Hey Hemmings, WAKE UP AND SMELL THE RUBBER!!!!!!!!!!! Just got my March issue of Hemmings Muscle Machine's, and in this current issue they have coverage of the E-town F.A.S.T. Race. The HUGE news flash on the front cover is of course Wayne's incredible new low E.T. of 10.59, which is worthy of front page new's. What my complaint is with Hemmings is their total lack of making it very clear the difference between a F.A.S.T car, and a PURE STOCK MUSCLECAR Plus, they go out of their way to discredit a guy with a Pure Stock car that not only run's FANTASTIC, but is also the quickest Pure Stock car to compete at any event to date! Here is the quote these yo-yo's put into print, "A Corvette similar to Nelson's could only muster an 11.58 E.T." The car they are referring to is Jimmy Johnstons Cortez Silver L-88 Vette. Similar , in the respect that they are both built by Chevrolet, both are 1969 vintage, both made of Fiberglass, both have Corvette emblem's, both are L-88 clone's. Disimilar , in the respect that one has over 500 cubic inches, mega compression, a th350 auto trans, while the other is a certified stock 427 cube with legal compression, and a 4spd manual trans. Yeah Hemmings, I guess you could call them similar ou: Hemmings, why don't you try to go out of your way to give credit where credit is due :Smarty: :moonu: Boy Jimmy, that must suck to have the quickest Pure Stock car in the world that can ONLY muster an 11.58 Wish all my car's would have been as much of a HOG as your's :3gears: This kind of BS is the answer to the question many F.A.S.T. organizer's have asked as far as why so many Pure Stocker's don't greet F.A.S.T. car's with open arm's. Every single one of us that builds cars for these type of races do it for the same reason, RECOGNITION. In a write up about Stanton PSMCDR, Jimmy's Corvette would get proper ink praising him for being LOW E.T. with a blistering 11.58!!!! :eek2: , not this slap in the face Hemmings wrote.
What a slap to the face. I'd like to see one of those yahoo's build something that would run as fast :rant: I hope someone email's them this thread to read.And if they do this is for them :moonu:
There were two types of cars at E-Town according to Hemmings. F.A.S.T. ...... and Stock Appearing No mention at all that they were actually Pure Stockers, NOT Stock Appearing ........ ou:
I think that the rules are looser at Gonzo's race, therefore he does not use the "Pure Stock" label..........
Comparison..... Tom I agree,Hemmings needs to get the facts correct!Jimmys car is far more impressive in my opinion.Not only is it the fastest Pure Stocker on earth,he has one of the nicest restored Vettes I've seen!I'm amazed at how little ink he gets with that car,considering what it accomplishes every time it races!!11.58 for Gods sake!! His car should of made the cover,with COPO Pete of course! My 2 cents... :TU:
Wayne,Hope you didn't read what I said wrong I wasn't trying to take ANYTHING away from what you've accomplished with your car Wayne, hope you didn't take what I said as a put down towards you or your awesome car :TU: What I find hard to believe is how anyone could make out an 11.58 second pass down the 1/4 in a Pure Stock car to be lackluster performance ou: Maybe I'm being too harsh on Hemmings? Maybe they are only reporting the result's without knowing all the facts? Maybe this is a prime example of why in all these races we attend, there should be just two different classes, with two seperate set's of rule's, that way we don't end up with some kind of a rulebook soup where you have a different set of rules for every different race, which make it both confusing for fan's to follow, as well as magazine editor's. In my opinion, there should be two set's of rules. 1) F.A.S.T. rules, which have been established and in effect for a few years and 2)Pure Stock rules, which have been established and in effect for several years now. Done this way, you don't end up with some piss-poor coverage and incorrect classification of a Pure Stock car as stock appearing ou: ou: F.A.S.T. is Stock Appearing Pure Stock is, well, Pure Stock! There should be no confusing of the two!!!!!!!
I thought the Hemmings coverage was good for anybody that is interested in bringing his old muscle car out of the garage, and seeing that he can have some fun with it. The trailer queens are now getting to see that there are other ways to enjoy their cars and that alot of guys are doing it. To that end, we will all see more cars at these types of events. And that is a good thing. As a national magazine you can only supply 4 -6 pages of material for any one article before you lose the interest of the average reader or look like you are favoring any one event and or subject. Out of the 100,000 readers to the magazine, maybe 150 are REALLY interested in participating in these types of events. So I know we all are fanatics but, we are a small group of fanatics. You want 100% coverage for every car listed, complete with the best pictures ever made along with complete, consise, set of rules explained??......start your own magazine. ou: Jimmy and C.O.P.O. Pete did very well and have excellent rides. They are welcome anytime as far as I am concerned. As well as any "Pure Stockers". Was the coverage adequate for their cars?? Probably not, I am sorry, but the BIG news was Wayne's ET. Especially when running races of 2 different classes together, one faster then the other. Sorry but thats the facts. As far as different rules and events. PLEASE give the BS a rest. I am doing this because I want guys to come out and have a good time with their cars. PERIOD. When I first wanted to put on this race I asked Dan if he would like to put on a race on the east coast, he said he was tied up and its so much work that he couldn't possibly get involved. I understand completely. I have nothing but admiration for the organizers of the "Pure Stock" drags. So I asked the F.A.S.T group about doing the same thing, holding an east coast race. Same response. I also understand. What did this mean. NO RACING for us East coasters. I don't think so. uzzled: SO I started my own event, which for a while couldnt be called "F.A.S.T or Pure Stock" because apparently some of YOU didn't want me to. The names/rules were taken. So I danced around the name and rule issue for a couple of years, and finally decided, It was more important to put on a event for guys who are into having fun with their cars and not into "you can't say this, because I said it first" " nah nah, nu nah, nah". :ball: SO started my own event with the adopted F.A.S.T rules, because I think F.A.S.T. makes the most sense...you are allowed to cheat! Its the racers dream class!!...just look stock. I believe this to be the most HONEST of the events out there. And it will probably always get the most coverage by magazines. Thats okay by me. Sorry you don't like it. Lets see... call the other half of the event Factory Stock?.....wait some of you complained about that! :ball: How about "stock" nope more complaints. :ball: How about "maybe once stock"?? :ball: No Good either...How about "I'll tell you its Stock but I'm lying"? Nope, that one hits home to easily ......HMMMM...How about "Stock Appearing"?? good finally learned my lesson and trademarked the name, along with some others so I don't have to deal with other peoples issues. Geez all this just to put on an event!!! And guess what? I could then tailor the rules in "Stock Appearing" more towards the average guy with a almost stock muscle car. Donny is correct in his reply. I am a little more liberal, in most instances. So now a few years later I get coverage somewhere, after you guys have gotten coverage for YEARS on end....and have endlessly complained about coverage in EVERY magazine that has bothered to go to your event?! Geez...NOW you want one set of rules and one name huh? p Funny how things change. Now a "Pure Stocker" should be on the cover as well I guess? BE Happy with what you get. And hope it comes out fairly accurate. The message is :ITS A GOOD TIME at these events. Not a long boring history lesson like this response is. Nobody is interested in reading that. I am happy the guys who participated in the event I held for them got some ink. They deserve it. Will every article be perfect, of course not. But I don't care. As far as I am concerned more people will see what fun can be had with these cars instead of watching then go by the auction block on Barrett Jackson and sit in the garage of some rich turd. If more of them show up at the Pure Stock drags GREAT, If more of them become F.A.S.T class cars, and go only to midwest events ...GREAT! If I get more at the events I hold then GREAT, I am looking forward to the season and getting to meet even more guys and see even more cool cars. :beer
Gonzo: I have NO problem with the way you're running your race and for that matter Wayne's race in Tulsa, too. I've always felt there's room for more than one type of car and set of rules. Lots of cars get excluded for minor differences that get played up way too much on our cars. I won't elaborate.....again. :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: Keep it up and hopefully I'll get out East to one of these races at E town or Lebanon. This type of racing is spreading out from then centroid here in Michigan in not only the Stock (Pure, Appearing, or otherwaise), but the regular type racing. With the gloomy financial outlook for this state and the auto industry in general, I think that'll be accelerated in the very near future. We're having 2 Oldsmobile races further West this year (Eddyville, Iowa). I'll keep my car Pure Stock, but it's not the only car I have. :Brow: :TU:
I know Dave, Thanks. Cool on the Oldsmobile races. More power to ya man. Lets get em' out of the garages. :TU:
To each his own Bill, congrats with the success of your event. kudos to you :TU: But, The point of this post was that an excellent running car was made out to be an Ill performing turd, due to the name of the class it ran in. That piece may as well have read, "As the sluggish silver Corvette coughed and sputtered down the track with a cloud of blue smoke trailing behind it, the driver feverishly granny-shifted the pile,which could only muster an 11.58 F.A.S.T. is Stock Appearing to most people Pure Stock is not stock appearing to most people, at least not those who have been involved in this stuff for many years. I understand that you had to do some tip-toeing around to come up with a name you could copyright, but it obviously has and does create some confusion. Hemmings is confused, and I know that to the casual and maybe potential newcomer, it can be confusing as well. Maybe as time goes on, something can be done in the future to make things a little clearer to limit the confusion so this type of thing doesn't happen again, or at least try? I wish you continued success with your event, but I personally will not spend tens upon thousands of dollars building Pure Stock car's, only to have a confused magazine writer make my car out to be a turd. :bglasses:
Tom, I am not sure where this is coming from. the only reference to Jim's car is one sentence "A Corvette similar to Nelson's could only muster an 11.58 ET" Nothing else is said period. Except for Jim's car showing up FIRST in the "Stock Appearing" class section. Although Jim is a Pure Stock racer at times, he was here at this event and the name of the class is "Stock Appearing" so there is no fault of the magazine, they got it correct. Thats the event and thats the class he was in. Its not the Pure Stock drags, so why would they mention it? The name stays for now, and it has not created any confusion to anyone who was there. In fact Jim and Pete's cars got carte blanche. I made sure they were interviewed on camera for the DVD and that all of the photographers paid close attention to them. They were treated as best I could treat them, just like anybody else. You can't please everyone, and there's always somebody with a gripe. But I don't worry about that, if most people who came had a good time wringing out their cars, then thats my goal.
That magazine is a joke,just like Hot Rod. they don't do any real stories,just BS promoting. i wonder when we'll be seeing big Year One stickers on the windshields of the FAST cars?
Sounds to me like they are saying "What a POS" because it was suppose to go faster in their minds. o No: Wonder what they would have said about me only running a 13.99 in my stock GS400 on street tires. ou: That being said you put on an awesome event and I will be there again this year. :TU: :TU:
Delete the part about "only mustering a 11.58" and then the Hemmings article is very good.You simply cannot compare timeslips from one class to another.It just gets too confusing.......Enough on a magazine mistake....Those east coast races are a blast! I suggest anyone on this site try to make it to one!! Bill does a great job with his event,and I'm looking forward to the next "east coast" trip!!
Where am I coming from??? Bill, How do you read that sentence? Do you agree with that sentence? Do you feel that an 11.58 pass from a 427 inch Pure Stock car should be called Anything but incredible,awesome,blistering? Could ONLY Muster ???????? ou: They could, and should have written, " A Corvette similar to Nelson's, was the L-88 Pure Stocker of Jimmy Johnston, which turned in similar outstanding performance, for the class it was running in , by running a HOT 11.58" I guess maybe I'm confused o No: If you can't use the F.A.S.T name due to copyrights, what were the race classes at this event? Looking through the magazine again, I see F.A.S.T., and Stock Appearing? If Wayne was top dog in F.A.S.T at this event, then why wouldn't the writer make clear that Jimmy was top dog in Stock Appearing? No, "Could only muster an 11.58" ou: ou: ou: ou: There was only one sentence written about Jimmy's car, and they shouldn't have said anything if that was the best they could do. And your right, nothing else was said about his car ANYWHERE else, not even in the top ten list where they show his car a 1969 ZL-1 Camaro ou: Wayne is right, enough about a magazine mistake. Now we just need to concentrate on a couple little changes to seperate the two classes so there is NO confusion, and NO more magazine mistakes. F.A.S.T. is Stock Appearing Stock Appearing is not Pure Stock! Maybe since you can't use the name"pure stock" something more along the lines of "show room stock" would be better affixed to the pure stockers, or just simply drop the "appearing" part, and call them "stock" or re-name that class "stock musclecar" F.A.S.T. is Stock Appearing, alway's has been, alway's will be. Pure stock,bone stock,virgin stock,show room stock, stock musclecar, are all better names for stock class, I.M.O. :bglasses:
I agree completely.. And I am willing to pay a higher entry fee if we can get the track all to ourselves or make it a 2 day event. I think after the showing we had this year we can swing it. :TU:
Gonz, If it is F.A.S.T. and Stock Appearing ..... then why does the trophy that was posted say F.A.S.T. and F/S (Factory Stock) ? That just adds to the confusion. And I do take umbrage to the comment in the article that says ... and I quote: "In about 2000, Gannon says the Factory Stock Muscle Car event in Ohio captured his interest. I followed this very closely and spoke with the organizer on running my own Pontiac Ram Air IV GTOs. This then became the Pure Stock Drags." Sorry Gonzo, but the Pure Stock Drags (PSMCDR) has been going on since 1996 officially, and from 1994-1995 without a "title". The Factory Stock Drags was an offshoot of the PSMCDR, not the other way around. And Brad Rising will be the first to tell you that.
Do you guys ever have a good time??? Stop it already! Yes there were mis-quotes, and anything I did say was not in an interview format. They did take alot of stuff they heard I guess and made an article about the event. I know there is mistake in the Pure Stock time-line of things. But please, The Magazine did a good job promoting the HOBBY we are all in. Was the coverage Fair to everyone, no but it can never be. I am already getting nonsense about "looks like you guys are Hemmings and we are Muscle Car Enthusiast" emails. I Don't care about that, thats stupid thinking, I am an organizer trying to present to people a place to have some fun and good times. You want to nit-pick....OK great spend your time doing that. Sorry the name stays period. Anybody who wants to leave their gripes and ego at the door, come on down to E-Town.
