The difference between the Chevy, the Fords or even the early hemi were nite and day compared to the 426. The fact that Mopar was making parts for it to be run like this was another plus. You could run 75 degrees of timing in a 426 compared to maybe 55 on a Chevy and not crack heads or cylinder walls and ease of working on them was another. Fire was the next concern. I can always remember racing the Coke Cavalcade & running against Kelly Chadwick & Ray Sullins. The Chevy car would leave good & Kelly would say, "Man, I never saw you! I knew I was on a good one, then all of a sudden I would see the nose of your car & away you went". Ray Sullins came from the Harrell camp & was a big asset to Kelly. You could actually feel the difference on a burn out.
Dick had to change just like we did with Mickey Thompson. You had to be competitive to keep your name out there and have the sponsors. As you see today, GM and others still back cars that have their body on it (if you can tell what they are)! Remember, GM claimed they were not involved with racing, although Dick, Kelly, Jenkins, Smokey Yunick & many more were getting truck loads of parts. They were consultants that channeled their work through other areas,
which gave you all the cars that you are collecting.
On the other side, you had shops like Keith Black, Ed Pink and the Ramchargers carrying the Mopar banner & building race engines.
I do believe the late Jim Bucher was the last BBC to win in the fuel ranks. From about 71 on, the wins were pretty few a far between. Overall, Dick was most proud of the street cars, but he loved racing that funny car. The plan was for someone else to take it in the 72 season & for Dick to focus more on the street cars.....time ran out too soon
