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Vintage Bill "Grumpy" Jenkins


wagner

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The fact he came out as a privateer and beat the big money teams back in the day is really amazing. He drove the tech guys and the NHRA nuts because he would always have something new he came up with that was on the very edge of not being legal.

 

You don't see people like him in modern racing anymore.

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The fact he came out as a privateer and beat the big money teams back in the day is really amazing. He drove the tech guys and the NHRA nuts because he would always have something new he came up with that was on the very edge of not being legal.

 

You don't see people like him in modern racing anymore.

 

Innovation, not money drove his cars. Finding "cheaper" ways to go fast was the way to do it. You don't see that now, because to keep up you need the expensive parts.

A good friend of mine's uncle was friends with Grumpy and they were at the NHRA event this year that honored him. Friend said that everyone was drooling over the "fake" Grumpy cars and that ESPN walked right past his real car without a second glance. Part of me is mad about that, but the other part says "Damn, he really did do it right". No one expected anything out of his car(s), but they ran with the best of them!

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5:55-6-10 is some of the coolest footage I've ever seen.

 

Grumpy was a boss, but there was a lot of other badass old timers in that footage as well. I wish all professional racing was how it was back then. Very little sponsorship, just enough rules to keep everyone competitive but let each racer figure out their own way to do it, and cars that can realistically be built by average guys and look like what you can walk into the dealership and buy.

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The fact he came out as a privateer and beat the big money teams back in the day is really amazing. He drove the tech guys and the NHRA nuts because he would always have something new he came up with that was on the very edge of not being legal.

 

You don't see people like him in modern racing anymore.

 

it's really tougher nowadays but there are those that way.

 

Adrian Newey is a man like that.....brilliant aerodynamics engineer making racing bodies invent new rules based on his designs.

 

As an engineer, I can appreciate stuff like that.

 

Sweet video :)

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