The Plunkett & Meinel Story

Part 1: The Dragster Years

By Tim Plunkett

The first dragster on a single sxle trailer.

Plunkett and Meinel raced their first dragster from 1962-65 and raced together until 1976. The driver was Donnie Eugene Plunkett, born in 1943. The team of Plunkett and Meinel was based out of Roanoke, Virginia. Partner and crew chief was Frank Eugene Meinel, out of Vinton, Virginia.

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Frankie is loaded with stories and happenings from that time period. He remembers a lot of the teams and tracks. In just a few minutes of conversation, I've have barely broken the icing of a decade plus of drag racing experience. I really need to sit down with him this winter and get a lot of this info from him.

The first B/G dragster

Donnie Plunkett raced his '40 Ford Coupe at age 15, running on the drag strip and street with the car. Plunkett and Meinel built their first rail in 1962 and raced it through 1965. The car was classified as a B/Gas Dragster. Dad belonged to the Dixie Rebels at age 14. The Dixie Rebels were a club of young guys in Roanoke that dragged their street rods on the street and strip. The club built this rail out of driveshafts.

Dad did a lot of the driving of this car at the local drag strips. He eventually bought the car from the club. The car had a 283 bored out to a 302 inches with two four barrels. It had a 95" wheelbase. The engine still sits in his '40 Ford in the garage to this day. The main guys that assisted dad through out the years were his longtime friend and partner, Frank Meinel, his younger brother David Plunkett, older brother Wayne Plunkett, and Tom Davis, who assisted him and several other drivers out of this area. Tom was a pro ball pitcher for several years.

Mrs. Plunkett with second rail.

Plunkett and Meinel built their second rail in 1965 and raced until 1967. The car was powered by a 327 inch Chevrolet small block. The chassis was built out of muffler pipe and mild steel. They built this car as a small gas rail. Dad always says this was the most fun car to drive out of everything he ever drove. The steering wheel had two stainless steel ball knobs. On the launches, the front wheels lifted for about 200 feet, and then set back down nice and smooth. Donnie eventually began to run fuel in the car.

They tipped the can too much with this small block.

The car also appears to have run at more than just small tracks. I found some pictures of passes made at Bristol with the car. The block was filled up with a bonding compound to reinforce the webbing around the cylinders. Only water was plumbed into the heads. The team eventually put 98% nitro into it and blew all the mains out from underneath it except for the front and rear bearings. The crank was sliced and diced. They then dropped in a 426 Chrysler Hemi and went up north to race. The muffler frame wasn’t enough and twisted under the torque.

The second dragster with to powerful 426 Hemi .

Plunkett and Meinel raced their third rail from 1968-1970. After thrashing the other frame, they built a new 185-inch frame from Chromemoly steel tubing. They started with the 426 inch cast iron Chrysler Hemi and Hilborn injectors, running in the A/Comp class. The team tried all different types of front suspension.

The A/C flexiable dragster

This picture has an Indy style front end with coil over springs mounted in the axis of the frame. The front end could lift 15 inches and still keep the wheels on the ground. Plunkett and Meinel also tried a torsion bar style among other types of front ends.

The T/F dragster after being completed.

Plunkett and Meinel built their fourth or fifth rail in 1970. The driver number 221 was first used here, I believe. The last frame was a 220-inch plus wheelbase Chromemoly frame with the high back cockpit. The team added a blower and moved into top fuel.

Plunkett with new paint job.

The car had the green body with the words Plunkett and Meinel on the top in gold. It eventually evolved into the later rail with the front wing. The fastest times, though, were without the wing. Frankie feels that the best run in top fuel came at Dragway 42 in Ohio, on the same night Shirley Muldowney suffered her famous funny car fire. Frank recalls a terrible ET, but the car punched out a 238 mph pass.

The Green T/F dragster.

Dad seems to recall the car running 227 MPH (although that could have been the later funny car he was thinking of). This may have been the same Sunday that got rained out and the promoter refused to pay. Frank recalls being one of the last to run a front engine rail in the top fuel drags. Dad recalls being the last front engine car to qualify for an IHRA national event at Bristol.

The last T/F dragster sitting next its trailer.

Dad would not race a rear engine dragster. He made a few passes, but always hesitated on top end. He had a constant fear of the motor following him into the wall. Although it was known to be safer and he had never hit anything in a drag car, he just had that feeling.

Donnie Plunkett, with a serious look, next to his T/F dragster.

To be continued... NEXT: The Funny car Years By Tim Plunkett