Comment:

To anyone on the outside of the world of old modifieds, that car probably looks kind of ratty. But, to us it's a work of art.

Bill Katinowsky

Loved this car.  You are right, it looked fast and was fast.  I remember twice, Stan was leading in this car at Reading, only to have problems,  One was the 70 or 71 opener.  He had a whole front stretch lead on eventual winner, Bobby Gerhart, only to drop out with a few laps to go.  Also a few weeks later, he took the lead in the feature coming out of the 4^th turn (shot out of a big pack) then slowed and took a left turn into the pit entrance, finished for the night.

I too recall Stan in the 707 at Reading dominating stacked heats and then in the feature walking away only to dnf. More than once.

When Deasey bought the SOHC from Prudomme and put it in the Donkey the story I heard about the reliability issue was rear ends.  I was a teen in the stands when Chamberlain was at the keyboard of the Donkey.  The car either ran away and hid or DNFd.  Every DNF was followed by a rumor that the lower shaft, the input shaft to the spur gears, would twist off at the input splines (where the drive shaft connected to the rear) due to the high torque of essentially a drag race engine and the tacky Reading surface, clay you were always hooked up on.  (Another problem was overheating.  More than once they took the car from the track and ran a garden hose over the radiator to cool the thing down, an activity I saw because I always went into the pits after the show.) 

My experience during my time in sprints was the same.  I ran Winters rears (I believe Franklins were popular at Reading), but the designs are not that much different.  I twisted off more than one input spline in my 360 car. 1960s modifieds did not have the tire technology I had, I was far better hooked up.  That said I did not have 400+ CID so when push comes to shove the higher torque of the modified made up for the lack of traction and could have broken the shaft.  Plus, if the car spins the tires and then suddenly hooks up, runs over a rut, bounces off another competitor's tire the shock to the drivetrain can make bad things happen.  Make sense?  You should hear the driveshaft rattle inside the torque tube when the thing breaks. 

Again, I was not directly involved at that time, my time came later (I was not old enough for pit insurance) but that is the reason I heard.  I bet Russ Dodge knows the real skinny. 

But hey, this is bench racing and a good story is as good as the truth when you're sitting on the work bench drinking Budweiser.  From a guy stuck in the South where they race "taxi cabs", I hope y'all enjoy the racing this season.  Take it from me, there is nothing better than NE open wheel racing.