Oldsmobile Race Cars
Registered User
Joined: Dec 2010
Posts: 857
From: crawfordville, florida
GAOldsman:
It happened in the staging lanes, at night, during the first round of Super Stock Elmin., on a Sat. Wabiel was to be the first car out and the guy stepped in front of Wabiel's 72' SS/O car's left front fender, with the bumper hitting the guys right leg, breaking it (as stated by one of the EMTS). I was three lanes over in the Stock staging lanes, so I really did not get to see what happened.
I found out later on Sunday, the whys, hows, and what he wanted to accomplish, was to keep Wabiel from racing. If Wabiel did not race the first round, he was done for that points meet. Also, I had long parted ways with Wabiel, as "The Flying Plummer", John Troxel was building my short blocks.
BTW: Wabiel got his fame building Ch**y small blocks and was pretty good at it. When Olds started sponsoring him, his brother-in-law started doing all of the machine work (found this out several yrs. later). Wabiel only did his own stuff. In the spring of 74' I went to pick up my short block and as we walked to the back to load it, I saw six (yes 6) complete, brand new crated 71/72' pan to carb W30 engines! He was running SBO engines only at that time. Hmmmmmm, can you say rip off?
It happened in the staging lanes, at night, during the first round of Super Stock Elmin., on a Sat. Wabiel was to be the first car out and the guy stepped in front of Wabiel's 72' SS/O car's left front fender, with the bumper hitting the guys right leg, breaking it (as stated by one of the EMTS). I was three lanes over in the Stock staging lanes, so I really did not get to see what happened.
I found out later on Sunday, the whys, hows, and what he wanted to accomplish, was to keep Wabiel from racing. If Wabiel did not race the first round, he was done for that points meet. Also, I had long parted ways with Wabiel, as "The Flying Plummer", John Troxel was building my short blocks.
BTW: Wabiel got his fame building Ch**y small blocks and was pretty good at it. When Olds started sponsoring him, his brother-in-law started doing all of the machine work (found this out several yrs. later). Wabiel only did his own stuff. In the spring of 74' I went to pick up my short block and as we walked to the back to load it, I saw six (yes 6) complete, brand new crated 71/72' pan to carb W30 engines! He was running SBO engines only at that time. Hmmmmmm, can you say rip off?
Last edited by davebw31; Jan 24, 2013 at 10:53 AM.
Registered User
Joined: May 2011
Posts: 592
From: BOWLING GREEN KENTUCKY
How about that part of the article that talked about Berejik having to take the Smothers Brothers logo off and then paint it back on the 70 442 as it was a mixup with the Smothers Brothers lawyer? Lots of money and paint for nothing. Also Berejik didnt change their car from a 70 to a 71 for the 71 season and the points not counting for the manufacturer cup.
vistacruiser67:
Nice info, pretty accurate, especially the supply of parts and money to the Smothers Bros. team members. Dale Smith, who was an engineer, just dabbled in the Olds factory drag racing support beginning with the 66' W30 cars. At the end of 66' and 67' he became more involved, due to the success of the program. Starting with 68' he became fully involved, then of course in 69' was the icing on the cake with the Smothers Bros. and the news ink that Olds got. So now Dale had the "Brass" and sales dept. in his pocket and then in 70' it took off like a "Rocket"! LOL lol lol Of course 71/72' was the crown jewels in winning the NHRA Manufacturer's Cup two yrs. in a row, which NO ONE had ever done before, not Ch**y, F**d, Mo**r, or A*C had ever done what Olds did! I believe besides the racers like Pete Kost (NW), Paul Mayo and Lattimore (S Central), Jim Wabiel, and Willard Wright (S), Ron Garey, Dick Griffin, and Al Segar (N Central), Berejik, and John Troxel (NE) and the "Master of Ceremony", Dale Smith, it would not have happened. As you can see Dale had a major racer/winner in all sections of the US to maximize points! The guy knew what he was doing. And not to reveal to much, there was some not so really "legal" cars involved! LOL lol
Lets just say the "rule book" was stretchedddddddddddddddd pretty good.
I never received any $$$, just lots and lots of parts through a local Olds dealership after I left Olds in 1973 and started running the 68' F-85 ram rod, one of the ex-Smothers Bros. cars. The reason was that I knew Dale, was a former employee, in the inner race circle, and who still had connections with people in Olds engineering. Olds "sponsored" me till 78', when Dale called me and said "got to pull the plug. They (the brass holding the $$$) said I could not sponsor a ten yr. old car any longer. If I bought a 78' or got sponsored by the local dealer, he was authorized to continue the sponsorship.". So that was that, as the local dealer was not interested and I could not afford to race without a sponsor, as I was a single parent raising two girls by myself.
Sure miss that F-85 ram rod car. At the time I sold the car it still was the IHRA MPH record holder in the 1/8 mile.
Nice info, pretty accurate, especially the supply of parts and money to the Smothers Bros. team members. Dale Smith, who was an engineer, just dabbled in the Olds factory drag racing support beginning with the 66' W30 cars. At the end of 66' and 67' he became more involved, due to the success of the program. Starting with 68' he became fully involved, then of course in 69' was the icing on the cake with the Smothers Bros. and the news ink that Olds got. So now Dale had the "Brass" and sales dept. in his pocket and then in 70' it took off like a "Rocket"! LOL lol lol Of course 71/72' was the crown jewels in winning the NHRA Manufacturer's Cup two yrs. in a row, which NO ONE had ever done before, not Ch**y, F**d, Mo**r, or A*C had ever done what Olds did! I believe besides the racers like Pete Kost (NW), Paul Mayo and Lattimore (S Central), Jim Wabiel, and Willard Wright (S), Ron Garey, Dick Griffin, and Al Segar (N Central), Berejik, and John Troxel (NE) and the "Master of Ceremony", Dale Smith, it would not have happened. As you can see Dale had a major racer/winner in all sections of the US to maximize points! The guy knew what he was doing. And not to reveal to much, there was some not so really "legal" cars involved! LOL lol
Lets just say the "rule book" was stretchedddddddddddddddd pretty good.
I never received any $$$, just lots and lots of parts through a local Olds dealership after I left Olds in 1973 and started running the 68' F-85 ram rod, one of the ex-Smothers Bros. cars. The reason was that I knew Dale, was a former employee, in the inner race circle, and who still had connections with people in Olds engineering. Olds "sponsored" me till 78', when Dale called me and said "got to pull the plug. They (the brass holding the $$$) said I could not sponsor a ten yr. old car any longer. If I bought a 78' or got sponsored by the local dealer, he was authorized to continue the sponsorship.". So that was that, as the local dealer was not interested and I could not afford to race without a sponsor, as I was a single parent raising two girls by myself.
Sure miss that F-85 ram rod car. At the time I sold the car it still was the IHRA MPH record holder in the 1/8 mile.
Chevy budget Olds powered
Joined: Jul 2011
Posts: 8,638
From: Elgin, Illinois
i loved that article thanks vista ! Thats the kind of stuff i love drag racing has become such a high dollar sport all the sportman racer get pushed to the back. It's refreshing with the new mustangs, camaros , and chalangers doing the stocker digs but even then they are expensive. I have been to the funny's and watched the top fuel but what i love the most is seeing the sportman racers laying it on the line. Sure alot of these guys got factory support back in the day but it wasn't that farfetched for the normal guy to get into it. Keep the pics and articles coming.
Trying to remember member
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 4,112
From: Ohio
Registered User
Joined: Dec 2010
Posts: 857
From: crawfordville, florida
yum, that is what I was told by the "General", Dale Smith at the end of the 72' race season! Dale was a "straight up guy"! Why would he tell me that if it wasn't true, hmmmmm??????
I also see that Olds later won the "cup" 12 yrs. in a row! Now disprove that.
I also see that Olds later won the "cup" 12 yrs. in a row! Now disprove that.
Last edited by davebw31; Feb 4, 2013 at 06:14 PM.
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"Car"mudgeon
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From: Perry, GA
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"Car"mudgeon
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Posts: 5,191
From: Perry, GA
Thread Starter
"Car"mudgeon
Joined: Feb 2011
Posts: 5,191
From: Perry, GA
Thread Starter
"Car"mudgeon
Joined: Feb 2011
Posts: 5,191
From: Perry, GA
Thread Starter
"Car"mudgeon
Joined: Feb 2011
Posts: 5,191
From: Perry, GA
Thread Starter
"Car"mudgeon
Joined: Feb 2011
Posts: 5,191
From: Perry, GA
Thread Starter
"Car"mudgeon
Joined: Feb 2011
Posts: 5,191
From: Perry, GA
Thread Starter
"Car"mudgeon
Joined: Feb 2011
Posts: 5,191
From: Perry, GA
Thread Starter
"Car"mudgeon
Joined: Feb 2011
Posts: 5,191
From: Perry, GA
Thread Starter
"Car"mudgeon
Joined: Feb 2011
Posts: 5,191
From: Perry, GA
