History Drag cars in motion.......picture thread.

Would anyone have any pictures of the Coupe in the far lane or information on it?
If so, please let me know.
Thank you.

 

This is the Coupe that I would like to have any information on.

 

JR-THOMPSON After winning the first ever Little Eliminator title at the 1958 U.S. Nationals in Oklahoma with a BG 41 Studebaker, Jr. Thompson raced this record-setting BG 41 Willys through 1964.



Thompson started a new trend when he built this short-wheelbase ’50 Austin for A/GS competition in 1965.

 

Ade Knyff's Mule Train at Sanford, Maine

 

My friend, the late Owen McKenney at the wheel of Tom Dawes' Freedom Machine. Think of him often and miss him terribly...

 

Helena Drag Strip. Pictured above are, left to right, Paul Contorno and Glen Houser with their 1953 Studebaker Commander in late 1963 at the Helena Drag Strip. The track, which started in the mid-1950s, operated until the mid-1960s and was one of the major tracks in the Southeast. The site is now occupied by subdivisions.

 

"School officials report that over the weekend, the entire horn section of the high school band came up missing from storage. There are no leads yet as to the mystery disappearance, save for one solitary greasy footprint."

 

Austin Coil honed his skills during his tenure with the Chi-Town Hustler team, which led to even more glory when he helped John Force win multiple NHRA Mello Yello Funny Car championships.




One of the landmark cars that Chrisman piloted was the famed No. 25 entry that he bought in 1949. It was originally built by Harry Lewis from a ’28 Chevrolet frame in the early 1930s and is believed to be the world’s oldest surviving hot rod.

Chrisman first was partners with driver Leroy Neumeyer, but when Neumeyer was drafted to take part in the Korean War, Chrisman jumped behind the wheel.
After stretching the original wheelbase from 90 to 110 inches, Chrisman drove the early model Chrysler-powered entry to the sport's first 140-mph clocking at Santa Ana. Because of the historic run and other accomplishments, the No. 25 entry was given the distinct privilege of being the first vehicle to go down the track at the inaugural NHRA U.S. Nationals in Great Bend, Kan., in 1955.





Chrisman said that it was the idea of NHRA founder Wally Parks for him to make the ribbon-cutting pass. “At the time, I had no idea of what we were starting with NHRA’s first national event, but its significance certainly grew as the years went by,” said Chrisman.



Chrisman also noted the arrival of the slingshot dragsters of eventual winner Calvin Rice and Mickey Thompson at the event, which quickly rendered the No. 25 car obsolete. “We tried to modify the No. 25 into a slingshot car, but it would have looked so weird that we decided to build a new car from the ground up,” said Chrisman.

That new machine became the ultimate slingshot entry of its era, the memorable Hustler I. It was built with the assistance of Frank Cannon in the Chrisman & Sons garage in Compton, Calif., and attracted immediate attention by earning the Best Engineered Car award at the 1958 Nationals in Oklahoma.
The Hustler I quickly lived up to its advanced billing when it became the first dragster to break the 180-mph barrier in Riverside, Calif., and won the inaugural Bakersfield March Meet in 1959.
“The Bakersfield race was real big for us because we knew that all the big guys from California, as well as Don Garlits, would be there,” said Chrisman, who won with best times of 8.70 at 179.70 mph.


Chrisman went on to score Top Fuel runner-up finishes in Bakersfield in 1960 and 1961, and during the same period, his uncle Jack was racking up major victories in Top Eliminator at the inaugural Winternationals in Pomona in 1961 and the 1962 U.S. Nationals, which had just moved to its permanent home in Indianapolis one year earlier. Jack went on to campaign his revolutionary supercharged, tire-smoking Comet exhibition car in 1964 and one of Mercury's first Logghe Bros. chassis-equipped flip-top Funny Cars in 1966.

Chrisman, right, and his brother Lloyd were also very competitive dry lakers racers with their famed Bonneville coupe.




Some of the engine projects that Chrisman helped develop was Ford’s pushrod, small-block Indy 500 that was based on their 289-cid engine, which led to the very successful dual-overhead-cam powerplant that went on to dominate IndyCar racing for several years.


Cochran was forced to put his motorsports efforts on the back burner when he joined the U.S. Air Force for a five-year stint.





Leon Fitzgerald’s first fuel altered began life as an A/FA with an injected 402-cid small-block but later ran this supercharged 327, which placed it in AA/FA.




Fitzgerald’s original AA/FA was later given a new paint scheme with the name "Pure Heaven" in order to increase the rivalry with Rich Guasco and his potent Pure Hell entry.




The "Pure Heaven II" was built over the winter of 1965 to accommodate the just-released Chevrolet 427-cid big-block engine.





Jack Ditmars first gained national attention with his second Lil’ Screamer ’34 Ford, near lane, that he began racing in 1963. It dominated the fierce B/A class competition through 1967.




One of Dave Settles’ first rides was this seven-second injected A/FD that he ran at local Texas tracks with Larry Meyer.





One of Gas Ronda’s first factory rides with Ford was this ’62 Galaxie, equipped with a 406-cid engine with tri-power carburetion. Ronda was one of the few Ford campaigners who could keep pace with Chevy’s powerful 409s.




Though Jimmy King would later enjoy success with several Funny Car entries, his favorite rides were Top Fuel dragsters.




The crowning moment in King’s Top Fuel career was being greeted by NHRA founder Wally Parks in the 1971 Gatornationals winner’s circle.

 

Not only were identical twin brothers Gary and Jerry Mallicoat among the elite campaigners in the famed Gasser Wars of the 1960s, but they were among the first to apply turbocharger technology in a successful manner for drag racing purposes. After formally retiring from national event competition in 1981, they have remained relatively active in comparison to many of the counterparts of the era with their extensive efforts in nostalgia racing.




So the pair bought a ’40 Willys from a local police officer and obtained supercharged-engine mentoring services from “Bones” Balogh, who worked at Isky Cams while racing his own cars. Balogh put his own blown small-block Chevy in the Mallicoat's Willys and also took over as driver, but by 1962, Jerry resumed his duties behind the wheel, and after building a new 327-cid engine and installing a B&M four-speed hydro-stick transmission and fiberglass body components in late 1963, they finally had the equipment needed to compete at the national level.

Their potential was realized at the 1964 Winternationals when they won B/Gas Supercharged with a class-best 10.51, which enabled them to join the match race tour, where they frequently were paired against K.S. Pittman. They stopped at the U.S. Nationals on the way home and defeated John Mazmanian’s car during class eliminations but lost the trophy dash to Jack Merkel.

During that winter, they had a pivotal meeting with Bill Edwards, who was using the Isky shop dyno to test his 233-cid small-block Chevy Bonneville engine that ran with twin turbochargers. “We were very impressed with the power that he made, and we wanted to adapt this technology to the quarter-mile,” said Jerry. Helping them with the project were Ed Iskenderian and one of their neighbors, former Top Fuel racer Al Williams, who made the headers and intake manifold that had to be specially fabricated for turbocharger use.

Even though they had no track runs with the new combo, they dominated B/GS at the 1965 Winternationals, which earned them a shot on the cover of Super Stock & Drag Illustrated. It appeared that they were now in position to rule the gasser ranks for years to come, but the arrival of the wild Funny Cars quickly eclipsed the popularity of the traditional vintage-bodied hot rods, and match race dates were accordingly reduced. This prompted the Mallicoats to sell their equipment and step away from racing.

 

Billy needs his own page LOL.

At age 16, Billy Scott was competing against drag racing’s best, including Don Prudhomme, at the Hot Rod Meet in 1965.



One of Scott’s many rides was John Peters’ famed twin-engine Freight Train Top Gas dragster.




Scott received a performance award from Linda Vaughn at the 1966 Bakersfield March Meet. He is enjoying himself and can't wait to kiss her LOL.

 

Who?

 

One of my favorite "Jr. Fuelers"

Pat

 

The car is the US Turbine 1 and the driver should be George "Stone Age Man" Hutcheson although in this shot the trademark plumed helmet is not in evidence. All the prior shots that I have seen of this car in action have George at the wheel as he was the only driver to make successful runs in the car. Maybe this was one of the 8 earlier drivers.

Roo

 

The Hangin High topless 55 is currently being run by the Pruitt family of Springfield, OR. It has been painted and has a more level stance.
an

 

More level stance? Why?

 

Lots to look at on this one. Perfect.