How the National Hot Rod Ass’n’s Pro Stock class was born out of demand during the muscle-car craze, yet nearly a half-century later is fighting for its life is a quirky tale.

But thanks to Elite Motorsports principal Richard Freeman uniting the self-directed and ultra-opinionated contingent last fall, Pro Stock owners and drivers, without exaggeration, have saved the endangered class. Together they resisted plans that would have marginalized the category.

In the process, they not only restored the traditional racing format but also introduced the blockbuster policy of mixing manufacturer bodies and engines. The drag racing community is hoping that will stabilize the class for this year and beyond.

Watching the NHRA Pro Stock program evolve to the brink of irrelevance wasn’t at all what fans who witnessed the birth of the class during the 1970 Winternationals at California’s Auto Club Raceway expected to happen to the class when it grew up. Global economics, shifts in American pop culture and performance and technological advancements have affected the NHRA Pro Stockers.

So have trends in the pit area, mandates from the sanctioning body and an entertainment-vs.-performance seesaw. Despite the speed bumps, or maybe because of them, the Pro Stock class is asserting itself in vying for value with sponsors, fans and the NHRA itself.

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In 48 years, Pro Stock has changed and in some ways it seems rejuvenated.

Pro Stock grew out of the Super Stock category, which used (and still uses) a handicapped start. Fans in the late 1960s increasingly preferred match-racing aces such as Bill “Grumpy” Jenkins, Ronnie Sox, Buddy Martin, “Dyno Don” Nicholson, Dick Landy and Herb McCandless and their heads-up battles. So the NHRA accommodated them with the new class.

Jenkins beat Sox in the inaugural final-round duel in 1970 with a 9.99-second elapsed time. Since then, the cars have dipped into the 6.4-second range. But as drivers through the decades shaved down the elapsed times, the class also whittled away essential elements.

Composing that first 16-car Pro Stock field were eight Chrysler entries, five Chevy Camaros and three Ford Mavericks. John Jodauga, the retired National Dragster writer and author who oversaw the 2009 NHRA Publications project “The History of NHRA Pro Stock,” said, “Because of the then-relatively low costs of vehicle preparation, Pro Stock was a strong and vibrant category with 32-car fields being staged at several national events.”

With the 2018 season barely underway, Allen Johnson’s retirement this past November leaves the Mopar/Dodge ranks numbering just two, with the rest of the category left for Chevrolet. Ford, which once boasted Nicholson, the Wayne Gapp/Jack Roush tandem and the iconic Bob Glidden with his 85 victories and 10 championships, has no presence.

Moreover, in the beginning, fans clearly could identify the automaker — those race cars looked like the production automobiles folks had in their driveways at home. Today’s fan would have to look closely at a Pro Stock body to tell which automaker it represents.

Hardly a bolt today on these “factory hot rods” is stock. The cars are a far cry from the original ones in 1970 that literally were production cars bought from dealerships and modified for competition. The NHRA allowed those steel-bodied vehicles to carry fiberglass hoods and fenders and have liberal engine modifications. However, unlike today, no car enthusiast had trouble recognizing a Ford from a Chevy from a Chrysler product.

Once a class with loyal brand allegiances and fierce rivalries, NHRA Pro Stock has recently hit a few speed bumps. Two-time champion Erica Enders declared it “a hard sell” from a marketing standpoint. Fans cavalierly have turned Pro Stock sessions into a rather insulting opportunity to hit the pit area for nitro-class autographs or to grab a bite to eat.

Escalating costs exploded in 2016 with the sanctioning body’s mandate for electronic-fuel injection and a new fuel mix. And the disappearance of the distinguishing carburetors and hood scoops robbed Pro Stock cars of their identities.

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