1965. The height of the Civil Rights era. The United States was just beginning to ratchet up military involvement in South East Asia. The Soul Survivors topped the charts with the hit, “Expressway to your Heart.” Sonny and Cher, the Rolling Stones, and the Dave Clark Five were but some of the major attractions that had made the grade by appearing on the Ed Sullivan Show. Television was also populated by such hit shows as Bonanza and Gunsmoke

It was the calm before the storm. Drug use was still rare, as the drug culture of the late sixties was only beginning to catch on, and the division and turmoil that would overrun the country in the late sixties as the war in Viet Nam reached its full fury was still several years away.

Kenny Montgomery and his ageless Super Stockers

 

 

 

1965. The height of the Civil Rights era. The United States was just beginning to ratchet up military involvement in South East Asia. The Soul Survivors topped the charts with the hit, “Expressway to your Heart.” Sonny and Cher, the Rolling Stones, and the Dave Clark Five were but some of the major attractions that had made the grade by appearing on the Ed Sullivan Show. Television was also populated by such hit shows as Bonanza and Gunsmoke

It was the calm before the storm. Drug use was still rare, as the drug culture of the late sixties was only beginning to catch on, and the division and turmoil that would overrun the country in the late sixties as the war in Viet Nam reached its full fury was still several years away.

In the U.S, the manufacturer wars in drag racing were beginning to come to a boil. In those days, Detroit made great fanfare of each year’s new offerings to the public, and Plymouth was billing their models as the “Roarin’ 65s.” One of the models would be a drag racing-only Belvedere I sedan with taxi cab-like interiors and trim, outfitted with the famous 426 Hemi engine equipped with a cross-ram intake and two Holley four-barrel carburetors.

Unlike the 1964 “package” cars, which featured entire aluminum front ends, the 1965 models featured steel front ends. There were changes under the hood, however, as the infamous Hemi was now equipped with aluminum cylinder heads. With just a little work they were capable of ten-second time slips and were available to the general public through Chrysler/Plymouth dealerships. Along with their sister A990 Dodge package, which featured similarly equipped Coronets, that package would become legendary.

One of the original ’65 Plymouths would be delivered to a Chrysler/Plymouth dealer on Broad Street in Philadelphia, where a young man named Kenny Montgomery, of nearby Jenkintown, Pennsylvania, proudly took possession. It would soon be emblazoned with the number 555, or “triple nickel,” and would go on to become legendary for its success, being featured in numerous magazines and trade publications of the day.

Fast forward to Englishtown, New Jersey, forty years later. That same Plymouth, still emblazoned with the famous tri-five designation rolls to the starting line. Once the staging lights are lit, the driver coaxes the big Hemi to 5800 rpm, sidesteps the clutch, and hangs on as the big sedan jumps off the line, its front end pointing skyward. Heading down track, the pilot deftly flicks through the gears, and flashes past the stripe, tripping the timers at 9.15-seconds at over 148 mph. It’s an impressive pass for a sedan considered a behemoth by today’s standards.

 

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Behind the wheel, of course, is Kenny Montgomery, who still owns and drives one of the most famous Super Stock cars in the country. During his active racing career he recorded numerous National and Divisional event wins and records, and gained considerable notoriety in the process. In 1997, he was inducted into the Super Stock Hall of Fame, and in 2005 was recognized as a member of the NHRA Division 1 Hall of Fame.

“I started racing at the age of 13, when they were holding tenth-mile drags on the front stretch of old Hatfield Speedway, in Hatfield, Pennsylvania,” said Montgomery. “I had a ‘39 Ford coupe that I had bought for fifteen dollars. My brother had a ‘39 Mercury. When he replaced the original engine with one out of a ’40 Mercury, he gave me his old engine and I dropped it into my Ford. I had a great time with that car.

“Later, I built a ‘29 Ford roadster with a 348-inch Chevy engine, and we ran that a lot at the old Langhorne Speedway. They had a weird D-shaped oval there, and they ran a drag strip right through the center.” That ‘29, with is ‘W’ Chevy powerplant, wound up holding the eighth-mile record at 98.253 mph and was a regular race winner in drag racing’s formative years. “Flagmen started us back in the old days, although Langhorne had an old stoplight hanging over the track. You just had to leave when you saw green; there was no warning. If you were not ready, you would be really late,” Montgomery said with a laugh.”

In those days the hot rod movement was struggling for legitimacy. It was the mid-1950s and most young hot rodders were looked upon as lawless, out-of-control delinquents, no better than dope addicts or pickpockets. Support came from many unexpected sources, however. “We had a high school English teacher named Mary Grace Ambler who helped us by sponsoring our car club, the Golden Hawks,” said Montgomery. “She helped by getting us good publicity, arranging for us to appear on the Frank Ford Show, and filming us in action for presentation on Channel 3. We had courtesy cards, which were given out when we helped stranded motorists. That club was one of the charter clubs of the NHRA, and eventually grew to over 200 members.”

Montgomery’s dad was the technical editor of Motor Age magazine, one of the leading automotive publications of the time, and he was instrumental in shaping his son’s future career. “Dad came home one day and told me that I ought to sell my hot rod stuff, as he had seen a press release regarding the new Plymouth drag race package cars for 1965,” Montgomery said.

“We figured it would be a good idea to become involved with the Hemi program, because my dad was friends with Jack Werst, who was a Chrysler factory rep and a well known racer of the day. Jack pointed us in the right direction, and I was able to sell my hot rod stuff and everything else I owned for enough to buy the Plymouth. The rest is history.” 

 

 

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Right out of the box Montgomery enjoyed considerable success, quickly becoming one of the big hitters on the NHRA’s Northeast Division Super Stock circuit, a circuit rich in heavy hitters. It featured the likes of Dave Strickler, Bill “Grumpy” Jenkins, Jack Werst, Bob Harrop, Ed Miller, and Bill Stiles, among others.

Around 1973, Diamond Racing Engines out of Detroit developed the famous Diamond modifications for the cross-ram intakes, and the cars picked up some more. “They had opened up the interconnection area between the carburetors, and it really showed some promise,” said Montgomery. “I took our Plymouth to test in Florida before the Gatornationals, and it spun very badly in first gear, but really hooked hard in second. I figured the traction at Gainesville would be a good bit better, and it was. The record for these cars was around 10.70, and I went 10.35 the first pass at Gainesville. The second pass was even quicker, and qualified us number one. I went on to win the Gators, setting the record at 10.34 and defeating Charlie Taylor in the final.”

Upon his return to Pennsylvania, Montgomery received a phone call from Dave Koffell, who was running the Chrysler drag racing program at the time. “They were really concerned, as was I, because at that time they were not using class indexes like they do now. The record was your index, and I had really bombed it badly at Gainesville. To tell the truth, it would have still run quicker, because we had run as quick as 10.19 down there. Everyone was really protective of the record, because it affected all of the other Chrysler cars in the class, especially when they ran the overall Super Stock Eliminator.

“Our car came from the factory with a Torqueflite automatic transmission, so Dave asked me if I would consider replacing it with a four-speed and run in SS/B rather than SS/BA, which I eventually did.”

The change to a four-speed was not without problems, however, as a high-horsepower, high-torque engine in a big sedan can cause breakage problems when coupled with a stick transmission. “We broke everything there is to break for a while,” recalled Montgomery, “but we did get it straightened out.”

In late 1975, Montgomery located Jack Werst’s old “Mr. 5 & 50” Belvedere in Allentown, Pennsylvania. “We updated that car, and used it in the summer of 1976. We won Maple Grove Dragway’s ‘Super Stock Spectacular’ race in August, beating George Cureton in the final. It was one of the largest independent events of the time, and after winning it we figured we were ready for Indy.” At Indianapolis, though, disaster struck. “I was turning off the return road and was hit by Dean Nicopolis, another Hemi racer. He didn’t see me, and hit me pretty hard. It rolled the car over, and tore it up pretty good. The car’s racing days were over, but I still have it. In fact, it‘s for sale, and it has all the right numbers and documentation that any collector would want.”

After the mishap, Kenny brought his original Belvedere out of retirement, and continues to race it to this day. The car has continued to post big wins, taking the 1998 Keystone Nationals in Reading, Pa., beating a field of 128 cars. “The highlight of that event was beating Peter Biondo by 1/1,000 of a second in the semifinals.”

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The famed Triple Nickel continues to be a big winner at Super Stock events on the East Coast, where doorslammer racing is king. At the recent Pennsylvania Dutch Classic, held at Maple Grove, the big sedan waded deep into Super Stock eliminations before bowing out.

No story of Kenny Montgomery would be complete without mentioning the other famous car, the SS/A 1968 Hemi Cuda that was also bought new. “I went to Detroit and picked it up; it is also one of the originals,” said Montgomery. “We ran it in the early days of Pro Stock, and it won quite a bit. As we are both from the same area, we raced Bill “Grumpy” Jenkins quite a bit. I remember one particular match race with him at Atco, New Jersey. We went seven rounds, and won five of them. I red-lighted on one, and simply was late on another, but we won the other five.”

Montgomery and the Barracuda also won the York and Maple Grove Divisional Pro Stock events, and in 1972 he won the Division 1 Pro Stock Circuit. “We were also successful against the national guys,” he said. “I remember racing Ronnie (Sox) at Atco, leading him almost to the stripe but he just nipped me.” The Cuda later ran in A/Modified Production, and was very successful in that category as well. “That car, too, is still sitting in the shop, but we haven’t run it since 1975.” A reproduction of the famed Cuda is available to collectors through www.supercar1.com. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of these die-cast beauties will benefit the Ronnie Sox Foundation, which has been founded to assist children with cancer and is a charity strongly supported by Montgomery. These days, Montgomery is heavily involved in nostalgia racing. “There are a lot of new people, but ‘Beaver Bob‘ (the owner/operator of Beaver Springs Dragway in Pennsylvania) is the absolute best at producing and promoting nostalgia racing. His programs are terrific, and there are none better,” he said, adding ”the nostalgia movement owes much of its popularity to Frank Spittle, one of the pioneers of the entire nostalgia scene. Darwin Doll (NHRA Division 1 director of the day) and Bill Stiles have also stepped up, doing a tremendous job of keeping everything going.”

Montgomery rarely strays out of the Pennsylvania-New Jersey-Maryland area anymore, as there are plenty of events to run within three hours of his home near Philadelphia. “Super Stock racing has changed, with the sheer number of NHRA events,” he said. “At one time, there would be thirty cars in each class, and winning class was more important than winning the event itself.”

The resurgence of Hemi racing, especially in Darts and Barracudas, has also not gone unnoticed. “We are building a SS/AH Barracuda now - we have the chassis. We want to get involved with these Hemi shootouts, something that we cannot do with the Belvedere B body.”

Another reason for Montgomery’s limited activity is the sheer economic worth of an original Hemi race car. “These cars are worth a ton - it is amazing.” The further development of modern equipment also puts some of the older cars at a disadvantage. “We can run Manley rods, that weigh the same as the original Hemi stuff, and the new pistons are better, but the EFI cars with the computers have an advantage. I still feel good, though, and I still feel competitive, so we will continue to do it for a while longer.”

Montgomery is also very grateful for all the help he has received over the years. “My wife, Angie, is the best. My dad, Jack Montgomery, has been so supportive from the very beginning. Kenny Jr., my son has been absolutely fabulous about the work involved, and keeping the car prepared. My other sons, Shawn and Scott, as well as my daughter Stacey, are very supportive. I could never have done this without their love and support.” Kenny is also very excited about the Junior Dragster effort keeping the youngest of the Montgomery family involved in drag racing. “My grandchildren, Morgan and Taylor Valera, and Amanda, Amber, and Angela Montgomery are going to be the next generation of us hitting the strip. So the Montgomery’s will be sticking around for a while.”

By “sticking around” Montgomery is keeping an open link to drag racing’s history alive in a new era of the sport. When his big Hemi roars to life, and the big sedan thunders down the macadam, the past comes alive in front of thousands who were not around the day the Belvedere rolled off of Chrysler’s assembly line. While these pachyderm-powered B bodies are plentiful at nostalgia events, they are relatively few in number at large NHRA events of the current period.

In this day of small cars and small engines, seeing that piece of American history slug its way into the winner’s circle is refreshing indeed.

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