1001 Drag Racing Facts. Doug Boyce

Чтение книги онлайн.

СКАЧАТЬ mph. In the only NHRA all-Ford Top Fuel final, Prudhomme defeated Sneaky Pete with a 6.92 at 222.76 mph.

      77 Ford Motor Company had its fair share of dragstrip winners in the 1960s, building everything from Stockers to Super Stockers to Funny Cars. One effort that the company could have done without was the Super Mustang dragster. The exercise proved little more than to showcase how not to build a dragster. Powered by an injected SOHC 427, the rail featured a 150-inch Logghe chassis that carried a live rear axle. It was unusual for the day because almost every dragster had a solid-mounted rear suspension. The chassis was wrapped in an all-fiberglass body, designed and wind-tunnel tested by Ford’s design group. Tom McEwen, who barely fit in the car, had to literally squeeze himself into the enclosed cockpit. Appearing at the 1967 NHRA Winternationals, McEwen managed a less-than-spectacular 8.60 at 180 mph. Many may remember Super Mustang gracing the May 1967 cover of Car Craft. From behind a plexiglass front grille was a galloping Mustang, no doubt trying to leave the scene. The car quickly disappeared, being sold to Mickey Thompson and stayed in hiding until it was sold at auction in 2004 for a cool $154,000.

      78 At Indy in 1967, a bearded Garlits finally broke into the 6s. Back when only four national events were in the season, Garlits had already failed to qualify his Swamp Rat 10 at the NHRA season-opening Winternationals. Failing to qualify at the following Springnationals, Garlits decided he wasn’t going to shave until he broke into the 6s. A new car was built prior to Indy where finally he qualified (23rd in the 32-car field) and made rounds with 7.0 times. Saving his best for last, in a final-round appearance against James Warren, Garlits tripped the clocks with an unreal 6.77, leaving Warren’s 6.95 in his wake. After his ABC interview, Garlits wheeled back up to the start line, whipped out his razor, and shaved off the beard on the spot, to the approval of the roaring crowd.

      79 Most stories fail to mention that not only did Garlits beat Warren in the finals, he defeated Tom McEwen in the semifinals. The significance of that? Well, McEwen turned Garlits onto the new sticky M&H slicks prior to their runoff and Coburn helped Garlits set up his slipping clutch. What’s the old saying? No good deed goes unpunished?

      80 On July 16, 1967, 17-year-old Dale Pulde climbed into Skip Watson’s Junior Fueler and defeated 19-year-old Ray Angeleri at the Pond. Watson, released from serving Uncle Sam, left the Chevy rail to wrench for Glenn Dobbs and Pulde, who had previously run his own 396-powered 1957 Chev. A future Funny Car marvel, Pulde took his big break and ran with it, defeating Angeleri with an 8.40 at 187.67 mph.

      81 The popular Der Wienerschnitzel Top Fuel mount of Jim Nicoll and Don Cook out of San Diego could really draw a crowd, on the street or strip. The low-7-second ride enjoyed the sponsorship of the popular chain of hot dog restaurants, and when not at the track, the rail could often be seen displayed at any one of the restaurant’s numerous outlets. One night during the summer of 1967, Nicoll decided to give the patrons an extra taste of Der Wienerschnitzel. With the cooperation of San Diego’s finest, the alley off of Mission Boulevard was blocked off and Nicoll proceeded to let the mustard fly! By the time he’d finished his little cookout, a few hundred onlookers were lining the alley, hungry for more.

      82 Although Cook & Nicoll was one of the first teams to enjoy support from a nonautomotive company (the Wienerschnitzel chain of restaurants), the Southern California T/F team of Nelson & Pratt had one of the more envious support teams. Their sponsorship came courtesy of San Diego’s Lamplighter Topless Night Club. Sorry folks, being a family-friendly book, photos of the “crew” cannot be shared.

      83 In 1968, Bennie “the Wizard” Osborn became the first drag racer to win back-to-back world championships. Driving his 392-powered Woody Gilmore dragster, Bennie defeated Prudhomme in 1967 with a 7.03, and in 1968, he took out John Mulligan with a 7.05. What a year 1968 proved to be for the Wizard; he also won a number of AHRA events and won a $14,000 match race against McEwen at OCIR, which at the time was the largest pot offered for such a race. In total, Bennie won six T/F eliminator titles in 1968. Could things or would things get any better for Bennie? I’m afraid not. This proved to be his peak season.

      84 When you go to the Larry Dixon Racing Internet home page, Larry Dixon Sr. isn’t mentioned much. That’s odd. The empire started with Senior, and without his infectious passion, there would have been none of Larry Dixon Jr.’s three world championships. The roots of the empire go back to Senior’s first major win, which took place at the Hot Rod Magazine race at Riverside in 1969. Driving the Howards Cam Rattler, Larry put away a cocky low qualifier, Steve Carbone, who gave the victory sign before the race even started. Larry’s winning time was an easy 7.23 at 205.94 mph. And Carbone? He broke on the line.

      85 Downey, California’s Steve Carbone became the first T/F driver to win both the AHRA and NHRA championships in the same season when he accomplished the feat in 1969. He took the NHRA crown driving Larry Huff’s Soapy Sales Fueler by defeating Dave Chenevert and repeated a week later driving the Creitz-Donovan rail to AHRA victory over Preston Davis.

      86 Lasting memories are sometimes made of incidents you’d just as soon forget. Take this Joe Medina story for instance. Joe was a crewman for Jim Dunn in 1969 and was lending a hand, backing up Dunn’s rainbow rail during a matchup against Leland Kolb at Orange County. After the warmup burnouts, crewmen had to push or pull the cars back to the line. Well, poor ol’ Joe must have lost his footing because he fell under the right slick and was promptly run over by the boss. As told in an interview with Drag News, Dunn thought he had lost a wheel or run over the lights. Outside of a bruised ego, Joe was okay. Dunn was noted to say, “We gave him a beer to cure the pain.”

      87 The multihued car of Dunn & Reath was Dunn’s final foray in Top Fuel and he closed out the 1969 season having won Bakersfield and the Division 7 points championship with the Woody Gilmore car. Funny Cars were next up for the pair.

      88 Don Johnson and Roy Fjastad’s Beachcomber dragster took Top Fuel at 1969 NHRA Springnationals with a 6.80 at 214.79 mph. Driven by Hank Westmoreland, the Ed Pink 392-powered Beachcomber was one of the first rails into the 6s. Previous big wins by the team included the 1966 Las Vegas Invitational and Mickey Thompson’s 200-mph championship race at Lions. Today, the Beachcomber name lives on in the form of a Nostalgia nitro ’Cuda.

      89 By 1969, the 10-year-old team of Dave Powers and John Riley had established themselves as an inventive pair. They had won the UDRA Championship (one of two for them) in 1968 and revolutionized the sport with a pair of home-grown inventions. They brought the reverser and the adjustable clutch to Top Fuel. The reverser allowed the long, across-the-start-line smoky burnouts without having to be pushed all the way back. The clutch allowed the car to be set up to specific track conditions.

      90 Top Gas racer Domenic Anthony (D. A.) Santucci graduated from running Altereds to dragsters in 1965. His newfound success carried into 1969 where he opened with a win at the AHRA Springnationals. The momentum carried to Indy for the NHRA Nationals where D. A. must have been a favorite to win his category. Celebrating his low qualifying 7.58 the night before the class finals, D. A. joined fellow racers hopping from one sponsor’s hotel suite to another, taking in a nightcap or two.

       Now D. A. wasn’t much of a drinker, and by the time he found his way back to his room, he was feeling no pain. Morning came too early for D. A. and he had to rush out the door to make class runoffs. Suffering from a little “cotton breath,” D. A. popped in a stick of Wrigley’s. But prior to his run, he forgot to spit out the gum, and when he nailed the throttle on the green light, the gum lodged in his throat. No panic for D. A. as he figured when he popped the chute after his 7.66 run, it would dislodge the gum.

       Well, it didn’t quite work out that way, and when the chute came out, the gum stayed put. D. A. brought the car to a quick halt and with his consciousness seemingly fading, alerted track officials that he was in dire need of assistance. They quickly loaded the fading D. A. into an ambulance and rushed him off to hospital. By СКАЧАТЬ