(Photos by Joe Grippo) – Here’s our last grouping of great Joe Grippo photos from the 2015 NHRA Dutch Classic at Maple Grove Raceway in Reading, Pennsylvania. Joe lives right around the corner from the place and has spent the better part of his life ripping down that strip and blasting photos from all angles. In this collection of images we have a focus on competition eliminator with some other stuff thrown in to spice it up.
Competition eliminator is a category that lots of casual drag racing fans may not fully “get” at first blush but the reality is that the racing end of it is pretty simple. Competition takes place on a handicapped tree meaning the slower car gets a head start and the faster car chases. The big different in comp is that there is NO breakout. You just need to get to the stripe first. Now, there are some interesting rules when it comes to the famed CIC (Competition Index Control) that is designed to prevent certain combinations from completely running away with the program. You can use your Google machine to learn more about that.
There are a multitude of four and six cylinder engines in this category. Some stuff is completely scratch built and other stuff is just over the top like Ford inline sixes with cylinder heads manufactured by AJPE and other stuff. While it is the zaniest group of cars at the drag strip it is very fast and you see stuff that’ll make you scratch your head and stare which it is type of stuff we love around here if you have not noticed.
Click on the images below and then cruise through with your arrow keys!
Local engine builder here in Canada built the current record holder in K/A. It is (was) a Mercury Marine 4 cyl boat motor now converted with a prostock Ford head and enough mods Mercury Marine would not recognise it. Some serious smarts and engineering goes into this stuff.
Great Shots. Shows the wonderful diversity in the sportsman ranks and not available in the pro categories.
The red and white Opel GT looks familiar. I think Jr. Kaiser use to run that car with a V-6. Also Carl Miller is still running that Corvette, amazing.
That is the original Heffernan and Kaiser Opel GT Comp Car. Joe Heffernan and his Dad bought the car back, updated it and now run it in Top Sportsman with a Shafiroff Chevy small block on nitrous.