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Ron, Of course all the things about the timing, location, etc., are true. But at big events cars ran all day long and from et comparisons you could at least extract a modest guide to the strength of a car in competition. The report on the Ohio dragstrip had Ed Lyons consistently out running some big name racers that day with all runs amazingly consistent on speed. I was not there but have talked to an eyewitness Jim Talbot of Tennessee, he claimed that other well known racers were very upset that that day because they had nothing for the reserved and quiet Lyons, he had simply raised the bar too high. Rumors of cheating claimed he was running a Chrysler engine, but the car was all Dodge. Why should this be so hard to believe after its stellar performance at Daytona? Everyone ran in the same conditions and timing setup and they were unable to keep up or set records. Ed was like 10 mph faster, that's a very big spread...... I see photos of D500 cars like Arnie Beeswick with a hood full of trophies, he had to be running somewhere..... I know that the old manual was bad but with hardened gears and the taxi pinion they could handle a lot more than one might think. It could be that a D500-1 cars tranny was available with harder gears than stock. Case in point, after I rebuilt my engine the tranny was in need of freshening up and I decided to put in a new first gear. Installed it, ran fine, no audible gear noise but the first time I mashed on the gas it destroyed the new gear and only the new gear. I then reinstalled the old first gear its edges reground by an old timer and it has been mashed on quite a bit with no problems. Visually the old gear had a distinct platinum color to it as opposed to the shinier new gear, although I'm not sure of the differences I think there must be something. Furthermore, I was told by Dennis Kennedy and Jim Talbot that Ed was getting direct factory help on parts and tires which could have given a big edge. Ed Lyons commented on the 57 D501 saying that it was too nose heavy to get a good launch constantly, and in drag racing grip is key. Ron, I sure respect your knowledge, but come on, with the showing at Daytona and the runs by Ed Lyons, nascar wins and poles all this adds up to a ground breaking performer. Example after example can be cited from many areas, Frank Mundy set the fastest lap in qualifying for the first nascar roadrace at Road America in Wisconsin, a D500-1 pole that was never realized because rules allowed transfer of the pole to a teammate Buck Baker in a 300B who was in a tight race for the Championship, I mean hey, we are talking old school suspension on a road course, acceleration had a big role in this pole. The list of outstanding performance is too broad to say that the car set records by a fluke. To me it is clear that In the very high levels of the racing scene for 56 the D500 was there and many times on top. How can it be compared to a 426 Hemi car! Maybe just by saying Who's Your Daddy. PS Likewise, Ron, I really try not to take this all to seriously so don't get upset with me if you disagree it's just my opinion too and I may be wrong. Tim 56 D500-1
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