safety was really not an importance to them, the biggest safety inovation he prolly saw was the petty bar and i think he had already retired when it came of age. his biggest gripe, you cant tell what anyone is drivng on the track until you see the sticker on the front. a guy that my dad works with starts up every monday morning "man them toyotas are handing it to them boys. fords and chevy's cant hang with em"... this is coming from a guy who bled bill eliot in the 80's. he had the nerve to tell my dad to trade his 04 chevy 1500 Z85 in on a toyota so he would have a real truck. dad shook his head and said he wouldnt trade a real truck in on an oversized tonka toy. the only 2 non chevy's that my dads name has been on the title was an 81 sunbird and a 55 packard clipper constelation. as far as i'm concerned nascar's last hope died in turn 4 at daytona in 2001.

[vonVeezelsnider]

Hmm, let's see....... a generic car with Toyota Camry stickers holding wide open throttle in a line of teammates for five hundred miles, or Hudson Hornets roaring across the sands of Daytona Beach? Guess which one I'd choose. Bet I'm not alone, either.

Nope, not alone at all.

[siegen]

That was actually entertaining. NASCAR needs to go back to that.

[Camino LS6]

i dont know if ya'll get the john boy and billy big show up north but they were interviewing cale yarborough one morning and asked him what he thought of nascar today, specifically the car of tomorrow. his main plus was safety because even he said safety was really not an importance to them, the biggest safety inovation he prolly saw was the petty bar and i think he had already retired when it came of age. his biggest gripe, you cant tell what anyone is drivng on the track until you see the sticker on the front. a guy that my dad works with starts up every monday morning "man them toyotas are handing it to them boys. fords and chevy's cant hang with em"... this is coming from a guy who bled bill eliot in the 80's. he had the nerve to tell my dad to trade his 04 chevy 1500 Z85 in on a toyota so he would have a real truck. dad shook his head and said he wouldnt trade a real truck in on an oversized tonka toy. the only 2 non chevy's that my dads name has been on the title was an 81 sunbird and a 55 packard clipper constelation. as far as i'm concerned nascar's last hope died in turn 4 at daytona in 2001.

NASCAR itself gasped its last on that day.

What is left is a travesty.

[cletus8269]

What is left is a travesty.

more like a media marketing circus...

i remember missing the first 10 or so laps every sunday when church ran over because the race started @ 12 unless rain of course.

you'd be lucky to see the race start 20 minutes after its scheduled to because of the singing and hoopla

[A Horse With No Name]

Personally, I think NASCAR hasn't been cool since the early 1960's, but it DEFINITELY hasn't been cool since they cut engineering, innovation, competition, and the horsepower wars off at the knees in 1971 when they banned the OHC Ford 427, the DOHC 426 Hemi that Mopar had on the drawing board as a response to it, and the Mopar wing cars, stating that they were "overly competititve." Actually, I shouldn't say that they banned the wing cars, but rather they castrated them out of competition. You could still race a wing car in 1971 if you wanted, but you had to run an engine destroked to 305 cubic inches. This was after they were unsuccessful in making them ineligible for racing in 1970 by suddenly upping the "stock" production requirement from 500 units to 1500 units without telling Mopar until the last possible second. 426 Hemis and Ford 429's also had to wear restrictor plates starting that year. This is where it stopped being a sport and started being a business. They had to cater to the masses, and, with a predominantly General Motors-loving fanbase, it wouldn't be good for NASCAR if Fords and Dodges were winning all the races. Much as I love GM and will until the day I die, they didn't have anything on the drawing board that could hold a candle to Mopar or Ford as far as something purpose-built for stock car racing was concerned at the beginning of the 1970's.

NASCAR today represents everything wrong with motorsports. It's a big pathetic soap opera now. The professional wrestling of motorsports: cheesy and fake, but millions of people still tune in anyways. Not one part of it has anything to do with what it originated from. There's no more racing in it, either: whoever has the biggest team with the most cars can form the largest draft line and push whichever driver they decide to be at the front of said line to victory, provided there's not a wreck.

Hmm, let's see....... a generic car with Toyota Camry stickers holding wide open throttle in a line of teammates for five hundred miles, or Hudson Hornets roaring across the sands of Daytona Beach? Guess which one I'd choose. Bet I'm not alone, either.

f@#k NASCAR and f@#k all of its brain dead fans that can't open their eyes and see how fake and worthless it is.

This Absolutely utterly, utterly, utterly has to be the post of the month!

Chris

[A Horse With No Name]

NASCAR itself gasped its last on that day.

What is left is a travesty.

Abortion might be a more fitting word,Camino.

Chris

[cletus8269]

Personally, I think NASCAR hasn't been cool since the early 1960's, but it DEFINITELY hasn't been cool since they cut engineering, innovation, competition, and the horsepower wars off at the knees in 1971 when they banned the OHC Ford 427, the DOHC 426 Hemi that Mopar had on the drawing board as a response to it, and the Mopar wing cars, stating that they were "overly competititve." Actually, I shouldn't say that they banned the wing cars, but rather they castrated them out of competition. You could still race a wing car in 1971 if you wanted, but you had to run an engine destroked to 305 cubic inches. This was after they were unsuccessful in making them ineligible for racing in 1970 by suddenly upping the "stock" production requirement from 500 units to 1500 units without telling Mopar until the last possible second. 426 Hemis and Ford 429's also had to wear restrictor plates starting that year. This is where it stopped being a sport and started being a business. They had to cater to the masses, and, with a predominantly General Motors-loving fanbase, it wouldn't be good for NASCAR if Fords and Dodges were winning all the races. Much as I love GM and will until the day I die, they didn't have anything on the drawing board that could hold a candle to Mopar or Ford as far as something purpose-built for stock car racing was concerned at the beginning of the 1970's.

not sure if you have seen this before xp but i read this article in a mopar magazine or an old issue of muscle car review and it had these bad boys in there... kinda one of those what could have been deals. pretty saweet though

http://www.71wingcars.com/categories.aspx?id=4

[CMG]

Personally, I think NASCAR hasn't been cool since the early 1960's, but it DEFINITELY hasn't been cool since they cut engineering, innovation, competition, and the horsepower wars off at the knees in 1971 when they banned the OHC Ford 427, the DOHC 426 Hemi that Mopar had on the drawing board as a response to it, and the Mopar wing cars, stating that they were "overly competititve." Actually, I shouldn't say that they banned the wing cars, but rather they castrated them out of competition. You could still race a wing car in 1971 if you wanted, but you had to run an engine destroked to 305 cubic inches. This was after they were unsuccessful in making them ineligible for racing in 1970 by suddenly upping the "stock" production requirement from 500 units to 1500 units without telling Mopar until the last possible second. 426 Hemis and Ford 429's also had to wear restrictor plates starting that year. This is where it stopped being a sport and started being a business. They had to cater to the masses, and, with a predominantly General Motors-loving fanbase, it wouldn't be good for NASCAR if Fords and Dodges were winning all the races. Much as I love GM and will until the day I die, they didn't have anything on the drawing board that could hold a candle to Mopar or Ford as far as something purpose-built for stock car racing was concerned at the beginning of the 1970's.

NASCAR today represents everything wrong with motorsports. It's a big pathetic soap opera now. The professional wrestling of motorsports: cheesy and fake, but millions of people still tune in anyways. Not one part of it has anything to do with what it originated from. There's no more racing in it, either: whoever has the biggest team with the most cars can form the largest draft line and push whichever driver they decide to be at the front of said line to victory, provided there's not a wreck.

Hmm, let's see....... a generic car with Toyota Camry stickers holding wide open throttle in a line of teammates for five hundred miles, or Hudson Hornets roaring across the sands of Daytona Beach? Guess which one I'd choose. Bet I'm not alone, either.

f@#k NASCAR and f@#k all of its brain dead fans that can't open their eyes and see how fake and worthless it is.

I see it pretty much the same way.

Bill France had a hard on for the Mopars, he banned the 426 Hemi when it came out, he tried everything he could to suck the life out of the Mopars, why do you think they left in 71 or whenever it was...

I would rather watch 60's Nascar races all day long than ONE present day Nascar race.

Big old Pontiacs running high speeds beside a full sized Ford, or MoPars that actually LOOKED LIKE MOPARS!

I like the old days..

[CMG]

As far as Bill France and his dislike for MoPars, I think it all started with Kiekhaefer. Try searching Kiekhaefer and Nascar and you will see what I mean. His vindictive bannings and rule changes never ceased after Kiekhaefer ran his MoPars.

[XP715]

I see it pretty much the same way.

Bill France had a hard on for the Mopars, he banned the 426 Hemi when it came out, he tried everything he could to suck the life out of the Mopars, why do you think they left in 71 or whenever it was...

You're absolutely right; Mopar sat out the 1965 season because the 426 Hemi was banned upon its release.

And believe it or not, Mopar hung on and took NASCAR's bull$h! until the 1977 season was over before pulling out.

[gm4life]

At least you can get a Charger with a V8 and an Impala from the factory with the V8. Can you imagine a Camry Hybrid running with a 2008 Charger R/T and an Impala SS? The sport has seriously went way down the $h!ter, allowing typical FWD cars in and not RWD performance cars.

[Intrepidation]

At least you can get a Charger with a V8 and an Impala from the factory with the V8. Can you imagine a Camry Hybrid running with a 2008 Charger R/T and an Impala SS? The sport has seriously went way down the $h!ter, allowing typical FWD cars in and not RWD performance cars.

You do know that the Impala is FWD too right? It's also anything but a performance car.

[ocnblu]

I had to watch these again. They're real, and they're spectacular! When that big ol' Mercury catches mad air in the grass... WOW!

[XP715]

not sure if you have seen this before xp but i read this article in a mopar magazine or an old issue of muscle car review and it had these bad boys in there... kinda one of those what could have been deals. pretty saweet though

http://www.71wingcars.com/categories.aspx?id=4

Those are really cool. Shame they had to be built by talented folks nearly 40 years after they should have been produced by the company that conceived them. Thanks, ASSCAR!

[cletus8269]

I had to watch these again. They're real, and they're spectacular! When that big ol' Mercury catches mad air in the grass... WOW!

dale jr has a show on speed called back in the day that is pretty much a highlight reel from old races, dunno when it comes on though. races are from 60's 70's and 80's i think.

[knightfan26917]

Not sure HOW I missed this thread earlier.

AWESOME videos.

Course, I'm partial to this:

http://www.chevyasylum.com/cort/200711/RT1...CMrear_JPG.html

Cort:34swm."Mr Monte Carlo.Mr Road Trip".pig valve&pacemaker

WRMNshowcase.legos.HO.models.MCs.RTs.CHD = http://www.chevyasylum.com/cort

"Windows open on the rest of the world" ... Suzy Bogguss ... 'Drive South'

[daves87rs]

Very cool.....

[CMG]

dale jr has a show on speed called back in the day that is pretty much a highlight reel from old races, dunno when it comes on though. races are from 60's 70's and 80's i think.

I watch it all the time. Awesome footage!

Something inside me feels reallllly bad for the drivers back then, especially the ones who went.... OVER THE WALL!!!

Not a spin out, up and over the wall, and out of the racetrack. Insane!

[Mike D.]

I think NASCAR jumped the shark when:

1. Restrictor plates became mandatory at Daytona and Talladega in the 90s.

2. Toyota stock cars came on the scene.

3. The Southern 500 Labor day race at Darlington was replaced by a race at California Speedway.

4. Rockingham and North Wilksboro speedways were closed.

[chevelle454]

I think NASCAR jumped the shark when:

1. Restrictor plates became mandatory at Daytona and Talladega in the 90s.

2. Toyota stock cars came on the scene.

3. The Southern 500 Labor day race at Darlington was replaced by a race at California Speedway.

4. Rockingham and North Wilksboro speedways were closed.

I really dont mind the restrictor plates, it makes for some great action the last few laps of Talledega.

I couldn't agree more about 2,3 and 4

Also the Car of tommarow sucks and so does the idiotic lucky dog. I loved when they raced back to the flsg.

[gm4life]

You do know that the Impala is FWD too right? It's also anything but a performance car.

Yeah I do have you little faith in me Dodgefan? :AH-HA_wink:

But at least it has a small block V8... I mean a Camry holding 200mph, hell it dosen't offer a V8 nor an OHV in any of its "wonderful" (yeah right) products. The cars anymore aren't even close to stock, someone want to start a new racing series what NASCAR was and should be. American cars in an American race almost just like they came off the production line. First nix all the things that made the sport unique and exciting then let in Noyota...