I'm the daughter of John Beechwood Jr, who was an NHRA drag racer from Jobstown & Mount Holly, NJ who raced in the 1950s and '60s. John (aka Beech) was most well known for his 1961 Pontiac wagon, The Expediter. I'm looking to connect with anyone who knew--or knew of--my dad or any of his cars. (BTW, he's still alive 'n kickin' and recently got a surprise "NASCAR Experience" drive at NH Motor Speedway. Making all those left turns was apparently a world of difference from the quarter mile drag he got used to a half-century ago, but he had a blast!) I'd love to hear from anyone who worked with or raced against or even heard of John Beechwood. He's got 8 kids, 16 grandkids and 3 great-grand kids... and not one of us was old enough at the time to remember ever having seen him race... if any of us even did! Niki P.S. Forgot to mention he raced at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in late '60s (I was born in Indy) and just learned he also raced at Vargo Dragway in Perkasie, PA. I'll keep adding other locales as I learn of them, to broaden the net.
Welcome to the Hamb, Niki! I really enjoyed watching your father, John in his well tuned B/Stock '61 Super Duty Pontiac Catalina tri-powered 389ci. known as the "Expediter" match race against Jr. "Jake" Vargo in his hard running B/Stock 406ci. tri-powered '63 Ford conv. known as the "Flying Chestnut" at Vargo Dragway in Perkasie, PA in the 60's....I am also currently working on a book of men and women who ran at Vargo Dragway and would like to include your father! Please PM me your contact info. Sincerely, John
Woohoo! Never thought I'd get a hit so quickly!! This is by FAR the best photo of The Expediter that I've ever seen. Mom has a couple, but they're much grainier. I'll try to figure out how to PM you. Dad is going to be THUH-RILLED!!
The Jalopy Journal
