Match Race Mayhem
Author, Doug Boyce
Available for $34.95 through CarTech Books & Manuals
www.cartechbooks.com (800) 551-4754
by Phil R. Elliott
“When it came to match racing, the rules were simple: There were none.” Doug Boyce
That is the basic premise for match racing, easily the most popular drag racing genre of the 1960s. It was very simple. A track promoter booked in a couple of racers, maybe a touring Pro and a local hero, two traveling Pros, or even local popular drivers/cars. Set a date, publicize the event to the local fans, then sit back and rake in the proceeds.
Oh there were lots of extra ingredients such as the dramatic build-up in radio commercials and announcements, even mud-slinging interviews. If you were there, you’ll remember and need to read the latest from Doug Boyce. If you were too young to experience it, you must grab a copy of Match Race Mayhem, Drag Racing’s Grudges, Rivalries and Big-Money Showdowns to see just what you missed.
In the 1960s, drag racing was still in its teenage years. It had been made popular through the imaginations of hundreds of men and women who wished to try their hand at seeing just how fast they could make their back-yard creations run. Most of it evolved from impromptu street contests and through competition on the dry lakes and salt. Then, in the ‘50s, drag strips began to pop up here and there with side-by-side acceleration as the theme. Popularity escalated.
As the next decade began, popularity for drag racing continued to climb. Heroes developed, made bigger than life in the eyes of fans through vertical-market publications, monthly and weekly magazines and newspapers covering only drag racing. And those began to be populated by ads for products that built up favored racers’ accomplishments. Whether embellished or not, the ads built up drivers and racecars to a point where fans demanded to see these nearly unbelievable feats performed on their home turf.
It was not unlike a circus sideshow where for a small contribution, one could see a sword swallower, a swarthy man wrestle a bear, or a bearded lady. When your racing hero who had just set a new record that was covered by big headlines in Drag News was coming to your track, you had to go.
That brings me to something I need to say about Match Race Mayhem.
Boyce has written several similar books about what we like to call the “Glory Days” of drag racing. And other similar historians have used the same techniques, so don’t think this is a putdown in any way. To chronicle the kind of data portrayed throughout Match Race Mayhem, one must study Drag News, Drag Sport Illustrated, and all the other periodicals available during that era. There is no crime involved in passing on the facts you’ve gleaned through study. But that is what Match Race Mayhem is, a rehash of all the noteworthy match races during especially the ‘60s and ‘70s. But like I said before, if you were there and read those publications before, you’ll need Match Race Mayhem for the memory aspect alone. If you weren’t, and you love this old stuff, or maybe have been confused about what went on, you’ll need Match Race Mayhem to fill in the blanks.
Today, in a world that is so wrapped in rules, regulations and structure, it is actually difficult to fathom this rowdy, no-holds-barred type of racing. Too, it seems far-fetched to nominal fans, spoiled by what we know as national events where one can expect to see all the pros and sportsman in one day, that anyone would pay to see just one wheelstander, or a pair of fuelers. But we sure did, and this style of fanatical passion existed for over a decade.
I must compliment Boyce on tackling this project. First, it is impossible to portray in a book the true feelings we experienced as we viewed and/or were involved in all of the shenanigans that went on. Virtually everything we saw was new and fresh. Do you want to see a jet-powered car capable of running 200mph in a quarter mile? Well, since nobody exceeded that magic number at the time, that was a must see – no brainer. Today, such things are old hat – nitro cars run almost 350mph in 1,000 feet. Big deal, right? But we’d never seen a jet-dragster, or a car exceed 190mph in a quarter! So now slowly crawl forward. What about a ’34 Ford sedan powered by a 3,000hp Allison airplane engine (remember that I mentioned the word “embellished” already) that would smoke its tires all the way down the track? Yup, gotta see that one! How about a current year sedan capable of running in the 10s? Or later, one with a supercharger? Or how about a little pickup truck that could ride on his rear wheels for 500-600 feet? What about a rocket-powered go-kart?
When you compare the scene available today, where bracket racers run deep into the 6-second zone at over 225mph, I’ll admit it, it does seem far fetched in a way. That is why I say that I have to give accolades to Mr. Boyce for trying to cover the happenings from so long ago.
I have said so many times, and written it too, that it is hard to explain how we (I) became so emotionally involved reading about and then actually seeing-hearing-touching-watching a few altered wheelbase “experimental” stockers that today would not pass technical inspection or run the number in Super Gas.
But it was new, undone and exciting. I remember vividly seeing the headline in my brand new copy of Drag News – Stocker Hits Nines! –then reading the story of how Ronnie Sox had achieved what everyone previously thought to be impossible – recorded a 9.99! Passe’? Not to me.
Do yourself a favor. Grab a copy of Match Race Mayhem – maybe order a second as a gift for one of your buddies. The photos and memories will be a treasure to you for years to come.
