How do you slow down 3500 lbs of Detroit Iron, once pushed above 200 mph on a track like Le Mans in 1976 ? The answer is to use Hurst Airheart brakes! Their use on Winston Cup cars was pionnered by Holman-Moody and, guess who, Pat McElreath in the early 70s. When most NASCAR racers considered using disc brakes on road courses and shorter tracks, the Airheart brake from HURST was the hot ticket. Pat McElreath converted quite a few Winston West cars in his Mollala, OR shop during the 1974-75 off-season. In Le Mans, three out of four american V8 racers where so equipped in 1976: the Greenwwod Corvette, the Monza and the Charger. Only the Torino still relied on metallic lining drum brakes. Here you can see these HURST brakes mounted on the Monza. If you look closely (click on picture to enlarge) you can see the inner ventilation of the discs, hence the name Airheart. Yes, they are huge!
Photo Jeff Chiron, Le Mans 1976
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