Video: The 1966 NHRA U.S. Nationals

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From ABC’s Wide World of Sports, here’s an awesome segment on the 1966 NHRA U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis.

 

If you’re child of the ’60s and ’70s, before cable TV and the internet, the chances are good that your first exposure to national drag racing—and a multitude of other sports as well—came from ABC’s Wiide World of Sports, the long-running sports anthology TV show. As host Jim Mckay declared in his famous introduction every Saturday afternoon, “Spanning the globe to bring you the constant variety of sport… the thrill of victory… and the agony of defeat… the human drama of athletic competition… This is ABC’s Wide World of Sports!”  And along with figure skating, cliff diving, and the Harlem Globetrotters, NHRA drag racing was a staple of the program.

This 12-minute segment from a 1966 broadcast features the U.S. Nationals from Indianapolis, the Big Go as NHRA calls it, and the reporter is none other than Keith Jackson, who later found glory as the college football announcer with the catchphrase, “Whoa, Nellie!” There’s a nice piece on the legendary Top Stock Eliminator showdown between Jere Stahl’s Hemi Plymouth and Bill Jenkins’ small-block Chevy II, but the focus here is on the big show, Top Fuel. In those days the slider clutch had not yet been developed, so the fuelers smoked their tires halfway down the track to add even more drama to the spectacle. Top Fuel at Indy in ’66 was another battle for the ages, but we’ll let you watch for yourself. Video below.

 

3 thoughts on “Video: The 1966 NHRA U.S. Nationals”

  1. Oh, Bill, give that knife a turn,,I was 11 years old, and my passion, at the time, was WWoS drag racing.( although I always felt bad for that “agony of defeat” guy, Vinko Bogataj, who wasn’t badly hurt, but ended his skiing career. I seem to remember Chris Economakie, too. Did anyone else catch Jacksons mistake, he said 1350 feet, when it was 1320. I never connected him with the “Whoa Nellie”, that’s pretty funny. As mentioned, drag racing was combined with other “sports”, and we had to sit through 15 minutes of cricket, for 5 minutes of drag racing. The “Big Go” got a little more time. Every Saturday, when all the other kids went to play baseball, I stayed home, hoping drag racing would be on. Some big, no HUGE names in the video, as mentioned, the “slider” or centrifugal clutch, invented by none other than Austin Coil, I believe, essentially did the same thing as the smoking tires. Traction has always been the biggest obstacle.Today, deaths are practically non-existent, due to several fatalities, I realize the irony of that, but safety is paramount, especially from John Force, after his driver, Eric Medlen was killed in 2007. It should be noted, Bill “Grumpy” Jenkins, was a sweetheart of a guy, UNTIL, he got to the track. He wouldn’t even talk to you, Garlits was the same way, these guys meant business. They spotlighted Jenkins, and a fantastic driver/mechanic, but he was no match for the king, Ronnie Sox.
    Now, where’s my pills,,,,and pull your dang pants up,,

    • Funny story about Jenkins: I once had a car owner who was kind of a goofball with a gift for doing or saying the wrong things and embarrassing those around him. At a race he told me he was going to go up to Jenkins and talk to him, ask him about his combination. I told him not to, it was probably not a good idea. Later I found him at Jenkins’ truck and the two were talking like brothers.

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