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Papers > Sports > American Hot Rod Association AHRA History
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American Hot Rod Association AHRA History |
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"Constant headwinds ripping across the Kansas plains with gale proportions of 40 to 50-mph plagued the 200 drivers entered in the American Hot Rod Associations National Championship drag races at Great Bend over the Labor Day holidays. ... 5, 1956 (Lead paragraph of 1956 AHRA Nationals story.) It might be as corny as Kansas in August, but the old axiom, "From little acorns, do mighty oaks grow," applies in spades to the American Hot Rod Associations troubled birth and subsequent rise to prominence. AHRA was active for only 28 years, but in that time, the group contributed mightily to what we accept now as modern drag racing, especially modern pro drag racing. ... It was in the backroads and outbacks of smaller tracks that made up the AHRA circuit in the midwestern and southwestern reaches of the country in the 1960s through the early 1980s. AHRA was responsible for much significant drag racing history. It was AHRA that first provided a home for Top Fuel, ignoring the fuel ban of 1957 through 1963, and also giving the Funny Cars their first hot rod association abode. In fact, while it was not called such, AHRA also had the first Pro Stock class, a heads-up, ultimate-statement Super Stock eliminator in 1968. When AHRA introduced the Grand American Series of Professional Drag Racing in 1970, the sport was given its first year-long points chase that was paid off with a large season-end bonus check. In 1972, Don Garlits teamed with AHRA for the PRA National Challenge event in Tulsa, Okla. ... As can be seen, Garlits name initially gained much luster from his AHRA exploits as did those of Hall of Fame racers like Chris "the Greek" Karamesines, Art Malone, Bob Sullivan, Emery Cook, and Lyle Fisher. While racers like Don "the Snake" Prudhomme, Tom "the Mongoose" McEwen, Danny Ongais and Gene Snow had reputations before their AHRA days, they nonetheless added mightily to them based on their involvement with the Kansas-based organization. ... In 1984, the last year of AHRA, Force won the organizations and his first Funny Car world championship. Historically, given what happened outside its walls, if AHRA didnt exist, someone would have had to invent it. As could be guessed, AHRA stumbled awkwardly in its infancy, but its first national event fared better than its competitor, the National Hot Rod Associations National Championship drag races, a year earlier. ... The first AHRA Nationals competitors were blasted by headwinds that blustery weekend, so much so that fishtailing by the hot cars, i. ... Top speed at the AHRA event was a mere 125-mph by Jim Hopper in the Hopper-Hensley Spl. ... The winner was Bobby Joe Rutledge in the San Antonio, Texas-based "Poor Boys" hot rod club A / Modified Roadster and he never ran faster than 122. ... All in all, not much of an auspicious debut, but events leading to the first AHRA Nationals seemed to indicate that the little organization would be around for awhile. AHRA did last well past the original Aug. ... 27-30, 1984 when their last national event, the AHRA World Finals, was completed at Eunice, Louisiana. AHRA, founded in 1955, really emerged on the scene in March of 1956 when an amalgamation of hot rod clubs from Kansas to Pennsylvania met in Great Bend to produce the countrys "only democratic national hot rod organization. ... It was also announced that AHRA would hold its National Championship drags at the 8,000-foot long Great Bend site through 1959. ... By the time of the 1960 AHRA National Championship drag races, the event had become one of the bigger drag races in the country. |
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Title: American Hot Rod Association AHRA History
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