1001 Drag Racing Facts. Doug Boyce
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Название: 1001 Drag Racing Facts
Автор: Doug Boyce
Издательство: Ingram
Жанр: Автомобили и ПДД
isbn: 9781613252758
isbn:
23 In 1956, Robert “Jocko” Johnson put his renowned West Coast porting service on the back burner and went to work developing drag racing’s first fully enclosed fiberglass streamliner. Powered by a Jazzy Jim Nelson–built, 450-inch blown Hemi topped by eight Strombergs on nitro, the 1,800-pound streamliner managed a best of 8.35 at 178.21 mph in May 1959 before the body finally disintegrated. Not discouraged, Jocko went to work on an aluminum-bodied streamliner, which debuted in 1964. Powered by an Allison aircraft engine, the new streamliner proved to be too heavy to be competitive and quickly faded from the limelight. Restored by Jocko in 1987, the innovative streamliner resides today in the Don Garlits Museum of Drag Racing.
24 Earlier attempts at slicing a cleaner path through the air included the Cortopassi brothers’ well-designed Glass Slipper. Built in 1954 with the help of Doug Butler, it has been credited as being the first dragster to incorporate a streamlined body with an enclosed cockpit. Dick Katayanagi laid on a gorgeous burgundy paint job, which helped win the most beautiful competition car at the 1957 Oakland Roadster show. Although the brothers, Ed and Roy, switched from flathead power to a 301 Chevy after a couple seasons, at the second annual NHRA Nationals, they used both the flathead and Chevy engines during qualifying. For eliminations, they opted to go with the flathead because it proved to be the most consistent. Ed set a high-speed mark of 141.50 mph during the meet and took home the winning prize, which, ironically, was a small-block Chevy. Glass Slipper topped 160 in the quarter and 180 at Bonneville before being parked in 1963.
25 The bullet-shaped A/Dragster, Hustler 1, of Art Chrisman and Frank Cannon can take credit for being the first to break the 180-mph barrier, although I’m sure Garlits would have something to say about that. Chrisman hit 181.81 mph in 8.54 seconds at Riverside on February 15, 1959. According to Drag News, weather conditions were ideal and the track had just been certified. Chrisman took home $300 that day for grabbing Top Eliminator and a $25 bond for top speed.
26 Hustler 1 also holds the honor of winning A/Dragster class at the first Bakersfield U.S. Fuel and Gas Championship on March 1, 1959. Chrisman, in the 454-inch blown Hemi-powered rail, faced Tony Waters’ equally impressive blown Hemi A/Modified Roadster in the anticipated final. With night falling, Chrisman blasted out an easy 9.36 at 140.50-mph victory. Tony was left in the weeds, literally, as he was forced to backpedal after becoming crossed up.
27 In what has to be a first and probably a last in a drag racing final eliminator, Jack Chrisman had to race himself during a meet at Bakersfield in July 1959. You see, Jack wore two hats that day, I mean helmets. He won AOG class in Sidewinder and also grabbed A/D in the Howard, Hawkins & Gireth blown dragster. It was an obvious win-win situation for Jack, who chose to pull Sidewinder out of the Top Eliminator final handing the win to . . . himself.
28 In 1960, no Chevy rail was quicker than the one campaigned by Northern Californians Ted “Curly” Cyr and Bill Hopper. With Cyr behind the wheel, the 338-ci B/Dragster clocked 162 mph on gas and 175.43 mph on fuel. The pair grabbed Top Eliminator victory at the NHRA Nationals in 1958 and in 1960 and won Top Fuel at the Bakersfield Fuel and Gas Championship. The same year, they were recognized as having the second most popular rail behind Garlits’ Swamp Rat. Unlike Garlits’ Swamp Rat 1B, which survives today, the Cyr-Hopper rail was lost in a late-1960 accident.
29 In May 1960, Cyr clocked what was reported to be the first 7-second pass, a controversial 7.962 at Fremont Raceway. The controversy is that it was recorded a year before Garlits’ universally accepted 7.88 time.
30 In 1960, a tall Texan, Eddie Hill, set his first NHRA record when his twin 422-inch Pontiac-powered A/Gas dragster, Texas Tornado, clipped off an 8.84.
Good ol’ Eddie Hill was never afraid to step outside the box. How about a twin Pontiac short-wheelbase slingshot with four slicks, which literally tore up tracks. Eddie’s a proven winner, be it drag racing, boats, or bikes.
31 On April 9, 1988, Eddie became the first to break into the 4s when he propelled his Dave Uyehara–chassis Super Shops–sponsored T/Fueler to a 4.99 at 288.55 mph during a IHRA event at the Texas Motorplex. At the time, it made Eddie the fastest on land and on water (229 mph).
32 Who was in the other lane when Eddie Hill clocked his record-setting 4.99? None other than Gene “the Snowman” Snow. And when Snow ran NHRA’s first 4-second pass (4.99) at the Supernationals in Houston on October 6, 1988, who do you think was in the opposing lane? Yup, Eddie Hill.
33 In 1962, Hill became the first to break 200 mph on gas when he hit 202.70 mph at Hobbs, New Mexico. Eddie was driving his twin-blown Pontiac rail, which also featured twin drivelines and four 8-inch-wide slicks on the rear. The car was later stretched to a 160-inch wheelbase in a failed attempt to improve handling and keeping the front wheels on the ground.
Eddie Hill lays a whooping on the competition at the 1988 IHRA Fall Nationals. Eddie and his wife, Ercie, led the way into the magical 4s. (Photo Courtesy Allen Tracy)
34 Eddie drag raced through 1966 before parting with his dragster. He went motorcycle racing through 1974 to promote Eddie Hill’s Fun Cycles. He raced speedboats through 1984, becoming the first in the 5-second bracket before returning to drag racing in 1985. Surprisingly, Eddie’s first national event win didn’t come until the 1988 NHRA Gatornationals, where (at age 52) he defeated Joe Amato with a 5.066.
35 Chet Herbert (Herbert Cams) and Zane Shubert started 1961 right by winning the AHRA winter meet with their twin Chevy-powered AA/FD dragster. Chet assembled the twin small-block Chevys, supplied to him by Chevrolet’s own Zora Arkus-Duntov. The bore and stroke of each was 4.25 x 4.125, giving 454 inches. Herbert and Shubert met up with Ed Garlits at the AHRA Championship at Green Valley, Texas, where Zane won Top Eliminator even though one of his precious small-blocks self-destructed in the process.
36 When it came to the unorthodox in dragster design, Chet came up with one of the best. How about a pair of rear-mounted sidewinder Chevys? In 1961, this ill-handling AA/F dragster clocked a best of 168 mph. The two 450-inch Chevys were connected via 3 flywheels, 52 clutch disks, and a pair of spider gears with the rear engine running the wheels.
37 Tommy Ivo was the first traveling professional racer, hitting the road in 1960 with his twin Buick rail and a young Don Prudhomme. With Ivo jokingly referring to Don as his tire wiper, the pair headed east and made ten stops in three short months. The car was a huge hit, which sparked the idea for the four-engine Showboat. And the thought behind building a four-engine rail? Says Tommy, “I figured that if they liked two engines, they’d like four better.”