Quote: i always pictured the 60's,70's to be the most creative for dragracing.do you feel this way? if rules would allow what other mods/tricks would you have liked to try?
The 60's and 70's were great years in racing. If you worked hard and had good resources (money, time, brainpower, connections) then great advances were yours for the taking. The funny thing is that this holds true today as well.
We were fortunate to be in the right place at the right time. When you look at the group of brilliant people that came from Chrysler Engineering (Hoover, Maxwell, Coddington, Adam, Killen, Baumann) and the crew that built the engines (Spehar and Bartush) then it is clear that Carlton, Oldfield, and I had it made. We had wonderful equipment, great support, and since we were all pretty young, we had boundless energy.
Our job was to make the development of the Missile an ongoing design of experiments (DOE). Everything was planned out in advance for our test program. Everything was well orchestrated from the engine room to car prep to track test plans and on and on. We were in the business of developing technology for use by all the Mopar teams. If we learned that something worked - it was passed on. If we learned that something was a turkey - everyone knew it.
When it comes to answering your question about what we would have liked to try I really don't have a good answer. We tried nearly everything that the technology of the day would allow. If that collective brainpower thought something was possible we planned it out and gave it our best shot.
Today's teams do the same thing. We are now blessed with materials, processes, and techniques that just were not there 35 years ago. The teams of today use all the tools that are available just like we did.
