1001 Drag Racing Facts. Doug Boyce
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was never rebuilt and Lindwall retired from drag racing after the crash.
68 Nye Frank’s Pulsator was one sexy dragster. Although it won the Best Engineered Car award at the 1965 NHRA Winternationals, it never really ran up to expectations. Nye had initially paired with John Peters to build the Top Gas twin-engine Freight Train and hoped the success would carry over into Top Fuel with Pulsator. Built similar to Freight Train with tandem injected small-block Chevys, Nye took it up a notch by wrapping the rail in a sleek outer shell, which enclosed the engines and driver’s compartment. Driven by Bob Muravez (aka Floyd Lippencott Jr.), Pulsator became the first twin-engine Chevy to top 200 mph when it hit 201.78 at Drag City at Fontana. The fiberglass-bodied dragster proved to be quite cumbersome and was eventually ditched, ending up some years later as a Hemi-powered snowmobile. Ice Kutter was dubbed the world’s fastest snowmobile.
69 The first NHRA Springnationals was held in July 1965 at Bristol, Tennessee. The Top Gas final came down to Pete Robinson and Gordon Collett. In a show of ultimate sportsmanship, Collett gave up his good Hemi to Kenny Hirata before the semifinals, and just before blowing his own engine. Collett had no choice but to rebuild his engine in his motel parking lot overnight prior to the finals. Getting the job done in time, Collett faced Pete Robinson in the final. In a repeat of Indy 1965, Collett collected the win, putting away a fading Robinson with an easy 8.47 at 185.94 mph.
70 The members of the Surfers Top Fuel team were not surfers at all, but compared to the crew-cut set, they were long hairs who had their act and engines together while other teams thrashed away. How’d they do it? According to team member Tom Jobe in a Hot Rod interview, they kept their engines together by studying and understanding the characteristics of nitro, which helped avoid continuous teardowns. The Surfers figured out how to run up to 97 or 98 percent without scattering their engines, whereas most could only run 60 to 70 percent and hope to keep it together. Higher loads meant more power. More power and a driver with the skill of Mike Sorokin helped propel the team to a win at Bakersfield in 1966.
71 On August 1, 1965, the Canadian Frantic Four’s AA/FD becomes the first Canadian rail to crack the 7-second barrier. Driver Fred Farndon drove the Hemi to a 7.76 clocking at Ontario’s Mohawk Raceway.
72 You have to love the stories behind the names; for instance, Fearless Fred Forkner’s Quarterhorse. Well, American Indians at one time bred quarter horses and for Fred, who was one-quarter Cherokee and whose car covered the quarter-mile in plenty of hurry with plenty of horses, the name seemed appropriate.
The unmistakable, George Hutchenson’s Stone Age Man. George was a true entertainer, driving rails to Altereds to exhibition cars. (Photo Courtesy Dave Davis)
73 For George “Hutch” Hutcheson, The Stone Age Man wasn’t just a name on one of the 1960s most beautiful dragsters, but it was a whole persona. George had a vivid dream in 1968, one in which he saw a helmet, similar in style to that which a Roman centurion would have worn, and affixed to the helmet were 24 red plumes. Over the next couple weeks, George went to work building the helmet, which became part of the Stone Age Man persona. Thereafter, not a pass was made without the helmet.
74 To top the accolades of a handful of Southern California track records and a runner-up finish at the AHRA Winternationals, John “the Zookeeper” Mulligan drove the famed Adams & Warye dragster to NHRA’s first AA/FD 6-second ET in the first round of a match race against Tom “the Watchdog” Allen at Carlsbad, California, on October 9, 1966. Although a red-light run, John hit a 6.95 at 221.12 mph in the team’s Woody Gilmore Hemi-powered rail. In the second round, Mulligan shut off early after Allen blew and still managed a 7.17 ET.
75 Conrad “Connie” Kalitta was named Detroit Dragway’s Man of the Year for 1966 and with good reason. Kalitta survived a high-speed wreck of his Bounty Hunter late in the season, and as he recovered, he went to work on building a new SOHC Ford-powered rail. Completed prior to the AHRA Winter meet, Kalitta drove the virgin car around stiff competition to win all the marbles. A week later, he repeated his big win, taking the NHRA Winternationals over Glen Goleman with a 7.17. A trip to Florida immediately after saw him take the NASCAR winter meet.
76 Lou “Money” Baney, Ed Pink, and Don Prudhomme were a formidable trio in the mid-1960s with their SOHC Brand Ford Top Fueler. One of the team’s most memorable performances came at the 1967 NHRA Springnationals. Prudhomme not only won the event, he was the only competitor to break into the 6s. And he accomplished the feat every round. He started with a 6.99 at 220.04-mph defeat of Bub Reese and then coasted to a win against a broken Jimmy Nix. Mike Sorokin in Hawaiian was next to fall when Prudhomme hit 6.97 at 220.58 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