We all know the story of Syracuse 1980, when Gary Balough and Kenny Weld showed up with the Batmobile and proceed to dust the field. What doesn't get mentioned much were the small hand full of teams that decide to take their cars are alter them to try and compete against the 112. Here are some before and after pictures of those cars. Please jump in if you know any stories or were part of any of these teams. NOTE: There was one car there that week that goes under the radar. It's the #3 of Statewide driven by Jimmy Horton. That car came to the track with an aero package. Here we go!

Merv Treichler: Before

AFTER:

FRANK COZZE: BEFORE

AFTER:

GEOFF BODINE: BEFORE

AFTER:

KENNY BRIGHTBILL: BEFORE

AFTER: 

BUZZIE REUTIMANN: BEFORE

AFTER: 

I was there Lenny and I was AMAZED at seeing the transformation the crews did to many cars virtually overnight...some down right ugly...others were rather well done..JMNSHO

Lenny- Thank you for posting some great photos of the hot rods that were altered in an attempt to compete with Gary's 112, apparently with little success as it turned out.  The 112 not only left its mark on Syracuse but changed the modified racing game forever.  Scott Ely

With all the detail on the #3, I'd say it showed up like that to the track. Could they really get that much detail done in such a short amount of time?

Wish I had a truck load of sheet metal for sale that weekend.

Thanks for posting. Very interesting.

Horton's Statewide 3 showed up looking like that, no transformation at the track. His car was designed to cut through the air, not using it for downforce. Glenn Smith shook it down at Bridgeport the week before. I always marveled at how Brightbill's additional sheet metal was perfectly lettered just like the original. This was before the days of carrying spare bodies with you. Turns out his lettering guy, Paige Davidheiser, happened to be there with his paint box, lettered it in a barn.

Thanks for confirming Rick!
I too had the same thoughts as you and John regarding the transformation.

No we did not qualify that year...JB was trying some new motor tech as they disallowed our head setup from 1977 that was fast..We never got the motor to run good enough to be near the front so we loaded up and went home...We never went there just to get in the show...The previous year I ran Rios r10 , qualified 18th and ran 6 laps and had a fire under the hood..that ended that run...HtH

It looks like Billy wasn't racing there in 1980.

I think Billy was driving the #121 that year and maybe they weren't fielding a car for Syracuse in 1980?  (Not sure.)

Here's one from R. Scott that was labeled Syracuse 1979.

Billy Pauch at Syracuse - 1979 - R. Scott photo/provided to The Vault by R. Scott.

Here's one from the Vault that fits into the discussion:

http://www.3widespicturevault.com/80spisc&vitals/c03.12.06_099_BOD_SYR_0080_1.htm

I remember being there and being told that the officials said the cars had to be lettered and presentable. I can remember who it was but I remember someone saying they needed to find Bill Neimic so he could letter the car over night. I'm sure Bill was in good shape to do a lettering job. 

I was only able to find the top 3 for the 1980 race. Gary Balough 1st, Buzzie Reutimann 2nd, Frank Cozze 3rd. I think Merv finished 5th.  

Here is a link to the results. Ken Brenn, Jr was the first "traditional" modified across the line In 5th.

https://www.thethirdturn.com/wiki/1980_Schaefer_International_200