(Photos by Kim Fuller • Words by Darr Hawthorne) The road to the US Nationals is a tough one, from Stock Eliminator, Alcohol cars, Top sportsman, Pro Mod and the Fuel Cars along with all the support from the sanctioning body, vendors, media and camera crews… it’s a bitch of an event, a marathon.
Competitors start lining up on the previous weekend, eventually rolling into their favorite Pit Spots for the biggest national NHRA event on the multi-race calendar, The US Nationals.
If you haven’t been to Indy for the Big Go, your first time will leave a lasting mark in your brain. First time for me, I was a young teenager, yeah it was a long time ago. Tech was held in a nearby shopping center parking lot, before your racecar was classified and it cleared technical department scrutiny. After tech, you could move onto the hallowed grounds at Indianapolis Raceway Park.
As I sat in the back seat of a wooden-sided ’64 Mercury Colony Park station wagon – with the racecar in tow, tow bar and tow hubs, no trailer, I was in awe. Rolling into the Indy main entry gate was spectacular, the first thing I noticed as we waited in the long line of competitors who had passed tech, was the shirtless guys near the long road who were holding up hand scrawled signs demanding “Show us your tits”. I figured they wern’t addressed me.
Eight visits to the U.S. Nationals for me and planning on attending the 75th anniversary in 2026.
There’s so much that’s being decided in Monday’s Labor Day Finals, we’re concentrating on the sportsman and door cars for this posting. Comp Cars, Pro Mods, MOPARS and the best engineered award winner.
In the historic Sox & Martin HEMI Challenge, it was a huge disappointment for winner Jason Line in the gorgeous “Fish Stick” ’68 Cuda, he was #2 Qualifier with a stout 8.309-second ET. His competition was Jim Daniels in Ray Barton’s ’68 Dart. In post-race teardown, NHRA Tech DQ’d both cars that were in the final round of the HEMI Challenge, for seemingly minor infractions.
This is a Challenge, a throwback, an exhibition and tribute to late 60’s Super Stock roots, not NHRA Class Competition. The solution was kinda like kissing your sister, with the purse distributed evenly across the remaining competitors. Great to see seventeen Sox & Martin HEMI Challenge competitors this year!
Tennessee’s Bob Mandell Jr built this US Nationals Best Engineered 1967 Chevy II Wagon, an absolute beast! Bob’s ProFab Chassis shop’s been building for over fifty years, it’s no surprise this car is a real showstopper. The Oakley 540 Vortech supercharged engine combined with a Powerglide transmission makes it a deadly combination for Top Sportsman racing, laying down a 6.267 Elapsed Time.