We stumbled upon this gem of a video yesterday while trolling for some cool AA/FA footage. Like everyone else, we have been tingling at the possibilities surrounding the rumored fuel altered field at the upcoming 2014 March Meet. If that deal comes off like we hope, it’ll be all time and according to the comments we got on that blog item, lots of you are all kinds of amped up about it, too. Outside of a few traveling associations, it is very rare to see a fuel altered eliminator any more. There aren’t that many of the cars out there today and the ones that are tend to be spread thin making exhibition passes or appearances.
In this video, which is claimed to have been shot in 1986, you will see AA/FA fire burnouts, awesome historic 1960s footage sprinkled in, what the fuel altered scene looked like in the 1980s and you’ll also get a look back at the track all the magazine guys ran their cars at back in the 1980s and 1990s before it was closed down. Palmdale certainly wasn’t the prettiest of places but it was busy and gave people in greater LA a place to race for decades.
Anyway, this is a cool chunk of video. Part educational, part informative, we’re not sure who the intended audience is. The whole clip is very “pro” fuel altered complete with former Palmdale operator Bernie Longjohn proclaiming that the AA/FA class would be back as a part of the NHRA program sooner rather than later. That obviously has not happened yet and it won’t but the sentiment was nice. These cars are spectacular and put on an electrifying show. There’s no other class in drag racing with the aura of the fuel altereds and that’s been the truth since they first became nationally popular in the 1960s and it continues today.
PRESS PLAY BELOW TO TAKE THE (NOT SO) WAY BACK MACHINE TO 1986, PALMDALE, AND FUEL ALTERED FUN!
Love those fuel altereds!
So typical that NHRA (no hot rods allowed?) still refuses to field these cars! Thank God for groups like the OFAA who stag Fuel Altered events all over the mid west throughout the year! Labor day weekend at Mo-Kan, Baby!!
Long Live Fuel Altereds!
Hell yea-who doesn’t like Fuel Altereds?
As an altered owner/driver here in the Midwest in the late 70s and early 80s, the fans always loved our hard burnouts and stab and steer passes. Most midwest track owners cried about paying us for putting on a show when they could get 50 bucks apiece entry fees from 150-400 bracket racers on a saturday and sunday. We all either detuned ,dumped the blower & juice and got a delay box or went fishin.
Way too cool! This clip is from the television program produced by Jasen and Carol Majers, The Exciting World of Speed & Beauty. (If my name seems ‘familiar’ it is because I am the ‘Rod Hynes’ interviewed in this clip.) It was taken at a race at LACR-Palmdale in 1986 that was, at the time, an AHRA sanctioned track. What Bernie is referring to when he talks about the addition of Fuel Altereds to the NHRA Sportsman program is that Graham Light was attending this race to see if there was enough racer participation to have the Fuel Altereds be the ‘Pro’ support show for Division 7 Points Meets. Unfortunately this did not happen because one of our race teams decided it was not important enough for them to appear as they had promised they would. In the long run this was probably a good thing not to have become a NHRA dictated ‘class’ as it kept us out there as ‘outlaws/independents’ and we could set our own ‘rules’ while keeping up with the safety equipment. The real shame for the Fuel Altereds is that we have been, for the most part, treated by the other Fuel class racers (FCs and FDs) as ‘wicked stepchildren’ instead of just being treated as RACERS. If ANY group of cars should have become the co-partner to the Fuel Dragsters it should have been the ORIGINAL HOT RODS, the FUEL ALTEREDS, but politics and money won out over love of the sport and the want to be different. You can have your ‘cookie cutter’ FDs and FCs, I’ll look to be something completely different – A FUEL ALTERED RACER!
Rod, very well said. Fuel Altereds are thee ultimate hot rods, and should be respected, not shunned. So they get a little out of shape now and then, they are still the coolest, most bad ass drag racing machines of all time. Sound the chorus “Fuel Alterds Forever!” Great video too!
I just uploaded the new longer version on youtube so you can now change the video .
This video will be going “unlisted” shortly . You can reload with new link i d at your convenience . Thank You .
Video now deleted …check my u2oob channel “john johnson” for newer version . Thanks .