Wed, 9 Jan 2002, 09:16 AM That Amazing V-6. Could It Have Whipped The Pro Stocks!

By Bob Frey

A very familiar name has been added to the roster of a very familiar Pro Stock team for the year 2002, and I think it just makes the team that much stronger. Buddy Ingersoll, the 1977 NHRA Modified World Champion, and driver of the legendary Buick V-6 turbo car in 1985, has been added to Warren Johnson’s team for the coming year. With his knowledge and expertise, Buddy can only make W.J. an even more imposing threat that he would have already been. And, of course, anytime you mention Buddy Ingersoll, talk immediately turns to 1985, the year Buddy drove one of the most talk about cars in NHRA history, the V-6 turbo Buick Regal that won back-to-back races at Brainerd and Indianapolis. To this day, folks wonder if that little V-6 could have raced with and/or beaten the Pro Stock cars of that day. Well, let’s see….

Ingersoll launches hard.

First of all, before looking at that two-week stretch in 1985, a stretch that created a legend, you have to remember that ’85 wasn’t the first year for Buddy in a turbo car. In 1977, he won the NHRA Modified World Championship driving a AA/MC, turbo-charged Ford Pinto. That’s right, a Ford Pinto. At the World Finals that year, he beat one of the best fields of Modified drivers ever assembled, a field that include the great Bear Barrilleaux, David Hutchens, Larry Kopp, Paul Mercure, Carroll Caudle, Arlen Fadely and many more. And, while Buddy’s Pinto was only running times in the 10-second range, it was quick enough to beat them all, including Gary Berg in the finals. Berg, by the way, was driving an A/MC Volkswagen. Really! Ingersoll, basically, toyed with the field, and all he needed in the final was a soft .33 under the index to get the win. For his part, Berg had earlier beaten Hutchens, Kopp and the B/MC VW of the "Bear."

Jumping ahead to 1985, Ingersoll came into the Brainerd race having run well at his previous national event appearances, but not well enough to win. He always qualified from the middle to the top of the pack, but something always seemed to go wrong on race day. A broken clutch here, a red light there, a little sleepy on the line another time, all added up to Buddy having one of the best cars in the class, but no wins. All of that would change at Brainerd. There, he put the turbo car solidly into the field in the number nine qualifying spot. But, as he had done so many times before, Buddy didn’t really show his best stuff until race day. In the first round, he unloaded a monster run of 7.72 at 183.67 mph, both career best efforts, to dispose of Lori Johns in her B/ED. And when I say career best, I mean they were his best by a bunch, like five-hundredths of a second and 8 mph!! Meanwhile, in his first round match in Pro Stock, eventual winner, Bob Glidden, ran a 7.61 at 184.04 mph to beat Gordie Rivera. Ingersoll’s qualifying time, by the way, a 7.97, would not have made the 16 car, Pro Stock field. (the bump was Lee Dean at 7.85). In round two, the turbo car ran a 7.73 at 180, while Glidden, by comparison, went 7.60 at 185 to beat Butch Leal. Ironically, both guys won those rounds when their opponent fouled out. Later, in the semi-finals, Ingersoll would find himself in a group that included Larry Morgan, Tim Cole and Ron Hoover, four great cars and not a V-8 to be found. In fact, there were three V-6 cars and Morgan’s 4-cylinder Fiero. Ingersoll ran 7.71 at 183.29 to get the win over Cole, while Morgan went .60 under for the fourth run in a row, to beat Hoover. Glidden’s semi-final time was 7.51 at 183.67 as he beat Warren Johnson. That put the best Pro Stocker of the time in one final, and the most amazing sportsman car of the time, in the Competition Eliminator final. Glidden won his race with a 7.60 at 183 (over Bruce Allen), while Buddy stole one from Morgan in a race I’ll bet Larry remembers vividly today. Ingersoll, who had mechanical problems on every run during eliminations, lost a clutch on the burnout, and appeared headed for sure defeat. Being the veteran that he was, he staged the car using only the starter motor, and hoped that Morgan would foul out, which he did, giving Buddy the win with a time of 14.98 at 115.23 mph. So, while both Glidden and Ingersoll won at Brainerd, based on their comparative time slips, Buddy would have been no match for Mr. "G." But, just for argument’s sake, his time in the first round, that 7.71, would have won six of the first round encounters in the Pro Stock field, while his 7.73 would have won two of the matches in round two. You decide.

Buddy Ingersoll

Now, on to Indy, where Buddy not only won again, but this time, he completely over powered the field. The field, by the way, was one of the best ever assembled, and included a lot of very, familiar names, like David Nickens, Brad Klein, Richie Rosen, Todd Patterson, John Lingenfelter, Gary Brown, Glen Self and lots more. Ingersoll’s car was running perfectly in qualifying and, when it was all over, he sat atop the field with a time of 7.755, or .545 under the index. This time, his qualifying effort would have been good enough to get in the Pro Stock field, where the bump was 7.761. OK, so he would have just made it, but he would have made it. Glidden, of course, led the Pro Stock field with a 7.576. Buddy marched through the filed, beating Wayne Laird in round one and Troy Humphrey in round two. A red-light by Cotton Perry in the third round was a gift, because Buddy, again, had clutch problems, and wouldn’t have been able to run with Cotton who was driving Brian Browell’s F/D. Buddy’s first three runs netted him a best of 7.78, while Glidden went in the low 7.60’s on his first, three runs of eliminations.

Buddy followed up with a pair of runs of 7.74 and 7.76 to move into the finals where he would meet up with Glen Self, one of the sport’s best comp runners of all time. Ironically, both drivers were sluggish off the line (I think you can call .641 & .676 reaction times, "sluggish), but, in the end, it was all Ingersoll, as he ran down the little D/FX Camaro with a 7.76 at 178.64 mph. After the race Buddy said, "I guess I shut it off a little early." No kidding. Glidden won his Pro Stock title with a 7.627, 182 mph pass against Bruce Allen. His unbelievable times gave rise to a lot of speculation about whether or not he could have competed with the big boys. In 1985, maybe he could have, on a one-run basis, but I think the numbers show that he would have had a hard time beating the top of the line Pro Stock cars of the day. Still, I have to believe, if he ever did run Glidden, he probably wouldn’t have "shut it off early." After Indy that year, Ingersoll’s Buick would not win another NHRA national event, but he would have another, even more spectacular performance two years later at another U.S. Nationals.

In 1987, Buddy Ingersoll would make history, with a stunning run of 7.24 at 198.23 mph in the second round of Competition Eliminator at Indy. In that round, running against Doug Stewart, Ingersoll recorded the quickest and fastest run in NHRA history for a "doorslammer." It easily beat the previous mark of 7.31 which had been recorded by Bob Glidden, and his 198 mph speed was a full seven miles per hour faster than Glidden’s top speed at the same event. Ingersoll then "slowed" to a 7.45 in round three, and was beaten in the semi-finals by Bob Benza, who hung a perfect .500 lite on the tree en route to the win. Ironically, though, that didn’t play a factor in the race, since Ingersoll’s temperamental turbo shut off in second gear and only recorded a 17.30 elapsed time. For the record, Benza would foul out in the finals against Garley Daniels. Also, for the record, Ingersoll wasn’t among the top 16 qualifiers at that event, an event that saw only three drivers go .50 under in qualifying. Unlike 1985, however, Buddy’ s car in ’87 would have beaten just about any Pro Stock car in the class, if, and this is a big if, if it ran up to its potential. For one run, I’ll take Buddy. For a three-out-of-five match race, I just may have to take Mr. Glidden.

Maybe we’ll never know how fast that V-6 turbo car could ever really go, but it was sure a lot of fun to watch it while it was around. Other turbo cars have come and gone, most recently, of course, Hurley Blakeney’s, and they always seem to attract a lot of attention. Maybe it’s the unknown factor, like with Hurley, we never really know how quick or fast it will go. Like Buddy, maybe it’s the lingering doubt about whether those cars could go the distance. The, again, maybe it’s the novelty, like "Ohio" George Montgomery when he had his AA/AT, Garth Hill in his roadster, Chase Knight and his dragster, or a whole host of turbo cars over the years. Whatever it is, they seem to come and go in a hurry, both literally and figuratively, leaving behind them some of the best stories in all of drag racing.

One last thing, that 1985 Indy race may have been the best day ever for Buicks at a national event. Ingersoll won with his car, Self had a Buick engine in his car, while Lyn Smith won Stock Eliminator in a Buick GS455, and Dale Pulde was runner-up in Funny Car with his classic, Buick Somerset. Oh, those were the days. And if you’ re looking for star-studded, the top 16 at the ’87 Indy race in Comp included, among others, Harold Stout (#1), Joe Heffernan, Todd Patterson, David Northrop, David Nickens, Raymond Martin, Tim Cole, Rosen, Bill Maropulos and Bob Kaiser to name just a few. Like we often say, "anyone want a piece of this?" Ingersoll did! The Pro Stock field, in case you were wondering, included Glidden, Darrell Alderman, Warren Johnson, Alban Gauthier, Kenny Koretsky, Nick Nikolis and Joe Clark, just to name a few.



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