WILD & WOOLY AT WENTZVILLE

Words and photos by Jeff Burk

A visit to Mid-America Raceways in Wentzville, Missouri is a trip back in time to when drag racing was easier to understand and much more exciting and entertaining. The pit area is a combination of grass or crushed rock with plenty of shade. The spectators sit in covered grandstands on both sides of the track with a concession stand on either side and when you attend one of the track's twice a year Nostalgia races you really feel like you've slipped into a time warp. The pits are full of jacked-up gassers and altereds with straight axles, front-motored blown dragsters, and Super Stockers from the Sixties. All classes run on a heads-up basis just as they should. It is drag racing the way it oughta' be.

At the second nostalgia race of the season the track owners and promoters decided to bring in race cars that fuel coupe fans from the Sixties and the Pro Mod fans of the Nineties would both like to watch. To do this track management got together with local legend and Nitro Coupe racer Bill Kuhlmann. Nitro Coupes are equal parts Pro Modified and 1960s Fuel Coupe, which is just what a nostalgia crowd is looking for. Kuhlmann was able to arrange for four of the nitro burning doorslammers to come to the historic track for a classic Sixties style match race.

Five nitro coupes showed up for the three day event. Super Chevy circuit regulars Kuhlmann, driving his 500+ cubic inch Fontana/Chevy-powered 'Vette, and Bill Hill, in a '69 Nova powered by a 500+ inch rat motor, both live in Missouri and call Mid-America their home track. Florida racer Mel Eaves in a Chevy powered 'Vette and Colorado racer Jim Nordhougen's '41 Willys with an all-aluminum Alan Johnson Olds under the hood were their opponents. Those four cars would run for the money. The fifth car was a brand new, all-steel '57 Shoebox from Dallas, Texas driven by Chuck Taylor and owned by Dave Wood. It had a Bill Kuhlmann-built Chevy wedge under the hood.

Despite typical Missouri summer weather consisting of equal parts extreme heat, humidity and intermitent rain showers, a decent crowd turned out to watch the nitro doorslammers race on Saturday and Sunday in between laps by nitro burning flathead dragsters, straight axled supercharged altereds, and gassers.

On Saturday, after a full day of nostalgia cars putting rubber on the track, it was time for the nitro coupes to make a lap. The racers and spectators were both a little nervous as the track had a reputation of being slick and bumpy. The track record for the Nostalgia Nationals was in the high six-second range at just over 205 mph by the nitro burning hemi-powered altered called Dawson's Demon. Also, this track is unique in that there is about a 30% downgrade just past the finish line and that little idiosyncrasy has bit more than one car at the old track.

Nordhougen in the Willys and Mel Eaves in his 'Vette made cautious passes to get a feel for the track, as did Jeff Lynn in his 3000 lb-plus '57. Hill and Kuhlmann tipped the can, adding the full 30% nitro allowed in the class to the alcohol and went for it in true Sixties style. Hill's Nova "black-tracked," spinning the tires from the starting line to the lights while recording a 7.0/199+ lap which edged out Kuhlmann's 'Vette by a couple of miles-per-hour for the top speed of the day and bragging rights. Kuhlmann fumed and claimed that he had hit a retard button instead of a leanout on the pass and vowed to get both ends of the track record the next day.

Sunday was just as hot and muggy as Saturday had been, but the nitro coupe racers didn't seem to mind and, in fact, were getting into the spirit of the event. First round was scheduled at 1:00 pm and by noon all of the Coupes were on the jack stands and warming the engines. The crowds that surrounded the nitro doorslammers while they were being warmed-up held their hands over their ears, had tears streaming down their cheeks, and big grins on their faces. Kuhlmann pulled to the line against the '41 Willys of Nordhougen. At the flash of green Kuhlmann's 'Vette left first with Nordhougen in hot pursuit.

At 300-ft the Willys started sashaying right and left, drifted out of the groove, spun the tires and put the engine rpm's on the limiter. Nordhougen wisely clicked it, but not before wounding the motor. In the other lane Kuhlmann lived up to his reputation and ripped off an astounding 6.476 seconds at 212.04 mph, shattering the existing track record by nearly two-tenths of a second, and he had the chute out early.

The second pairing saw Hill's Nova matched up against Mel Eaves' 'Vette. Both cars left the line and immediately started spinning the tires. Hill again ran a 190+ lap but Eaves was beginning to figure the track out and made a 6.90 lap at just under 200. The crew chief for Eaves had the 'Vette so fat that it put holes out all the way down track and ran that number on no more than seven cylinders.

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