ENCORE SUNDAY - WORLD’S FASTEST GROUP
Carpenter, of Charlotte, NC, had a mountain-motored 1955 Chevrolet that was capable of running 8.80 elapsed times in 1983, a feat rarely achieved outside of the professional ranks during that era.
A longtime fan of the double-nickel Chevrolet, Carpenter’s shoe box was barely safe enough to run 9.90s. That didn’t stop him from pushing to limits that defied logic.
Carpenter had to be the quickest and fastest of his body make and that led him by the end of the 1983 season to bolt on a nitrous oxide kit that upped his pace to solid [and unheard of] 8.30s.
This was more than a t-shirt campaign; it was a way of life.
Carpenter, of Charlotte, NC, had a mountain-motored 1955 Chevrolet that was capable of running 8.80 elapsed times in 1983, a feat rarely achieved outside of the professional ranks during that era.
A longtime fan of the double-nickel Chevrolet, Carpenter’s shoe box was barely safe enough to run 9.90s. That didn’t stop him from pushing to limits that defied logic.
Carpenter had to be the quickest and fastest of his body make and that led him by the end of the 1983 season to bolt on a nitrous oxide kit that upped his pace to solid [and unheard of] 8.30s.
That feat would inspire veteran photojournalist Dave Bishop to proclaim Carpenter’s classic doorslammer as the “World’s Fastest ’55 Chevy.”
Carpenter quickly gained company as race fans soon clamored to the IHRA events to see such Top Sportsman novelties as the “world’s fastest” '57 Chevy, '57 Ford, '58 Plymouth Fury, '78 Mercury Zephyr, '66 Chevy II, '41 Willy's, '62 Chevy amongst a multitude of others seeking to make a name for themselves in the class as well as the media.
This movement can be directly traced to the success of the IHRA Top Sportsman Quick Eight events, a precursor to the formation of the Pro Modified division. The overnight sensation of this trend surprised many, especially Carpenter.
"It kind of blew me away - I really wasn't thinking about it," confided Carpenter. "It was kind of accidental that all of this happened. We weren't trying to do anything intentional to make this happen -we were just having fun doing what we loved. I think Dave Bishop deserves a lot of credit for getting it all started. It was a pretty wild thing and I didn't think a lot about it in the early going, but as the media got a hold of it and it started to gain momentum, well, of course it got our attention. Even today, people still talk about that era when there was the World's Fastest whatever."
A lot of the cars were carrying monster motors in a homebuilt chassis. The stuff we were trying to do had never been done before. When you're young and dumb, it didn't really matter how dangerous it was. We didn't think about that. – Rob Vandergriff
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"We forced more horsepower into our cars than needed to be there and our clutches were very antiquated," recalled Carpenter. "We were trying to learn the clutch combinations, and we had 1100 Goodyears, if people can remember those. That was a little short-roll out tire. Couple all of that with the racetracks that we raced on and it got pretty scary. Some of them needed to be closed ten years before we got there and are probably still running today. Concrete starting lines weren't even the norm back then and the announcer was exactly right when he said that a prerequisite for being able to race with us was in the ability to show both sides of the car from the back."
Another person just as responsible for the success of the early fast classic doorslammers was Knoxville, Tennessee's Robbie Vandergriff. He entered the scene a year after Carpenter's nitrous debut with an equally impressive 1957 Chevy owned by Jim Bryant.
"A lot of the cars were carrying monster motors in a homebuilt chassis," said Vandergriff. "The stuff we were trying to do had never been done before. When you're young and dumb, it didn't really matter how dangerous it was. We didn't think about that.
Before long, a former NHRA Comp eliminator racer named Norm Wizner and his chassis builder Richard Earle joined Carpenter and Vandergriff. They brought a '57 Ford Fairlane and a '58 Plymouth Fury into the group. Not to be left out, they were joined by former Super Stock and AMC Pro Stock entity Gordy Foust.
Wizner went from a roadster to the Fairlane. He ran A/Street Roadster in NHRA Comp and had been an 8.20 best.
"I felt comfortable with this group," said Wizner. "The only downside to the whole deal is that I didn't have as many readily available parts because I was running the Ford. I think we fit in pretty good. In the early going I told Robbie and Charles that I was going to build a Ford to race against them and they thought it was a great idea."
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There were many perks to running in this traveling circus. One of the
best money-making opportunities was in booking match races.
"While the match racing was going on, it was probably the best time of
all," explained Vandergriff. "The cars had their own personality. I
always had a blast."
Earle, who elected not to drive his creation, instead employed driver
Paul Strommen to pilot his Mopar called "Christine," added, "I look
back at those day and I know they were some of the best ones that I've
had. We did a lot of match race dates and it was truly a memorable
experience. We could pack the houses all over the country."
An interesting point is that all the charter members had model cars
fashioned after them. That was an accomplishment that Carpenter credits
longtime friend Johnny Roberts with. When it came to holding their own
in souvenir sales, the group did that and then some. That's why the
nostalgia-bodied flopper trend did little to shake their confidence.
If it weren't for the souvenir sales, many could not have been out there. They mainly got by with the help and support of each other. Every member of the World’s Fastest Group got by largely on massive t-shirt sales.
"Charles ran out of his own pocket for the longest time," said Vandergriff. "Poor old Charles, he had sponsors, but none would ever pay him. We had to help each other. I had a little more financial backing than the other guys. If someone needed something, we had it to loan. We kept track with a board in the trailer. One time my sponsor came up to me and told me that if I didn't get all of these parts back in and if there came a time that we couldn't race because we were out of parts and they were loaned out, I was going to be fired."
Before long, the reality and expense of competing exceeded what the t-shirts could bring in.
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Many will agree that the group always managed to be in the right place
at the right time. Wizner and Carpenter were during the 1987 IHRA Fall
Nationals in Bristol, Tennessee. The IHRA had toyed with the idea of a
Quick Eight shootout on Saturday night to cash in on the trend that the
Southeastern drag strip operators were lining their pockets with. The
sanctioning body ended up with a Quick 4 shootout, as there was a
difference of opinion as to who would pay the money. Carpenter, Wizner,
Gordy Hmiel and Bill Kuhlmann were the four that pulled off this
historic horsepower exhibition.
That particular event was what sparked Pro Modified's evolution on a
national event scale, adversely affecting the World's Fastest Group.
"It started to taper off some, but I don't think it officially died
until some time in the 1990's," said Carpenter. "I was fortunate enough
to have run with SUPER CHEVY longer than anyone else. I finally called
it quits in 1996. There was still a little bit of activity going after
that and then it eventually went away."
Such a trend may never return in today’s high-stakes Pro Modified community with so many racing options available, but that doesn’t prevent those like Carpenter from reliving those “good old days.”
Carpenter felt the one positive thing that came out of the experience is the bonds and friendships that were formed as a result of the “World’s Fastest Group.” Their vicious competition may have looked like rivalry on the surface, but the fact remains that each had a mutual respect for one another. Carpenter had the greatest admiration for Vandergriff.
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Wizner misses his old friends. "I miss being with all of my old
friends," recalled Wizner. "We had a pretty interesting group that went
out and raced against each other."
The story of this group was probably best summed up by Foust, who piloted the '66 Chevelle.
"I felt as if I was extremely fortunate because it was like being in
the 'sixties, racing all over again," he explained. "It was an
indescribable era. It brought back the same feelings as the first time
I bought a 1966 Chevelle."
And for Carpenter, it was just like the old days when he raced an all-steel ’55 Chevy – the world’s fastest one.
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