From the April 17, 1976 edition of Drag News

READING, PA (Mar. 28) – Under brilliant, sunny skies, a near capacity crowd jammed into Maple Grove Dragway to witness the Pro Stock portion of the four-event Spring all Pro series. Pro Stock racing is usually marked by exciting, super-close competition, but when Sunday’s event was all over, the fans talked more about the near crashes by Wayne Gapp, Larry Lombardo and Don Campanello.

Lombardo took two rounds in his match with Wayne Gapp, recording times of 8.47, 160.14 and 8.44, 160.42; the fastest and quickest times ever for the Grumpy’s Toy Monza of Bill Jenkins. Pat Musi outlasted a dozen entries to win the open Pro Stock feature.

While Lombardo was streaking to record times, Gapp suffered from suspension maladies in his newly completed Pinto, nearly scraping the guard rail on several occasions. Not one to give up easily, Gapp made several between-rounds appearances on the starting line, and finally straightened things out with a strong 8.73, 156.25, only to lose to Lombardo’s 8.44 effort.

Carl Hobson’s ‘Super Fats’ Camaro filled in for Gapp in round two, and recorded a great legal-weight 8.88, 153.06, defeating Lombardo in the process.

Lombardo had a hair-raiser in that one, as he spun his tires through his own water, nearly colliding with the tree, and then just missed the guard rail.

READING, PA (Mar. 28) – Wayne Gapp’s Pinto suffered all sorts of suspension problems in All-Pro opener, darting first to the right and later to the left. After a long afternoon of thrashing he finally turned a 8.73 at 156. (Marv Yeager photo)

READING, PA (Mar. 28) – All-Pro Series opener featured three-round match race between Larry Lombardo and Wayne Gapp, saw the Monza record a best-ever 8.44/160.42