Quote:

"I decline to label him an innovator."

No flame, but a correction. You must not have been around him much in the old days....he certainly wasn't my favorite guy, by a long shot, but an innovator he was indeed. He had to be, as he was outgunned by the MoPar bunch.

Figuring out the small block Vega as a competitive package was one. As illegal as it was, and it was illegal (right, Fred?), it worked. He also had a deal where he was sawing the carbs in half and running them as four two barrells....the man was a genius. Also, I think he had kind of hard feelings against Chrysler because they didn't pick him up as a factory driver after the 1965 season.

Ronnie was the best, best, ever, period. I saw Ronnie race the Grump many, many times, and the Grump was the only Chevrolet to be in the same ball park. You gotta give him credit.

I never said I didn`t respect him. Fiery competitor. I put him in the same class with Chad Knauss; A genius, but playing a little loose with the rules. Grump was one of the guys who pitched heads up S/S to NHRA,& when he couldn`t stay competitive,he broke every rule they had. NHRA went along with it & killed Hemi development for 25 years. Nascar saw NHRA was healthy without Mopar & they hosed us too.Wonder what that cost chevrolet ? At the 2001 gathering to celebrate the 50th birthday of the Hemi,Wally Parks apologized to Tom Hoover for killing the Hemi. In retrospect,maybe I blame Grump for what happened to Pro Stock. Look at the 70-71 cars; Nothing that exciting since.