I was 10 years old in 1990 and by that time a big chunk of my brain had already been consumed by cars and specifically drag racing. I was reading any magazine I could get my hands on with drag cars in it and I was trying to watch whatever I could on TV to see the action as well. The big thing in 1990? That was the introduction of the pro modified class as a professional entity with the IHRA series. Ed Hoover won the first ever IHRA pro mod race at that season’s Winternationals and the class was off to a flying start.
In this video we continue in that 1990 season but we find ourselves at the Gateway Nationals. Yes, this was held in St. Louis on the grounds of what is now Gateway Motorsports Park. The place was lots different back then but that is another story for another day.
The two best parts this video are the people and the cars. The cars may be the coolest and they are the machines I truly fell in love with as a kid. I wasn’t much of a Beretta guy but the Camaro of Ed Hoover and the Willys of Scotty Cannon were tops in my book. Ronnie Sox’s Comet was a bad hombre as well but it was not one of my favorites. What can I say, I was a snot nosed kid at the time.
The names in this short clip read like a hall of fame list. Mike Ashley, Bill Kuhlmann, Ronnis Sox, Scotty Cannon, Ed Hoover, Tim McAmis, etc. Also note the elapsed times. These guys would have been running for second place at Drag Week with this equipment! This is one of those no BS clips that we enjoy. History, baby!
