Destroked Small Block?

Locomotions' explanation of why people destroked engines is spot on. In 79 some friends ran a Camaro in C/SM that had to weigh 10 pounds per inch. They had a .030 over 302 which is 305, they got a different crank to take it down to 295 inchs so they lost 100 pounds which helped. Ran 6:50 gears in a 9 inch, would come off the line at 10,000 rpm.

Used to love to watch modified eliminator cars run back in the late 70s early 80s, a lot of small inch engines with 5 speeds and 6 something axle ratios coming off the line at 10,000 plus rpm, wheels up at 1-2 and 2-3 shifts. Back then people ran cable drive mechanical tachs with a telltale needle, you could look at peoples cars after a run and see the needles up sometimes above 11,000 rpm.

At the nationals in Indy in 80 there was a guy out of Kentucky named Don Bowles, I think he owned coal mines, he obviously had money and and had a first class operation. He raced a Fairmont in modified eliminator, used Roush engines and had Jack Roush himself there working on his car. Somewhere I have a picture of Jack changing the valve springs, the tach telltale needle was up at 11,700 rpm.