My pick for Racer of the Week is Ross Whelan, from Hawera, New Zealand. I found Ross while I was checking out the drag races held by the NZDRA last year. Ross and his wife Helene have a 1934 Ford Y sedan that he has been through many ups and downs with over the years, but he is a dedicated drag racer and from having gotten to know him over tha last few months, he is also a very cool guy and he's one of the most popular and respected racers in the country. Ross sent me his info recently and I'm gonna read it tonight word-for-word as it reflects his friendly personality and his optimistic outlook on his racing endeavors. He said:
My name is Ross Whelan I am 51 years old, I have been drag racing street cars as long as I can remember. I brought my 1934 Ford Y body shell 15 years ago for $300.00 NZ dollars off a mate , then set about designing & building a chassis that would suit 95% drag racing , 5 % street driven. In 2007 we managed to have a NZ cert plate allowing me to get a warrant of fitness for street driving. The car has 3” x 2” box chassis , owner built independent front suspension with XJ6 Jag stubs & PBR race disc’s, rear end is a 4 bar disc braked 9” of course which started out with 3.9 gears & up front was a 355 Chev for power & a turbo 350 trans with reverse pattern valve body & shift kit fitted. Over the years we tried every little trick in the book to get this car in the 10 .99 sec bracket (Super Sedan) in NZ .
In 2010 we finally made it, after many changes , gear sets, fuel etc running a 10.89 @ 136 mph , I was over the moon , until things went bad at a Auckland meeting losing control of the car at the 1000 ft mark I crossed the centre line going straight into the wall , bounced of the wall only to be hit by the car I was racing, (who’s lane I was in). I had built the car once , it was time to do it again, over the winter months & many late nights we straightened the car out , back off to paint ( My Dad ) & back to the track next season .
After having a great time & some good results my poor little 355 self-destructed totally destroying my engine , the only parts I managed to save where the tappet covers , inlet manifold & carb. At this stage due to the cost of building a new engine in NZ with parts from the USA was out of my depth , so time to sit & watch for a while . 2 years ago I started out building a brand new engine , starting with a Dart block to build a 427 cube small block with 13.5 compression & AFR heads , good intake etc to make a little more HP, we ended up with around 800 hp , my car weighs in at 980 kgs , 2100 lb your terms , there a bout’s . To date the car is handling the power very well , just going in small steps , best ET to date 9.705 @ 137 MPH , all good for a street legal car ?
That's Ross Whelan, folks. Ross, we wish you good luck, safe racing and the best of times in the future!
Tonight's the conclusion of a 3-part story I'm giving on the saga of the legendary psychedelic band, the 13th Floor Elevators, the world's first psychedelic band. This was the most influential band in our region and actually across the world in an underground function if nothing else, throughout the mid-to-late 60s. When I left off last week, After several years wandering the wasteland of rock n' roll damage, Roky Erickson, the great singer and guitar player for the original band, had hit rock-bottom. It was down to a matter of time before he would die if something didn't happen to change his course in life.
After a few years in his mother Evelyn's custody, during which she shielded him from his friends, his kids, his brother and the world in general, also not giving him his meds and letting him disintegrate into having the personality of a 5-year old, Roky's brother Sumner stepped in and gained legal guardianship of him.
Roky's recording and performing career since the early 70s was in total shambles, and although he had released several albums of horror movie-themed material, he had absolutely nothing to show for it, and by the time Sumner showed up, he was a total basket-case, mentally, physically and emotionally. Yet creatively his spirit continued to thrive, as did his abilities as a singer and songwriter. He just wasn't all there in a professional and personal sense.
Sumner took Roky to the best doctors in the world. He got him on a new medication schedule, got his teeth fixed, put him on a healthy diet and gave him musical and artistic freedom to begin his career again. The results were nothing short of miraculous. Roky, by now well into his 50s, was back on stage with a potent band, singing better than ever and playing solid rock n' roll again. For the first time in his life, he got a driver's license, registered to vote and was able to make arrangements to receive royalties on his records for the first time. Within a couple of years, Roky Erickson had returned and he was not only self-sufficient, he had gained a level of maturity, control and stability that he'd never had before.
A tribute concert was put together in honor of Roky's great contributions to the art of rock n' roll, with the backup band being led by Billy Gibbons. In the post-concert interview, Gibbons said that Roky's voice is a universal treasure that is deserving to be acknowledged and recognized worldwide. It already is, but Roky's voice was never given the exposure or mainstream credit that it should have had.
As it stands now, Roky Erickson is back at it, playing shows all over the United States and enjoying his status as a pioneer of psychedelic music and a major influence on world-famous bands and vocalists, from Janis Joplin to Robert Plant by way of Billy Gibbons, among many others.
Last year at the annual Levitation Festival, an annual event held in honor of the Elevators, the headline act was a reunion of the 13th Floor Elevators. Stacey Sutherland could not attend because he no longer exists in our dimension any more, but Tommy Hall, Rocky Erickson, John Ike Walton and Bennie Thurman from the original band performed a set of the Elevators' best songs after 45 years of not playing together. I wish I had known about this, but I have been content to hold my memories intact of witnessing the most powerful and overwhelming of psychedelic experiences when I saw them play in 1966 and again in 1967.
Although they were light years ahead of everybody else in terms of musicianship and philosophy, that was the problem. The world just wasn't ready to accept their thing yet. I understood it, along with a few million others, but I also chose to create my own destiny in life and go my own way without following the Elevators' book so far out that I'd lose my place and forget what I was doing like they did. But what I got out of the Elevators and the psychedelic fad of the late 60s, was a sense of creativity and musical adventure that has never left me. This was a band that took artistic freedom to infinity and back.
As the lyrics to "I've Got Levitation" say: "I don't need these wings to guide me, they are hardly ever there. It's the clear I've made inside me makes me feel light as air." I've got Levitation!
Thanks to Danny White for his input and advice to me in putting these stories together!
Y'all be sure to tune in tomorrow evening at 7 PM Eastern on Racers Reunion Radio for Racing Through History. It's Thee Goat Rodeo you don't want to miss! Thanks, and Happy Leap Year! I'll see y'all on February 29th.