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Mopar's Generation Next

I just finished reading Rob Wolf's excellent editorial in the most current issue of Mopar Collector's Guide — called "Generation Next", an obvious play on Generation X.

In the editorial, Wolf points out that those of us who experienced the Muscle car Revolution first-hand — were the baby-boomers, and are now between 55-70. The Next'rs are in their mid-to-late thirties and their forties. They saw these cars in the childhood when they were still street driven and at shows. The editorial further points out that there is a crop of these Generation Next people working at dealerships, restoration shops, and racing — but they might be the end of the line, and the last to be able to even work on these cars.

That's very true in large part — but there are exceptions. My son Dallas is 24, has been racing Mopars since he was 16 (when he also obtained his NHRA Class IV License), is the crew Chief for all of the cars we race on a National Circuit — and yesterday won NMCA's 2011 "Crew Member of the Year" award at the Award's Dinner at PRI. The newest car he's ever raced is a 78 Aspen — and the oldest a 63 Plymouth. Steven, the Shop Rat at my shop is 19 and works part-time (25-hours a week) at my shop. He too is a Mopar man, and is capable of doing a engine/transmission swap on a mid-60s Mopar pretty quickly. He works for minimum wage because he is able to work on the old Mopars as much as swinging the mop. He has another part-time job where he pulls engines and transmissions on imports for twice what I pay him — but he rather work on old Mopars with us rather than working full time for his other employer. My youngest daughter is 13, and has been going to races with me since birth. She can tell you the year of any B-body and we're setting up my 10-second Vitamin C (63 Plymouth NSS car) for when she hits 16.

These kids are rare — but they do exist. They can exist in greater numbers if "Generation Next" will take the time to pass the heritage along. It takes a little psychology — and it takes getting to them when they're still young. In the case of Dallas, I took him to every car show and race I ever attended since he could be pushed in a stroller. He learned old Mopars before he could be corrupted but any kids with Imports. Same with motorcycles. I'm a Harley man, and much to his mother's chagrin, I bought him a large touring bike at 15 and took him riding with me until turning him on his own at 18. He learned from me, instead of on a crotch rocket by some punk with his hat on backwards and 300 body piercings. Steven's father is a die-hard Mopar man, and like Dallas, Steven never saw an import parked on the property. My youngest daughter was given her first go-cart at 5, and helped to assemble her 6-speed dune buggy at 8. She started driving on the property at 10.

My generation did a lot to create the Generation Next people, and now it is their duty to pass this along to their kids — and the earlier the better. Take them to car shows and tell them about why these cars are so special. Include them with the washing and working on your cars. Build a project together. I bought Dallas his first car at 15 — a 78 Magnum with a warmed over 360, as he had a special license to drive to and from school. He still has that car. We built his (now — but started as a 12-second) 10-second 72 Demon together when he was 15 — which we still have.

It doesn't have to end with the "Generation Next", if the Generation next will take the time to drag their kids away from the X-Box, and get them into the garage working on cars with them. A father is his son's biggest influence — and he only has a limited time to use that influence. My generation needs to do the same with our grandchildren.

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Hemikurt’s 1965 PLYMOUTH BELVEDERE won the NSS Car of the Month for December 2011 in the Staging Lanes

If your NSS car has not yet won the Car of the Month, it needs to have been entered into the staging lanes to be considered in the monthly poll for next month’s Car of the Month. The first 20 cars added to the staging lanes to have not won are included in the monthly poll. The Poll for January 2012 is up — please take a moment to vote for one of the 20 cars to be next months Car of the Month.

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Dave's Report From the Dave Duell Classic

I won A/NSS Class

The following is a report on my racing at the NSS racing at the Dave Duell Classic last weekend. A couple of product sponsors ask for a report after every major event, and so I'll also include it on this forum.

I'd had major surgery less than two weeks prior, and this wasn't exactly sanctioned by my surgeon, but the Dave Duell Classic is the very best of all Nostalgia Super Stock events – so I couldn't miss it. This was complicated further with my son (and Crew Chief) Dallas not being able to attend the event because he was in the wedding party of a high school bud. He generally shares the driving of the rig, and maintaining both of our cars. I had blown the motor in the Vitamin C in the last race, and the block was too far gone to be rebuilt as a race motor. So I decided to drive the black 65 Coronet that Dallas normally runs in C/FX. It had been over five years since I'd driven this car, and never with this motor, or a since being converted to a NSS car.

I left home on Tuesday at about 11AM with my wife Deb, youngest daughter Hope, and both dogs (Buster and Dixie) for the 940 mile trip. I drove about 700 miles before pulling into a Wal-Mart for the night. In the morning, I woke up to find Memphis car poolers blocked me front, back, and street side.

After negotiating out of the parking lot and getting back onto the road, I arrived at the track in Bowling Green, KY at 3PM Wednesday to meet Doug Duell at the gate. I tried to help Doug with marking the pit spots, but at 109 degrees that soon after surgery — I was overcome by the heat.

This was in the shade – under a row of trees.

It was hot the entire event — and most likely what had so many of the 74 cars that pre-registered not show. Last year 84 cars came to the Dave Duell Classic — but the change of venue from St. Louis to Bowling Green, heat, and a competing race the same weekend trimmed the field to about 60 NSS cars. Just the same — the event lived up to its reputation as the best NSS race that there is.

I was originally going to run the car in a sub-10-second FX class, but the heat was getting to me so much, and I was having such a problem getting in and out of the car — I decided to run the 10.0 class so I could wear a lighter and cooler driver's suit. On the first time trial, I found that the tach wasn't working — so the event was spent launching by feel and shifting by ear. I only took two time trial passes Friday as I was not feeling well from the heat.

In the first round of Qualifying I went too fast with a 9.916.

I threw some more weight in the car for the second Qualifying, and was still too fast with a 9.949

For the 3rd Qualifying, I threw some more weight at the car and got into the show with a 10.03.

Saturday was Class Eliminations Day, with the first round of Eliminations also being the last round of Qualifying. A/NSS was the second largest class, and to win you had to win four rounds. I was Qualified at #32 with a 10.03 on a 10.00 Index — but I felt like I needed to win Class more than worry about improving my Qualifying position. I had Bud Cochran in the first round. He red lit, which was good for me as I shifted from 1st right to 3rd — missing the 2nd gear detent on my shifter.

My next round was against Mike Moss — one of the toughest there is. We pretty much left together and stayed with each other all of the way down the track — both lifting at the line and crossing it in a photo finish. My better light had him break out by just a hair more.

Of the three remaining for the third round, I'd had the best reaction time in the second round — and received the Bye. I managed to not blow up the car.

The final round had me matched up against Al Corda — about as tough as it gets. It was starting to cool down, so I took a little weight out of the car. Al had a better light, but I had started to pass him at the 1/8. I had a couple of feet on him at the 1000' and dragged the brake a little to just put a fender on him. I didn't see my win light — and started to wonder if I'd screwed up since his Dart has its front tires closer to the front of the car than on my Coronet — but I did win Class for A/NSS. Both races between Mile and Al were very close and exciting (at least to me) — and I slept well knowing I went up against to of the best and came out on top (for that day).

The Driver's Dinner had started by the time I parked the car and we made the golf cart ride to the tent where it was being held. It was another excellent Driver's Dinner with some cool swag being handed out. We were told that we had to be at the line by 8:15 Sunday morning for the Big Show. It was about midnight before the car was safely put away, and I hit the rack. I was up at 5:30 AM, but all for naught as the weather wasn't looking good. I put a charger on the car — but left it in the trailer. The rain finally hit at about 8AM, and it was noon before the first round. My poor qualifying position drew me the #3 Qualifier of Donnie Wilson — another tough NSS racer. Donnie got to leave a second earlier, and I left with my worst light of the week. I caught Donnie and thought I was going to breakout — and gave Donnie the stripe. Bad move on my part.

We were packed up, showered, and driving out the gate at 2:30PM. I drove as far as Hope, AR at midnight — and pulled over for a nap as I was dead tired. Up at 6:00 and on the road at 6:30 — I was back at the shop in Houston at 3PM, and by 5PM the car was unloaded, rig cleaned and parked, and I was plopped down in front of my computer to answer a week's worth of email.

There is a thread with the posting from quite a few NSS drivers at the Dave Duel Classic — along with 100+ photos.

That's my story — and I'm sticking to it.

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Hot Rod Reunion Bowling Green Recap

Dave Schultz

June 20, 2011

I’m giving this report, not because I was there, but because there was a thread on the NSS forum keeping people updated. All of the races are updated as they happen on the NSS forum.

Some of the first news received was that 00 Joe (who has been recovering from surgery and rehabilitation after a fall off the top of his motor home) was going to make his  comeback at this race. The the next bit of news was that Barry Camp had a wreck on a scooter (not sure who’s – as I’ve never seen him on one before) — and had to go to the hospital. When he returned, he looked rough and wasn’t planning on finishing the event.

Barry after his return from the hospital

39 Drivers showed, and qualified through the breaks of constant rain. The below is the Final Qualifying and the Eliminations Ladder.

a larger more readable version is on the forum link above

Because of the rains, 18 people headed back home thinking that there would not be an Eliminations rounds. They were wrong — making Eliminations “First Round Ugly” from all of the Byes. Fast forward to the finals, Barry Camp (who was convinced to stay and compete) and Clay Kossuth lined up, and both broke-out by the smallest amount — but Barry by a slightly lesser amount.

I guess it pays to stay. Congratulations Barry Camp.

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Yesterday, I made the first three hard passes on the Whale — each a little harder than the one before. I was shooting for the 10.0 Index for this first event (while I get use to the car, ensure nothing falls off a completely new car that has never been raced, and to break-in the motor), and felt like short-shifting it at 6500 would get me there.

The first pass was a Time Trial. The above photo is of that pass. I launched off the footbrake at 2500 and shifted at 6500. I have a lot of gear in the car — and the car started breaking up at the 1000′ when I hit 7000 RPM. I lifted enough to stay just under 7000 — which gave me a 10.6 at 120MPH. Despite a hard burnout to break in new slicks — I had a crappy 60′ at 1.47.

In the pits I find that the top end chip was a 7000 chip and so I changed that out to a 7500.

For my only qualifying run (I missed the first of two NSS was given), I lowered my launch to 2300 — and the wheels came up much higher with my 60′ improved slightly to 1.43. This time I shifted at 7000 (so I wouldn’t be crossing the line as such a high RPM), and did a 10.10 @ 133mph.

That made me #6 qualifier out of 14 racers in the event — and matched me against my son Dallas who was #9 on the ladder.

I lowered the launch still again to 2100 and the front end came up much higher (although it didn’t really carry them very far as it was out of the power band of the motor) and I again shifted at 7000. Dallas was the faster car and I was in the right lane — making it harder to see him coming up on me. I’ve had a terrible crick in my neck for the last couple of weeks, and can’t turn my head at all. I could hear Dallas coming up on me — but couldn’t look over my left shoulder to see him. He thought I was going to breakout (by more than I did, most likely because the difference in our lights — his not being the worse) and so he lifted.

I screwed up. I was a little distracted by a big cross wind gust that moved my car just past my clearing the stands, and I just couldn’t see where Dallas was. I honestly didn’t think I could break out, and so I didn’t drag my brakes. I gave him the round by breaking out by 2/100 second.

That’s my story — and I’m sticking to it.

All in all — I don’t think the car or I did too bad in our first three passes, especially considering I went a full second faster than I have in the last 18 months. To me — the difference between 11.0 in the Vitamin C, and 10.0 in a cross-wind with a wagon, is a big one.

The car feels good. I’m using Doug Duell’s old Dynamic convertor — but he sets his car up to launch at 1900 and shift at 6500 to achieve his 9.75 Index. Damon has the horsepower band in my engine in a higher RPM Range (it feels like it starts pulling hard at 5500 and is still pulling very hard when I’m shifting at 7000 — making me think that for the car to go as fast as its potential — it wants to shift at closer to 7500) — so I think I need to get a new convertor that flashes higher as my power is made higher.

I also need to experiment with shock settings, launch RPMs, and 4-link adjustments.

That said — I think I can right now consistently make the car dependably run 10.0s for the NMCA Points (not wearing stuff out as fast — plus the comfort of no neck brace, no net, no 3-ply suit, and an open helmet), but be able to turn up the wick for 9.5s-9.75s for non-points races that pay more for the FX classes.

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