This is why the internet rules. Our pal Joel Nystrom managed to not only find but post a piece of incredible drag racing history on YouTube. The video he found, called “Shut Down King” was made in 1966 and shows one of the great “Pros VS Joes” moments in drag racing history. Ronnie Sox and four regular hot rodders off the street beat on a flock of (then) brand new muscle cars with big block engines and four speed transmissions. There’s an SS396 Chevelle, a GTO, a Fairlane packing a 390, and a Hemi Belvedere in the line up. The regular guys run all the cars, getting some advice from Sox and then they all stand back and let the master go to work in the Hemi car. The results are both predictable and totally awesome. It harks back to the days when the driver was all the difference in drag racing, especially when the classes were dominated by sick shift cars. As the film was bankrolled by Chrysler, you can imagine the end results but that doesn’t make the subject matter any less interesting.

This is a 25-minute long video and the first 10 are dominated by footage from the 1966 Winternationals, some totally groovy music, and a lot of great shots of drivers getting suited up, smoking the tires in their dragsters, and living it up 1960s style. Sox, seen sporting a big rimmed black hat is racing a 1966 Barracuda in the C/Fuel Dragster class. What? Remember, these were the days before the “funny car” existed. Machines like Sox’s were somewhat vexing to the always buttoned up NHRA and by the book, the only place they fit were in that category. With its injected nitro burning hemi tuned up by Jake King, Sox went to the semi-finals at that race before losing to Gas Rhonda. ’66 was the last year that Sox and crew would mess with fuel burning cars. They’d be back in super stock for 1967 and blazing their trail to legendary status.

This video, which we have heard about and never seen is 100% freaking awesome. Crack open a soda or a beer, crank the speakers, and watch four guys have the greatest afternoon of their live and then get taken to school by Mr. 4-Speed hisself!