Being on the announcing staff at the NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals in 2015 was a treat because of the history that the race represented. 2015 was the 50th anniversary of the track’s opening and the 50th anniversary of the event that opened it, the 1965 NHRA Springnationals. This was a notable event for many reasons but just a few are the fact that Richard Petty competed during the Chrysler boycott of NASCAR as did Cotton Owens in his weirdo Cotton Picker rear engine station wagon, the race featured a category of match bash cars that represented one of the last steps in the funny car evolutionary ladder before flip top bodies, and Maynard Rupp defeated Connie Kalitta in the top fuel final at the race. The best part? You are going to see all of that and a TON more in the video below.
George Hurst pulled out all the stops on this weekend as you will see the original Miss Golden Shifter Pat Flannery hanging onto the giant Hurst stick and waving to the crowd as well as the original Hemi Under Glass wheelstander. Now, pay attention to the wheelstander show because if you blink you may miss it. At this time in history it was not about carrying the wheels all the way down the track as much as it was sticking the car nearly vertical and carrying for as far as you could. You’d get booed out of the place for a show like this today but back in 1965 the people loved it and the fact that this person making the film thought it worthy enough to use some tape shooting the car confirms that thought. The parade of match bashers is really cool and that class was a major sticking point during the event planning stage.
The NHRA did not want those cars there as they were “outlaw” machines that fell outside of the bounds of the rule book in many cases. Bristol ownership partner Larry Carrier demanded that they be there because he already knew that those cars sold tickets. It came down to a stalemate with the NHRA ultimately blinking first and the cars raced. Chrisman’s Comet was one of the assembled wrecking crew of cars that drew lots of attention from the packed stands. In a roundabout way this video backs up Carrier’s thoughts because the man running the camera spent so much tape on that class of cars!
Pay close attention for the Petty Barracuda and the Owens station wagon. These two cars have lots of mythology around them and this is the only time we have actually seen them in motion, especially the Cotton Picker. It is a unique treat for sure.
One last thing to clarify. Note at the beginning that I mentioned the 50th anniversary for the first NHRA national event at the track, not the 50th year of NHRA events at the track. A couple of years after this first race the track switched to AHRA sanction and then of course as Carrier was a major force in starting the IHRA the track went that direction and became the home for the IHRA for decades before rejoining the NHRA. Now owned and operated by Bruton Smith’s SMI Corportation, the track has been rehabilitated and changed since those early days but the most distinct feature, the fact that it is tightly tucked in the base of a valley remains and forever will remain its calling card.
Enjoy this rare look into the opening day of Bristol Dragway back in 1965!
