(13.22 @ 106.24)
WINTERNATIONALS – Pomona, CA – February 20 – Shirley and H.L. Shahan dominated the 66 Winters headlines – She won Top Stock, the first Woman to do so – defeating some of the best drivers in drag racing.
Shirley Shahan – First woman to win a Eliminations title, in her 65 A990 Race Hemi Plymouth.
SPRINGNATIONALS – Bristol, TN – June 5
The SpringNats was again in Bristol, Tennessee. It was the scene of the first XS (Experimental Stock) run offs. FX participation was poor – no entrants in A/FX and one in C/FX. To compensate, a big field of stockers took advantage of ideal weather to put on a great show.
Spring Nationals results
Staging lanes for 66 Springnationals. Jenkins in the candy striped 327 A/Stock Chevy II, Ulrey Bros in the big white A/Stock 64 Galaxy, Stahle’s white 66 A/Stock street hemi Plymouth, Joe Smith’s black 65 RO1 S/S Plymouth,Gary Olster’s A/SA ‘One Step Beyond’ 63 Plymouth to name a few….
Al Olster – 63 Plymouth – Runner up A/SA Spring Nationals – The Xmas tree was not his friend and he red lighted.
NATIONALS – Indianapolis, IN – September 5 – The 12th Annual U.S. Nationals was drag racing’s premier event and that year it ballooned to over 1,300 drag participants, showing up for the chance to win at one of only 89 categories. The ’66 Nationals was so massive that it took a crew of over 200 just to run the event, and the spectators topped over 170,000 that year.
Indy Nationals results
(S/S Ed Miller should read 65 Plymouth)
Jere Stahl (far lane) about to pull Bill Jenkins house down (again) for the 66 Top Stock Nats title. Stahl performed the remarkable feat of winning three Nationals Top Stock Eliminator titles in a row. Ironically, all three were in his Stock class 66 426 ‘Street Hemi’ Plymouth….not one of the much faster 1965 factory lightweight ‘Race Hemi’ superstockers.
Dave Kempton – 62 361/305hp Plymouth – winner Jr Stock, Indy Nats.
WORLD FINALS – October 30 – Held again at Tulsa, Oaklahoma, the WF saw the best 8 drivers from each class race off for big cash prizes. None of the factory lightweight ‘race specials’ took the podium.
Loyed Woodland competing in his C/Stock Olds 442, 400cui/360hp W30 cold air package Oldsmobile. (Bill Abraham in Ole Whitey in the background)
CAR & DRIVER NOTES
FACTORING –
The re-factored 65 Race Hemis retained their re-rated 500hp. On the back of this, the new ‘Street Hemi’ was almost automatically re-factored:
- 66 426cui/425hp Street Hemi – Re-factored to 480hp.
- 65 Race Hemi and 64 T- Bolt were still banned under the 8lb rule.
- 64 LW Galaxie still factored at 500hp
1966 NHRA TOP STOCK ELIMINATION CARS
Re-Factored hp in brackets.
Pwr/Weight factor listed – Weight listed last
All Mopar crossram unless stated.
S/S – 0-6.99
- 65 426/425hp 8V A990 Race Hemi LW (Milled steel, cold air) Hemi Dodge/Plymouth, (500hp) – 6.82 – 3410
A/S – 7-8.69
- 64 427/425hp 8V Hi riser Galaxie 500 ‘Lightweight’ (Cold air) (500hp) 7.50 – 3749
- 63 426/425hp 8V Alloy Maxwedge Plym Savoy 2dr sed. (Cold air)- 7.54 – 3204
- 62 413/420hp 8V Steel Maxwedge Plymouth Savoy – 7.58. – 3184
- 66 426/425hp 8V in line Street Hemi Plym Belv I 2dr sed(480hp)- 7.58 – 3638
- 63 426/425hp 8V Alloy Maxwedge Dodge 330 2dr sed (Cold air)- 7.60 – 3230
- 63 426/425hp 8V Alloy Maxwedge Dodge 330 Wagon 6p (Cold air)- 7.60 – 3489
- 64 426/425hp 8V Alloy Maxwedge 2dr Plym Savoy sed (Cold air) – 7.61 – 3234
- 66 426/425hp 8V in-line St Hemi Dodge Coronet Deluxe 2dr sed (480HP) – 7.63 – 3663
- 64 426/425hp 8V Alloy Maxwedge 2dr Plym Belv sedans (Cold air)- 7.64 – 3230
- 64 426/425hp 8V Alloy Maxwedge 2dr Plym Belv Htop (Cold air) – 7.64 – 3247
- 64 426/425hp 8V Alloy Maxwedge 2dr Dodge 330 sed (Cold air) – 7.64 – 3247
- 66 426/425hp 8V in-line St Hemi Plym Belv Htop (480hp) – 7.65 – 3672
- 64 426/425hp 8V Alloy Maxwedge 2dr Dodge 440 Htop (Cold air)- 7.67 – 3259
- 66 426/425hp 8V in-line St Hemi Coronet H/top (Flat hood) (480hp) – 7.68 – 3676
- 63 426/415hp 8V Alloy Maxwedge Plym Savoy 2dr sed (Cold air)- 7.73 – 3207
- 65 427/425hp 8V med riser Ford Custom 2dr sedan (460hp) – 7.74- 3560
- 63 426/415hp 8V Alloy Maxwedge Dodge 330 2dr sed (Cold air)- 7.79 – 3232
- 64 426/425hp 8V Steel Maxwedge 2dr Plym Savoy sed – 7.79 – 3310
- 62 413/420hp 8V Steel Maxwedge Dodge Dart – 7.80 – 3276
- 63 426/425hp 8V Steel Maxwedge Plymouth Savoy 2dr sedan- 7.84 – 3333
- 63 426/425hp 8V Steel Maxwedge Dodge 330 2dr sedan- 7.90 – 3357
- 63 426/425hp 8V Steel Maxwedge Dodge 330 Wagon 6p – 7.90- 3357
- 63 427/430hp 8V Chevrolet Impala LW Z11 – 7.90 (Not legal) -3397
- 65 427/425hp 8V med riser Ford Galaxie 2dr H/top (460hp) – 7.91- 3638
- 64 426/425hp 8V Steel Maxwedge 2dr Plym Belv sedans – 8.01 – 3404
- 64 426/425hp 8V Steel Maxwedge 2dr Plym Belv Htop – 8.01 – 3404
- 63 426/415hp 8V Steel Maxwedge PlymSavoy 2dr sedan – 8.03 – 3332
- 64 426/425hp 8V Steel Maxwedge 2dr Dodge 330 sedans – 8.07 – 3349
- 66 327/350hp 4V 2ds Chevy II 100 – 8.07 – 2824
- 63 426/415hp 8V Steel Maxwedge Dodge 330 2dr sedan- 8.09 – 3357
- 66 427/425hp 8V med riser Galaxie custom (460hp) – 8.09 – 3722
- 64 426/425hp 8V Steel Maxwedge 2dr Dodge 440 Htop – 8.11 3259
- 66/67 426/425hp 8V Street Hemi Dodge Charger 2dr fastback (480hp) – 8.13 – 3904
- 65 427/425hp 8V med riser Ford LTD 2dr H/top (460hp)- 8.15- 3749
- 64 426/415hp 8V Steel Maxwedge 2dr Plym Savoy sedans – 8.18 – 3332
- 64 426/415hp 8V Steel Maxwedge 2dr Plym Belv Htop – 8.20 – 3403
- 63 426/425hp 8V Alloy Maxwedge Plym Belv Wagon (Cold air) 6p – 8.20 – 3485
- 66 327/350hp 4V Nova L79 Hardtop – 8.22 – 2877
- 65 427/425hp 8V med riser Ford Galaxie XL 2dr h/top (460hp)- 8.23 – 3786
- 66 427 /425hp 8V med riser Galaxie H/top (460hp) – 8.25 – 3796
- 64 426/415hp 8V Steel Maxwedge 2dr Dodge 330 sedans – 8.27 – 3432
- 64 426/415hp 8V Steel Maxwedge 2dr Plym Belv sedans – 8.30 – 3445
- 64 426/415hp 8V Steel Maxwedge 2dr Dodge 440 Htop – 8.31 – 3448
- 65 427/425hp 8V med riser Ford LTD 4dr H/top (460hp) – 8.35 – 3841
- 63 426/425hp 8V Alloy Maxwedge Plym Belv Wagon 9p (Cold air)- 8.35 – 3548
- 65 427/425hp 8V Lo riser Ford Custom 2dr sedan – 8.38 – 3561
- 65 427/425hp 8V med riser Ford Custom 2dr sedan (465hp) – 8.38 – 3897
- 63 426/425hp 8V Steel Maxwedge Plymouth Belv Wagon 6p – 8.49 – 3608
- 66 427/425hp 8V med Ford LTD – 2dr H/top (460hp) – 8.49 – 3906
- 63 426/425hp 8V Steel Maxwedge Dodge 330 Wagon 6p – 8.51 3574
- 65 427/425hp 8V Lo riser Ford Galaxie 2h/top – 8.56 3638
- 66 427/425hp 8V med riser LTD 4dr H/top(460hp) – 8.59 – 3952
- 63 426/425hp 8V Steel Maxwedge Plymouth Belv Wagon 9p – 8.64 – 3672
- 66 427/425hp 8V med riser Ford Galaxie 500 Convert (460hp) – 8.65 – 3979
B/S – 8.7- 9.49
- 63 426/415hp 8V Steel Maxwedge Plymouth Belv Wagon 6p – 8.70 – 3610
- 63 426/415hp 8V Steel Maxwedge Dodge 330 Wagon 6p – 8.71 – 3754
- 62 413/410hp 8V Steel Maxwedge Dodge 330 Wagon 9p – 8.75 – 3587
- 66 427/425hp 8V med riser Ford Galaxie XL Vert – (465hp) – 8.75 – 4068
- 66 327/350hp 4V Chevy II wagon – 8.75- 3062
- 66 427/425hp 4V Chev Biscayne – 8.76 – 3723
- 62 409/409 8V Chev Biscayne 2dr sedan – 8.79 – 3595
- 62 409/409hp 8V Chev Belair 2dr bubbletop – 8.81 – 3603
- 65 427/425hp 8V Lo riser Gal LTD 2ht – 8.82 3748
- 63 426/415hp 8V Steel Maxwedge Plymouth Belv Wagon 9p – 8.85 – 3672
- 65 427/425hp 8V Lo riser Ford Galaxie XL 2dr h/top – 8.91 – 3786
- 65 396/375hp 4V Z16 Chevy Malibu stick – 8.93- 3350
- 66 396/375hp 4V Chevelle stick – 8.99 – 3372
- 63 427/425hp 8V lo riser Galaxie 2ht – 9.02 – 3833
- 63 427/425hp 8V Ford Galaxie Custom 2d sedan – 9.03 – 3837
- 65 427/425hp 8V Lo riser LTD 4h/top – 9.04 – 3842
- 62 421/405hp 8V Pontiac Super Duty LW – 9.05 (No 63s, build #s) – 3665
- 62 406/405hp 3x2V Ford Galaxie 2dr sedan- 9.07 – 3673
- 65 409/409hp 4V Chevrolet Biscayne – 9.14- 3740
- 65 409/400hp 4V L31 Chevrolet Biscayne – 9.35 – 3740
- 66 396/360hp 4V Chevelle stick – 9.36 – 3372
- 64 427/425hp 8V lo riser Gal Custom 2dr sed -9.41 -3999
- 64 427/425hp 8V lo riser Custom 500 2dr sed 9.44- 4016
C/S – 9.5- 10.59
- 64 427/425hp 8V lo riser Galaxie 500 2dr sed – 9.50- 4038
- 63 406/405hp 3x2V Galaxie – 9.51 – 3851
- 63 427/410hp 4V lo riser Galaxie – 9.52 – 3903
- 64 427/425hp 8V lo riser Galaxie 500 H/Top – 9.52 – 4046
- 62 383/343hp 8V in line Plym Belvedere – 9.54 – 3272
- 66 389/360hp 3x2V GTO Tri power RA1 (Ram air) – 9.57 – 3444
- 66 400/360hp 3x2V Oldsmobile 442 W30 (Ram air)- 9.59 – 3452 (Pomona only)
- 64 427/425hp 8V lo riser Galaxie 500 XL 2dr H/top – 9.61- 4084
- 62 383/343hp 8V in line Dodge Polara 2dr sed – 9.66 – 3087
- 64 427/410hp 4V lo riser Gal Custom 2dr sed – 9.75-3999
- 64 427/410hp 4V lo riser Gal Custom 500 2dr sed- 9.79 – 4016
- 66 400/350hp 4V Oldsmobile 442 – 9.86- 3452
- 66 400/350hp 3x2V Oldsmobile 442 – 9.86- 3452
- 64 427/410hp 4V lo riser Galaxie 500 2dr H/top – 9.87 – 4046
- 66 390/335hp 4V Mercury Cyclone GT Hardtop – 9.89 – 3315
- 62 361/ 305hp 4V Fury/Belv/Savoy/Dart/330/440 – 10.35 – 3156
D/S – 10.6-11.29
- 62 389/363hp 3x2V Pontiac Catalina – 10.60 – 3847
- 65 289/271hp 4V HiPo Mustang – 10.60 – 2872
- 60 389/363hp 3x2V Pontiac – 10.60 – 3848
- 65 383/330hp – 4V Plym Satellite – 10.62 – 3504
- 65 289/271hp Mercury Comet 2dr sed – 10.62 – 2878
- 61 361/305hp 4V Plymouth Fury – 10.71 – 3267
- 66 390/335hp 4V Mercury Cyclone GT Convertible- 10.90 – 3652
- 61 283/270hp 8V Corvette – 10.76 – 2905
DISQUALIFICATIONS
INDY – The Stock Automatic classes saw a bunch of disquals at Indy. D, E, G, H and I/Stock Automatic along with C/Stock, J/S and L/S.
POMONA – The C/Stock 66 GTOs got canned from the Winter Nationals due to slow submission of Ram Air tech papers.
DRIVERS
Ed Terry – Most recent publications acknowledge Terry as the winner of C/FX at the Winters. There is a results sheet from 1966 however, that lists Sush Matsubara in a 64 Chev as the winner.
Bill Jenkins – red lighted twice against Stahl…one in a class trophy run and at the Indy Nats.
Les Ritchey – Sadly, the sport lost one of it’s best known and enduring racers & engine builders in 66. Les Ritchey was a member of Ford’s ‘Drag Team’ and was a loyal Ford racer.
At Fontana, California, his FX standard wheelbase Mustang suffered a mechanical failure (believed to be a seized diff) and swerved off the track.
His car overturned, Ritchey was inexplicably thrown clear and was decapitated by the ‘safety wire’ fence in use at the track.
Les Ritchey’s 427 SOHC Mustang.
Shirley Shahan– Shirley and H.L. Shahan had been travelling the miles and working hard in Junior Stock, prior to the team being granted the chance to run a 65 Race Hemi Plymouth. It was a masterful choice…Shirley’s rock steady nerves minimizing the possibility of ‘blowing the tires off’ at launch. This saw her become the first female Top Stock winner at the 66 Winters.
Arlen Vanke – Vanke let his talent do the talking …the best performer in the Factory Stock A/Stock class for the 66 NHRA year.
He prepared and took five cars to Bristol and his team won in four classes, Abraham won B/Stock (Plymouth), Vanke won C/Stock (Pontiac), A/Stock Auto (Plymouth) and Jr Eliminator in his Pontiac C/Stock car. He declares his “final moment of glory” to have occurred there. He remembers qualifying for the stock eliminator run with a time of 12.22 seconds, the next closest time having been 12.72 – – not even close by drag race standards.
Bill Jenkins – Chrysler also had a wealth of driver talent, so Grumpy Jenkins walked when he read his contract offer. To really rub salt into the wounds..the Street Hemi was released, and Jenkins promptly became Mopar’s punk, losing 2 class trophy runs and 2 Eliminator finals in his little 327 Chevy 11 during NHRA 66 season to the Street Hemi.
Jere Stahl – Stahl proved the Street Hemi’s worth by winning three consecutive Top Stock Eliminator titles. A ‘thinking ‘ racer…Stahle devised some very efficient headers and developed drag tires to improve the heavy hitting Mopars launches.
The razor-sharp Jere Stahl…one of the great minds of Stock drag racing.
Ed Miller & Joe Smith – Both drivers loomed large in 66 as masterful drivers of the 65 Race Hemi Plymouths, Miller winning two and Smith three S/S and S/SA class titles. More was to come in 67.
The Factories
1966 was kind of a ‘lay day’ for Super Stock class while Factory Experimental (FX) class had it’s last hurrah at Bristol. Nothing as radical as the A990 Race Hemis were tabled for S/S by the factories. In fact Chrysler had no new product for S/S…..their 65 Race Hemis would go round again.
Ford released a lightweight Fairlane with a 427cui side oiler wedge which ran a lightweight fibreglass hood. It was targeted at S/S but the ‘no plastic’ rule caused a problem with Stock Class rules…it ended up in FX.
GM continued their abstinence from S/S factory entries however the ‘new’ L72 427cui MkIV ‘Semi Hemi’ was released making for strong private Stock Eliminator contenders….although the 396cui/375hp Chevelle (Tom Kerr – 12.33 @14.21) took B/Stock honors at Indy.
Chrysler also released the 426 cui ‘Street Hemi’..(with iron heads, smaller cam, iron intake and 10.8:1 compression), which went into mass production……a de-tuned version of the Race Hemi that was dominating S/S. The ‘Street Hemi’ qualified for A/Stock in Stock Eliminator in Belvederes and Satellites.
CHRYSLER
Plymouth – Won 6 out of 10 SuperStock classes at the 66 Springnats and again at the US Nationals.
65 Dodge WO1 & Plymouth RO1 A990 lightweights– Come 1966 and Chrysler decided there would be no new model run for the Race Hemi A990 cars which had already proved unbeatable in S/S class – so the 65 cars would have to go around again.
66 ‘Street Hemi’ – There was the new 66 ‘Street Hemi’ Satellite and Coronet however..a revised de-tuned version of the Race Hemi…and these motors gave Mopar a crucial edge in the new styled 66 cars in the Factory A/S and A/SA stock classes.
Mary Anne Foss (now Jackson) served her dues running a 58 Pontiac in Jr Stock. She was a dangerous opponent behind the wheel of a 65 426 Race Hemi!
GENERAL MOTORS
The factory cold air induction and improved valve springs made the GM cars hard to toss in the upper Junior stock stick classes. The lack of a decent auto trans meant very little – GM product still raced the upper Stock Auto classes.
PONTIAC – The 66 389 Tri Power GTO proved a tough cookie to beat in Vanke and Abraham’s hands throughout the year…and especially at the SpringNats.
OLDSMOBILE – The dogfight for C/Stock between Pontiac, Mercury and Olds at Indy ended up with an Olds 4-4-2 W30 on the podium….although there was some question as to the legality of the factory cold air induction being registered with the NHRA.
Loyed Woodland claiming his C/Stock trophy at the US Nationals – The actual winner was DQ’d so Woodland claimed the trophy.
CHEVROLET –While the L72 427 Biscayne’s strong showing at the Winternationals had everyone thinking this was the motor to run – the lighter Z16 396 Chevelles held sway at Indy, with Tom Kerr winning B/Stock in his 396 Malibu and Wally Booth as runner up.
Cossey’s Biscayne defeated Ron Skelton’s 62 Chev 409 to win B/Stock, and Bob Chiesa’s 58 Pontiac to win Jr Stock.
And of course Jenkins ran a 327cui/350HP Chevy II with considerable success in A/Stock. Weighing 800lbs less than the Street Hemi Belvedere (and other Intermediates that qualified for class), on poor tracks and against less experienced drivers, this combination was devastating. Come Nationals events however…on sticky tracks…the Hemi’s HP still proved the king at the top end.
FORD
The factory continued its support of the FX Drag Team.
Mustang – Ford remodeled its 65 FX Mustangs to enter them in A/FX for 1966 as it focused on and dominated A/FX early on….nothing else qualified in the class rules which helped!!….Names like Joniec, Lawton, Ronda and Brannan put the SOHC ‘Cammer’ to good use.
Al Joniec – 427 SOHC Mustang
Galaxie – Less publicized, but arguably just as successful, were the specially modified 66 Galaxies which dominated B/FX and C/FX. C/FX saw a pair of Ford quad Weber carbed 289 small blocks and B/FX had the Mike Schmitt 427 SOHC providing a touch of exotic to the mainstream push rod fare in the FX classes.
Mike Schmitt’s two dangerous Fords – his Stocker 64 427 hi-riser at the back and his 66 427 SOHC Galaxie in front
Ed Terry in the quad webbered 289cui Galaxy
Fairlane – Ford also built 57 specially modified 427 ‘med riser’ Fairlanes with fibreglass hoods, no seam sealer or carpet underlay and of course the battery in the trunk.
Ford tried to run its 66 lightweight 427 Fairlanes late in the year in A/Stock. Sadly, NHRA ‘8 balled’ the cars, no plastic in Stock, they ended up hopelessly outclassed in FX, for the 66 season. 67 would be better, 68 even more so.
Model ……………….. 427/410 HP …….. 427/410 HP …… 427/425 HP
…………………………. Steel Hood ……… Glass Hood ……. Glass Hood
Sedan ……………….. #3280 lbs. ………. #3240 lbs. ……… #3260 lbs.
Hardtop……………… #3320 lbs. ………. #3280 lbs. ………. #3300 lbs.
500 Hardtop ……… #3400 lbs. ……….. #3360 lbs. ………. #3380 lbs.
MERCURY
Hans Wiesner 390 Comet at Niagara New York, 1966. Pic courtest Colsey’s Place
1966 390/335hp Mercury Comet Cyclone Hardtop, #3315 lbs., with a 9.89 wt/hp factor
Built for the highly competive 1966 NHRA C/Stock class. At the 1966 NHRA Winternationals, Mercury shipped out ‘8’ ‘special factory’ prepared white w/red-striped Hardtops to attack both the C/S and C/SA class – Not an easy task, as a total of ’27’ cars were entered, including the dangerous 66′ Oldsmobile 4-4-2 (400/360HP 4V) and the 66′ GTO (389/360 HP Tri-Power).
The C/S cars factoring put them at the wrong end of C/Stock, they were running 13.00’s @ 106 MPH.
THE CLASSES
In 1966, NHRA bumped all the ‘stockers’ up one class…so cars in B/Stock down all ran the same class.
AA/S – This class was disbanded for 1966. The 64 Lightweight Galaxies were now eligible for A/Stock, along with the 62/63 Mopars.
A/S – A funny ‘quirk’ in NHRA Class requirements, saw the S/S rules applied to A/S – (Any intake, any cam). So there were some screaming, essentially Super/Stock Novas (except for the smaller tires, which also gave an edge to the little Nova) that year. But this was no longer “stock” class with stock intakes and even notionally stock cams. That was the secret for 1966.
Ken Heinemann – r/up to Shirley Shahan for Top Stock at the Winternationals. Ken’s car was an A/SA 426 Street Hemi….Shirleys was a S/S 65 A990 Race Hemi.
Two fierce A/S competitors, Stahl and Jenkins – best of friends , fiercest of rivals. Track promoters and the drag race press fabricated a heated rivalry between the two. In truth, both Stahl and Jenkins got on well – They were both ‘thinking’ racers of the “mad scientist” variety.
JUNIOR STOCK – B/Stock and below was where the variety was…the old full weight 64 Galaxies, Chevelle SS396 & Biscayne 427s , 57 Chevs, 58 Pontiacs, 66 GTOs, Olds 4-4-2s and 440 and 383 Mopars were all in there swinging.
Dave Kempton C/SA Dodge clips Ernie Musser’s D/Stock Vette’s wings in the Stock final, 66 Indy Nats. By the Nats, Kempton had ‘upgraded’ to a 383cui/ 343hp 2x4V. It still ran in C/SA due to the class shift performed by NHRA.
Wingers C/Stock final – Dale Bargman in his 406cui/405hp tri carb 63 Galaxie takes on Pete Kost in his 400cui/345hp tri Carb Olds. Neither car was running cold air. Kost won this one for Olds.
Ronnie Broadhead drove this Pontiac to a D/S class win at the 1966 NHRA Winternationals.
FX – 1966 continued as 1965 finished, however the 2% altered wheel base (AWB) cars were now the norm rather than the unusual.
In the absence of the FX-legal Comets, the only cars that qualified in A/FX for most of the year were Mustangs, mainly updated 65 models, and even those were not strictly legal….having more than a 2% wheelbase adjustment. The new Lightweight 427 Wedge Fairlanes got dumped into FX at Indy, due to their ‘plastic’ hoods.
Chrysler had released a new body style, effectively killing any chance of submitting a viable entry into FX which required current year model cars only due to time and money required.
Unfortunately this was the last year for FX class cars – NHRA abolished the class before Indianapolis – Most cars had become more radicalised..most had become too ‘funny’.
Jerry Harvey’s car was one of the few legitimate 66 year model Mustangs to run in A/FX. Most were updated 65s. These 427 Wedge and 427 SOHC cars were the only cars that qualified for A/FX in 66.
XS/MATCH BASH – Match Bash continued into the start of 66…where the more radically altered AWB Fords, Chevs and Chryslers competed. However as popularity of these cars increased…and FX participation dropped off, the NHRA set up the new Experimental Stock (XS) class for Indy.
Some FX teams took the introduction of the new ‘Funny car’ XS class badly, resulting in a boycott of A/FX at the SpringNationals, however drivers still contested B/FX and C/FX.
XS became the home of the radical flopper Comets and long nose Mustangs.
In 1966, Eddie Schartman, driving Roy Steffy’s S/XS Mercury Comet, became Funny Car’s first world champion when he defeated “Dyno Don” Nicholson.
A pair of ‘XS ’ cars run down the track at Bristol. The 65 injected Plymouth would not have been legal for FX due to wheelbase, year model and injection.
“Drag-On Lady” – 65 Race Hemi Plymouth
Mike Schmitts’ highly successful 64 427 hi-riser Galaxie.
The NHRA 60’s Superstock Diary 
