Pro Stocks circa the mid 1970s were really cool. Tube chassis were not the order of the day yet but there was all kinds of stuff going on beneath the surface of these cars to lighten them, stiffen them, and gain a competitive advantage over all comers.
On the transmission front the Lenco was now the “in” thing and the motors were making ever more power as racers tweaked their way to quicker and quicker times. No place was hotter than the Southern US for this type of action, especially in match race form. The video we found shows killer cars on tracks that are, umm, rustic. Yeah, that’s it. There is a wide variety of racers from across the country in this video from North Carolina’s Farmington Dragway. Is it some sort of national event? Nope even better, a match race.
In ’74 the way you made a living as a drag racer was by running your ass off all over the country and hitting as many of the “big ones” as you could muster. That’s where the money was. Rolling in the gate and making a few passes in front of the crowd got you paid and off you went to the next one. Now, some shows were package deals and others were open events where performance definitely counted. Those are the ones where the big cheater motors came out and guys went crazy to go fast. The goal on the booked in side was to just survive the day…as one car does not. You’ll see it wadded up in the video here.
Dig these vintage Pro Stockers on tracks so narrow their door handles are almost touching!