By Richard Parks
EDITORIAL: From the NHRA: Odds will be released, and wagers will be accepted beginning with the Super Grip NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals, which takes place June 7-9 at Bristol Dragway. “PlayNHRA marks a huge and significant step forward for the NHRA and its fans. This initiative will provide a destination for fans to enjoy the safest and most regulated place to bet on NHRA drag racing, participate in fantasy games, and engage with our sport in so many new ways,” said NHRA VP & Chief Development Officer Brad Gerber. NHRA is at 140 Via Verde, Suite 100, San Dimas, California
GAMBLERS: Be judicious, gamble for fun, limit what you bet, and remember the wife and children come first.
AND: If you have a comment, please don’t resend the newsletter to me. I have to re-read every item to find your comment and that is time-consuming. Please just write out your statement and send it to me.
AND: I need to shorten the newsletter because internet servers are blocking them due to length. Any ideas?
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1) Darryl Bassani, Celebration of Life for 4/28/24 (Continued). MC Rob Buydos welcomed all. Darryl’s wife Becky Bassani shared a life and love lost as did their son Nick Bassani. An array of friends followed that included Fernando Arguello, Gary Naito, Roger Anderson, Jimmy White, Mike Maely, John Urist, Chris Vopat, Steve Wolcott, Luke Leatherman, Jason Pullman, Don Emde, Curtis Sparks and Bryon Fansworth. From Howie Zechner
AND: We lost another “old racer” last week, Doug Lovegrove died Wednesday night, he was one of the people who worked closely with the Dodge factory teams in the early 1960’s to develop both the wedge and hemi engines for racing. He worked as a protege to long time Indy and Bonneville racer, Norm Thatcher, helping build the engines Norm used in setting several records at Bonneville. Doug also built most of the power plants for the Barris Kustom creations. From Harry Hibler
AND: Have you heard anything about Randy Walls? Randy is still with us and is battling sepsis. Steve Reyes
STEVE: No, I haven’t. I’m going to run Randy’s story in next week’s newsletter. Do you have his email address?
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2) “Michigan Football: Athletic Department Hires NIL (Name, Image, Likeness) General Manager.” Here is where MONEY and the NIL (Name, Image, Likeness) issue will kill NCAA sports. You will see a “few” schools winning everything. They will BUY NFL-type players to win. TV money for Bowl Games has caused this to happen. But people will still pay big to get a ticket at least for a few more years. Then TV watching will change seat count. The PGA is already seeing people stay home and big sponsors are not happy. Big money now going to high school players! This snowball might be unstoppable. See
09g. John Towle jtowle47@gmail.com
JOHN: There is always an ACTION that causes a REACTION. Somehow equilibrium comes back as people find ways to overcome the problems. “Monitoring” may be one of those ways.
AND: NHRA officials announced today an exclusive partnership with ALT Sports Data, a leading provider of cutting-edge sports data and analytics solutions. As part of the agreement, ALT Sports Data will become the sole distributor of sports betting data for NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series events, strengthening its leading position as a major operator in the sports data and betting market. Based in San Diego, ALT Sports Data is renowned for its expertise in providing exclusive and official trading data and consumer data. Leveraging its proprietary trading platform, this collaboration with NHRA will help pave the way for legal and official sports betting on NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series events, offering fans a dynamic and innovative way to engage with the incredible action of NHRA drag racing. From: NHRA
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3) From Jim Miller, Chief Historian for the American Hot Rod Foundation (Gas/Fuel wars, serialized in coming issues): “A
new sport called Tether/Rail Cars (Spindizzy’s) came on the scene in California around 1939 that used model Airplane engines for power. The Dooling Brothers were the kings of this sport. One of their employees, Fran Hernandes, was on the ground floor of the sport that adapted the doped fuels early. Shifting gears again there was this cleaning solvent called Nitromethane. When WWII came along almost everything in the gas/fuel department was instantly rationed by the government. Nitro wasn’t on the list so a few intrepid chemists (Stu Hilborn was one) along with the Dooling’s who started running Nitro in their toys and cleaning up.”
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4) “With his involvement in racing, Jiri Nechleba harbored a desire to get deeper into racing with his own car, Nazdar in 1971. Jiri began his foray into racing by buying a BMW 1600 he helped build in his shop for a customer. Needing help to upgrade the car for the Trans Am race series, he accepted Nicolas’ offer to assist in the process. Even though Nicholas worked at a competing car dealership, he and Jiri had become friends. Utilizing his welding and fabrication skills, Nicholas helped build a roll cage for the race car and was rewarded when Jiri offered Nicholas a chance to be a co-driver for longer races. Jiri offered him a job to work for Autosport which Nicholas accepted. Lime Rock Trans-Am in May 1972 was the Autosport Team’s first race in the BMW 1600ti.” From: Dave Nicholas (to be continued).
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5) The 2024 Bonneville/EL Mirage Rules & Records booklet, with the Performance Directory is the “yellow pages” of the LAND SPEED RACING WORLD. $10. Shop (scta-bni.org). Thanks, Ron Main is at ron@speeddemon.us.
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6) Ice Speedway Racing History: “In 1985 ICE debuted the Trike and Quad Divisions. ATV’s were just beginning to get popular at the time. They were an instant hit with the fans on the ice. Unfortunately, insurance liability problems saw the demise of the Trikes that very same year. The Quads, ‘The race cars you sit on,’ not in, have since become a premier professional racing division with ICE. In 1986 the first ever ICE Quad National Champion was crowned and in 1990 the first ever ICE World Champion.” http://icespeedway.com/history_ice_racing.html (to be continued)
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7) FREE to watch now on our YouTube Page www.youtube.com/@MainEventEntertainment603/videos (copy & paste to address box). New unseen and FREE to watch the unreleased TV Series: “The NITRO EXPERIENCE.” Legendary ‘Big Daddy’ Don Garlits hosts with Artist Kenny Youngblood . 13 Episodes: www.youtube.com/@NostalgiaNitro1 (copy & paste to address box). Click link to 3-min Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4B8uhsV7UcM . The 1986 “Big Daddy” Don Garlits “CLOSE CALLS“ became the most watched video in drag racing history. https://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=CnX-XWK6K1E. The how, when, and why it was made. And the aftermath impact. In 1987 “SWOOPY SHOTS”
debuted at Bakersfield. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yqhm7UB_SK8 3-min original ‘Swoopy Shots’ clips. Dean Papadeas maineventvideo@earthlink.net . (to be continued).
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8) BOOK REVIEW Corvette Drag Racing: The Golden Era, by Jim Dillon (2023). (to be serialized in the Newsletter)
“Leave it to the young to continue the grinding schedules on the NHRA and IHRA circuits today. For the older generation we often gravitate to that which we love the most and that is Nostalgia drag racing, when innovation and creative genius was at its fiercest. There are many reasons people drop out of drag racing; cost, family creation, age, jobs and more that occur in our 30’s through our retirement years. Yet many racers from the past come back into the sport in their later years.” Jim Dillon can be reached at jim@dillonreo.com. (to be continued)
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9) “75 on 10/2, gulp.” From Anonymous. Guess who will be 75 on October 2, 2024, and could use an email or two to give him some courage to celebrate. HINT: He has long hair and beard and is still rebelling against the establishment.
AND: Alex Xydias turned 101 in April and Ed Iskenderian turns 103 in July. Call and say hello to them.
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10) DUFFY LIVINGSTONE, by Dick Martin (for photos go to https://www.motortrend.com/staff/dick-martin/ ). After the T was sold; Duff didn’t own another car until World War II ended. Duffy walked or rode his bike to school since he only lived three blocks away. “I kinda liked my bike and was riding it when the War started. I went in March of ’42.” Having survived flying missions over the South Pacific, Duffy was discharged in ’46 and returned to Pasadena. No more walking for Duffy-he wanted a hot rod. The one he purchased, you might say, led him into the muffler business. “A guy named Dave ‘Mitch’ Mitchell had a Deuce roadster for sale and I bought it from him. He owned Mitchell’s Roadster Shop in Pasadena, by the Rose Bowl, and after I bought the roadster, I went to work for him and learned how to weld there. We were replacing a lot of four-bangers with Ford Flathead V-8s in roadsters. Dave later changed the business to Mitchell Mufflers.” (to be continued)
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11) May issue of Vintage Metal. Book Review McGowan Goes Motor Racing by Allan Aldous, Oxford University Press, UK, 1947. Terry Walker, author of Around the Houses – The History of Motor Racing in Western Australia provided this review of a book that must be a collector’s item for any Western Australian motor racing enthusiast. The arrival of this article in my In-Box reminded me that I also have a copy of the book, although my copy lacks the dust jacket that has been preserved on Terry’s copy. Editor Bob Campbell is at robertcampbell4@icloud.com.
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12) Four short stories from Brian Holmes, David Kipling, John Greenwood and John Hill who were not racers but were all involved in different ways during the early days of British Drag Racing. https://eventcoveragearchive.eurodragster .
net/features/brian_david_john_john/default.asp . From: John Hunt at johnhunt.drn@googlemail.com .
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13) On Display at the Petersen 1979 Lincoln Continental “Las Vegas,” 1942 Chevrolet Special Deluxe “Captain 42,” and 1954 Chevrolet 210 “Sphinx.” Meet Bisimoto – Car Stories podcast. What Happened to the 2 Fast 2 Furious Cars.
May 24, 2024, Movie Night: 2 Fast 2 Furious 7 PM-10 PM.
June 1, 2024, Scouts Workshop: Automotive Engineering 9 AM-4 PM.
June 2nd, 2024, 8 AM -7 PM All Italian Cruise-In & Santa Barbara Rally.
June 23, 2024, WAGONFEST 2023 10 AM-12 PM.
June 28, 2024, Silent Disco Night 6 PM-10 PM.
August 12-18, 2024, Road to Pebble Rally. From: Petersen Automotive Museum info@petersen.org.
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14) ED PINK story, written by Dick Martin 2012 (captions left in text, to be serialized). “I told Eddie Meyer before I went to work for him that everything on my Flathead Ford V-8 was Edelbrock,” Ed laughs. “I didn’t have a lot of money in those days; I was making $85 a week. I worked at Meyer for a couple of years. Eddie also had a repair business. Most of his customers were movie people. I was his mechanic on regular cars. I learned a lot working there,” Ed says, fondly. Another racer Ed became friends with was Tony Capanna, who had a shop on 103rd Street in San Pedro called Wilcap. His partner was Red Wilson. Wilson was the machinist and welder who was an early advocate of alternative fuel, such as benzene, ether, methanol, and nitro in race cars. He manufactured flywheels and bellhousing adapters. “I would run my engines on their dyno.” Ed laid the black and white checkered floor in Capanna’s speed shop, becoming friends with Chet Herbert who rented part of their building where he had his cam grinding business. Herbert had a GMC six-cylinder in his ’32 Fordor with a Buick Dynaflow trans that ran on butane. To see the captioned photographs go to https://www.motortrend.com/staf f/
dick-martin/. Dick Martin is at turboguydm1@gmail.com.
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15) NHRA presents 20 national events featuring the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series and NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series, as well as the Congruity NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series presented by LearnEV+, NHRA Flexjet Factory Stock Showdown™, NHRA Holley EFI Factory X and Johnson’s Horsepowered Garage NHRA Mountain Motor Pro Stock at select national events. NHRA provides competition opportunities for drivers of all levels in the NHRA Summit Racing Series and NHRA Street Legal™. NHRA also offers the NHRA Jr Street® program for teens and the Summit Racing Jr Drag Racing League® for youth ages 5 to 17. With 110 Member Tracks, NHRA allows racers to compete at a variety of locations nationally and internationally. From: National Hot Rod Association nhracommunications@nhra.com .
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16) Funds are a vitally needed injection at this point to complete the book and audio project. Hence a personal appeal for a kind donation. Donor’s names will be inscribed in the book as a supporter no matter what the amount. Your personal support is pivotal. And very appreciated. Link to GoFundMe. Or Google GFM and search ‘Dean Papadeas.‘ https://www.gofund
nder-v5. Thanking you in advance, Dean Papadeas maineventvideo@earthlink.net . (last in the series).
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17) Carl Haas (1929-2016) Multiple championship-winning Newman/Haas Racing IndyCar team and Formula 5000, Can-Am and Super Vee titles, Haas also fielded an American Formula 1 effort. The Chicagoan began racing sports cars in 1952, giving up driving in the 1960’s to focus on team ownership and related businesses. In 1967, he became US importer for Lola cars and Hewland gearboxes. In 1983, he formed Newman/Haas Racing with 2024 inductee Paul Newman, which won CART titles with Mario Andretti in 1984, Mario’s son Michael in 1991, former F1 champ Nigel Mansell in 1993, Cristiano da Matta in 2002 and then four-straight crowns with Sébastien Bourdais (2004-’07). In 1985, Haas ran the Beatrice F1 team, using a Lola-designed chassis. Haas served on CART’s Board of Governors and retired as chair of SCCA Pro Racing in 2001. With 11 titles over three decades, USA Today called him one of the “most powerful men in the history of auto racing.” From: Adam Saal at SaalGoodPR@gmail.com or 321-890-2848.
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18) Aussie Invader Newsletter Update – May 2024; Australia’s World Land Speed Record Challenger available from Rosco McGlashan (The Aussie Invader) at rosco@aussieinvader.com.
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19) BLAST FROM THE PAST…… From the Wally & Barbara Parks story, We Did It Our Way. My grandfather, Henry Clyde “Skant” Parks, received a letter from my father on July 2, 1943, from the Aberdeen Proving Grounds, in Maryland where he was sent for basic training. There was also a cartoon showing a GI exhausted and struggling with walking after a hectic day of marching. The letter began, “Dear Dad: Thanks a lot for your swell letter. I sure was glad to receive it. How are all you folks back home? I’m beginning to get so I can budget my time better so things are getting a little better for me. We are getting a lot of training crammed at us in our 4 weeks of basic, but it should be well worth it when it’s finished. We’ve got our rifles now and are getting most of our drill and instruction with them. We go out to the target range on the 12th, 13th, & 14th. Sure hope I can make good marks as I’d like one of those medals.”
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20) Trailblazers Banquet – April 6, 2024. There was a 56-page full color program for every person. It outlays the nights agenda and gives kudos to the multitude who run and have been inducted into the Trailblazers. MC Don Emde and Steve Storz took the stage introducing the nights inductees. As with all who were inducted on this night each had a custom, high quality, excellently produced video that outlined their life and achievements in words and pictures. Played after they were introduced but before being called on stage, these recordings did an outstanding job of documenting their journey. From Howie Zechner howie@razvideo.com. (to be continued)
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21) About the RRDC: The Road Racing Drivers Club. Each week, a professional from the world of motor racing answers readers’ questions on the site in a feature called ‘Ask a Pro.’ Bobby Rahal is President, John Fergus is Vice President & Treasurer, and John Clagett is Secretary. The RRDC presents three annual awards: the Phil Hill Award, the Mark Donohue Award, and the Bob Akin Award, and supports the Team USA Scholarship, which has been assisting young Americans in the early stages of their careers since 1990. Membership in the RRDC is by invitation only. Additional information on the organization may be found at rrdc.org. From: Judy Stropus.
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22) Featuring stars like Larry “Spiderman” McBride, the class is a nonstop thrill ride, with riders reaching speeds of more than 260 mph, running the quarter-mile in less than six seconds. Two years ago, McBride went 268.38 mph at his home track in Virginia, shattering his previous record, while also going a remarkable 5.61-seconds. NHRA Vice President and Chief Development Officer Brad Gerber said, “Pingel is a company deeply dedicated to motorcycle performance, which makes them a perfect fit for this class, and I’m sure we’ll see a number of outstanding performances from these riders this season.” For more information on Pingel, please visit www.pingelonline.com. From: NHRA
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23) TUESDAY, APRIL 12, 1988, SPORTS Copyright 1988/THE TIMES MIRROR COMPANY JIM MURRAY. Reprinted courtesy of Linda Murray. In his 50’s, Dan Gurney doesn’t look markedly different from the kid who used to drag on I-5 and the Newhall grade in the ’50s. He’ll climb into a race car again Saturday at the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach in an 11-turn, 10-lap pro-celebrity race competition in which a dozen of America’s brand names from football fields to TV sitcoms will find out what it’s like out there in cars with full roll cages, window nets, on-board fire extinguishers and competition springs. Unless Robert Redford shows up, the one who looks most like a movie star will probably be Gurney. It’s not till they drop the flag and head for the corners that Dan looks like a race driver. Then he looks like what he was: one of the best, if not the best, ever. From: Jim Murray Memorial Foundation linda@jimmurrayfoundation.ccsend.com (last in the series)
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24) The Rodder’s Journal party was held in Austin, Texas, April 19, 2024, at the Lonestar Round-Up. “We’ve had our noses to the grindstone working to finally get TRJ back on track in a permanent way. We’re thrilled to announce we’re well on our way. TRJ #86 is printed, bound and at the mailing house.” Steve Coonan, customerservice@roddersjournal.com . The Rodder’s Journal is located at 24848 Meeting House Road, Denton, Maryland 21629. Sent in by Don Smith.
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25) Produced by Kelton and I think it’s pretty good. The Location makes it as well as the “Cool” $250K Ford race car.
The owner did a pretty good job explaining his vehicle in detail. Car people will like that. Good job on keeping things on point to allow it to flow. Great job by all. https://youtu.be/i3m7o4LNWUE?si=eAUALbbJHzGrjKuc . Bill Montgomery
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26) Tony Stewart’s $22.5 million Indiana home, 400-acre ranch paradise is the ultimate sportsman’s playground, complete with its own bowling alley, up for sale. How Chase Elliott took a page from Alan Kulwicki to break 42-Race NASCAR
winless streak. Elliott even pulled off a ‘Polish victory lap’ in Kulwicki’s honor at Texas Motor Speedway. What to watch: IndyCar celebrates its 40th event at Long Beach, America’s mini-Monaco Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach is IndyCar’s biggest race this side of the Indianapolis 500. From: Autoweek and Don Smith.
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27) Real Road Racing; The Santa Monica Road Races, by Harold Osmer and Phil Harms (serialized review). Chapter Six is named One Tough Year 1913. The effort by New York’s AAA to control auto racing resulted in many drivers preferring to go it alone. Barnstorming was a term for racecar drivers and promoters to hold their own unsanctioned races and challenges. It proved highly profitable for drivers like Barney Oldfield. The AAA and other sanctioning bodies truly believed that it was imperative to control auto racing in order to keep down injuries and fatalities. Earl Cooper won the 1913 race and there were no fatalities. The Santa Monica Road Race had only gotten bigger and better each year. Chapter 7 is titled Going Bigtime 1914. The AAA transferred the Vanderbilt Cup and the American Grand Prize Road Race to Santa Monica. The promoters now had the premier road-racing event of the year set for Santa Monica.
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28) From Steve Reyes at sreyes@reyesontour.com. Here’s what’s coming in the fall of 2024. “Photographer Steve Reyes made the five-hour drive from his home in Northern California on many a weekend to capture Southern California’s top fuel teams in action at Riverside, Irwindale, and Orange County raceways. His images of these nitro warriors capture the action and feel of those bygone days of top fuel dragster racing as well as the memories of great racers and great racing in Southern California. The Images of America series celebrates the history of neighborhoods, towns, and cities across the country. Using archival photographs, each title presents the distinctive stories from the past that shape the character of the community today. Arcadia Publishing is proud to play a part in the preservation of local heritage, making history available to all.” ISBN 978-1-4671-0000-7. $24.99
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29) Bob Tullius founded Group 44 Inc in 1965 with fellow racers Brian Fuerstenau and Dick Gilmartin, competing exclusively for Triumph, MG and Jaguar until 1988. The team won 14 SCCA National Championships, 3 SCCA Trans-Am titles, and has more than 300 race wins, 11 in IMSA GTP. The team’s self-built Jaguar GTP car won 4 races in 1983. He raced until 1986, with a 24 Hours of Le Mans class win in 1985 in a Jaguar. Group 44 closed in 1990. By Judy Stropus
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30) Continued from last week. Comments written by Gene Joderquist and Griff Borgeson in August 1953 about the Nitro scene in Southern California. “Two other nitrated fuels, nitrobenzene and nitropropane, are still moderately available but so far, they have not been made to deliver nitromethane’s results. Experimentation will most likely swing the search for speed to supercharging. Blowers have been notable for their scarcity in the hot rod field until now. High initial cost has discouraged their use, it was cheaper to buy nitro at $4.50 a gallon. But those days are gone for a while and new sources of horsepower are going to be found.” Sent in by supersleuth historian, Jim Miller. Jim then added, “Maybe we could all go out and buy some cows and put it in the trunk, install a couple of fittings and run a new, already pressurized, fuel line to the intake manifold. It will either go like stink or blow up.”
EDITOR: Jim, two cows in your trunk would give new meaning to “dragging your rear end.”
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31) It was awesome to see so many cars & people in Riverside, CA at the Benedict Castle annual fundraiser event. SEMA president Mike Spagnola and Hotwheels/Matchbox Director Bryan Benedict were present. The Star Cars that Lenny invited was a big hit and people loved the different mix of movies they watched and remembered. It’s always fun to see and hear people talk about what they think to be true about the car in front of them vs Hollywood. I would like to thank them for bringing these cool cars that you don’t see every day. Good job Star Cars! Bill Montgomery of Hidden Pioneers
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32) DRAGSTRIPS in the USA and Canada. National Speedway Directory, 2504 Lake Avenue, Wilmette, Illinois.
Winterport Dragway, Winterport, Maine, 1/8-mile.
Wisconsin Intl Raceway, Kaukauna, Wisconsin, 1/4-mile.
Woodburn Dragstrip, Woodburn, Oregon, 1/4-mile.
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33) After a year away from Virginia Motorsports Park, NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series teams are eager to return to the standout facility for a unique two-day event format featuring three qualifying rounds on Saturday for the upcoming Virginia NHRA Nationals on June 22-23. For the first time in NHRA history, all professional categories (Top Fuel, Funny Car, Pro Stock and Pro Stock Motorcycle) will take part in three qualifying sessions on Saturday, leading into eliminations on Sunday at the ninth of 20 races during the 2024 season. From: NHRA nhracommunications@nhra.com .
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34) KNOW YOUR MOTORSPORTS PERSONALITY: Cal Wells was recently appointed CEO of LEGACY MOTOR CLUB by co-owners Maury Gallagher and Jimmie Johnson. Wells started his career by founding Precision Preparation, Inc. (PPI) in 1979 which dominated the off-road circuit for 25 years. After PPI, Wells successfully led Michael Waltrip Racing as CEO before launching LNGA Consulting. NHRA Crew Chiefs. Jon Oberhofer, Co-Crew Chief for JR Todd’s Nitro Funny Car owned by Connie Kalitta. Compiled from Epartrade.
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35) Books and Manuals from CarTech Publishing, 6118 Main Street, North Branch, Minnesota 55056, 1-800-551-4754,
www.CarTechBooks.com. Chevrolet Inline-6 Engine: How to Rebuild , by Deve Krehbiel. David Vizard’s Chevy Big-Blocks: How to Build Max Performance on a Budget, by David Vizard. How to Build Max-Performance Chevy LT1/LT4 Engines, by Myron Cottrell. How to Rebuild the Big-Block Chevrolet, by Tony E. Huntimer. How to Build Max-Performance Chevy Small-Blocks on a Budget, by David Vizard.
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36) Three-time Top Fuel world champion Antron Brown picked up his 75th career win on Sunday at Route 66 Raceway, powering past Shawn Langdon in the final round of the 24th annual Gerber Collision & Glass Route 66 NHRA Nationals presented by PEAK Performance. Matt Hagan (Funny Car), Dallas Glenn (Pro Stock) and Gaige Herrera (Pro Stock Motorcycle) also won the sixth of 20 races during the 2024 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season. From: NHRA
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37) “I thought it was Commercial Solvents that originally manufactured all nitromethane, when the big explosion occurred at the refinery! Then the SHTF! We ran on 70% for several years, after that incident!” Don Garlits
DON: Here is what I found on the internet. “The Commercial Solvents Corporation (CSC), an American chemical and biotechnology company, was established in 1919. It gained distinction as the pioneer producer of acetone and butanol through fermentation processes developed and patented by Dr Chaim Weizmann. The company’s research site was located in Terre Haute, Indiana, which facilitated the translation of new processes from the laboratory to full production. In 1975 CSC was acquired by another company.” Could the explosion have happened in 1975 or earlier?
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38) MY NOT EVERYTHING NHRA STORY, written by Paul Chamberlain for Gone Racin’ Series of stories. 5/24/2024.
“OKAY, Richard Parks wants me to write something about my time at NHRA. Wait, what, who is this guy? And NHRA, how come I’ve never heard of him? My name is Paul Chamberlain and let’s cranks up the “Way Back Machine.” In the summer of 1958, out for summer vacation before starting my senior year at Eagle Rock High School, I was in the right place at the right time and became the luckiest teenaged, hot rod-crazy guy on the planet.” (to be serialized in future newsletters)
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39) August 12-18, 2024, The Road to Pebble Rally 2024. From: Petersen Automotive Museum info@petersen.org.
Petersen Automotive Museum, 6060 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90036.
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40) Royce Rumsey just published “Orange Juiced.” Rod Emory is part of a generational business that arguably created the entire ‘outlaw’ Porsche style and market (and moniker). Born out of the post-war Southern California hot-rodding culture, the Emory clan adapted the hot-rod philosophy to enhancing (and many would say improving) the Porsche driving and ownership experience. Simply put, the Rod brought the “Home Improvement” character to the Stuttgartian steeds; more power. Much more. But they also accompanied the “juiced” engine’s additional ponies with significant improvements in handling, braking and the overall power-to-weight ratio, resulting in cars of Spartan elegance and driving excitement. See
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41) LA Fleet Week is an annual, free multi-day celebration of our nation’s Sea Services held on the LA waterfront at the Port of Los Angeles over the extended Memorial Day weekend. Events include active-duty ship tours, Military displays and equipment demonstrations, live entertainment, neighborhood activations, downtown San Pedro and Wilmington welcome
parties, aircraft flyovers, galley wars culinary cook-off competition between Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, Air Force and Army teams, competitions including dodgeball and military has talent military band performances across Los Angeles. All exhibits adjacent to the Battleship IOWA at Berth 87/250, S. Harbor Blvd, San Pedro, CA 90731. From: Mary D. Welch.
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42) Ben Strader: After spending nearly a decade working on performance engines and EFI systems, Ben Strader started the world’s first motorsports-based training academy, EFI University, in 2003. Over the last 15 years, the courses Ben has developed have taught close to 10,000 people in dozens of countries to build and tune high performance engines and fuel injection systems. He is an expert in the theory and operation of the internal combustion engine and its related systems specializing in electronic engine management. From: Dimitri Elgin dema@elgincams.com.
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43) From Chris Agajanian: We are now involved with 3 cars this year. Mike Curb and brother Cary Agajanian have made a deal with Meyer Shank Racing to create Meyer Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian this year. Mike and Cary have been involved with Meyer Shank’s sports car ventures in the past but not with their IndyCar team. Again, this year we are with the #26 Colton Herta entry with Andretti Global and Curb-Agajanian. Also, the #98 of Marco Andretti entry of Andretti Herta with Marco & Curb-Agajanian. (to be continued)
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44) The Dave Nicholas Story continued, “Unfortunately, the race at Lime Rock was a disaster as John Magee rolled the car early in the race. Magee was not injured but the car was totaled. The BMW 1600K was complete with wide, flared fenders and an eye catching yellow and black paint scheme. In honor of his country of birth, he named the car ‘Nazdar’ after a popular Czech drinking toast. When the car was ready, Jiri Nechleba chose Formula V champion John Magee to drive the first race at the 1972 Lime Rock Trans Am. Unfortunately, the race did not go as planned, a left rear stub axle broke part way through the race and the car rolled itself into a ball. Fortunately, Magee was fine, but Nazdar was a write-off. Calling on his friends for help, Nicholas and crew worked the entire summer striping all the useable parts off the wrecked BMW. In the meantime, Jiri found a much-used 1968 BMW 2002 and the rebuild process began. The car was finished in the Fall now sporting a two-tone silver and blue paint scheme with ‘Nazdar’ painted on the rear.” (to be continued).
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45) After seeing George Brown’s ‘Nero’ sprint bike at the 1960 Motorcycle Show Brian Sparrow joined the National Sprint Association, soon becoming Competitions Secretary running the Sprint Meetings. He met Allan Bootsie Herridge and
Brian Witty early in 1962 and joined them on a trip to Long Marston with their home-built Chrysler hemi Dragster with plans to take on Sydney Allard in his Chrysler Dragster. Brian then teamed up with Bootsie, John Harrison and Robin Evemy to form Dragster Developments building and running a straight 8 Buick Dragster followed by a state-of-the-art Cadillac slingshot and a smaller Austin powered slingshot. http://www.eurodragstereventcoverage.com/ features/brian_spar
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46) Don “The Snake” Prudhomme is among those in the process of receiving their NHRA Street Legal license. In the “Become a Racer” program, NHRA will also recognize racers at an NHRA Member Track for their on-track performance with unique Street Legal decals. Street Legal decals will be available for racers at a quarter-mile facility who break the 13, 12, 11, and 10-second benchmarks and at an eighth-mile facility who break the 9, 8, 7, and 6-second benchmarks. From: NHRA
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47) Remembering Jim McLennan; courtesy of Don Smith. “Jim McLennan was like a second father to me, and most people who saw us together for the first time thought he WAS my dad. I have so much to thank him for. He was a huge influence in shaping me into the man I became. He put me to work to help him build Champion Speedway when I was 13 years old driving the water truck, which by the way had no brakes (it was a good thing there wasn’t a whole lot I could hit out there). When the motor blew in it, he just told Bobby and I to pull it out. When the grader lost the clutch, he had us fix that too! I thank him for teaching me what a hard day of work is and what it means. I love him for exposing me to Drag Racing and the many friends and priceless stories that have come from it. One of my favorite things was being at the races and having so many of his old friends and acquaintances come by our pit to see him. Some of the people didn’t even know him, they just remembered the car back in the day. He would always greet them with that big smile of his and listen to their story, and then add something to it that they did not know. Fathers would bring their kids by just to meet him. He was always just as gracious with strangers as he was with friends.” Tom McLennan
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48) Bobby Rahal, the 1986 Indy 500 winner and current NTT INDYCAR SERIES team owner, will introduce Brown at the gala and will interview the honoree on stage. The gala is open to the public. Tickets may be purchased at https://imrrc-1948.square.site/product/argetsinger-award-ticket/124?cp=true&sa=true&sbp=false&q=false . All proceeds benefit the IMRRC, a 501(c) (3 organization. The award memorializes Cameron R. Argetsinger, often referred to as the father of American road racing. He was a visionary who, in 1948, conceived, organized, and drove in the first port-war road race in America through the roads of Watkins Glen. He brought Formula 1 to WGI in 1969 and the circuit hosted the United States Grand Prix for 20 years. He was president of the IMRRC for five years, until his death in 2008. From: Judy Stropus.
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49) Billy Godbold was the Comp Cams Valvetrain Engineering manager and is one of the many reasons Comp Cams became the name in high-performance camshafts and valvetrains. Today Godbold runs Godbold Engineering, based in Lakeland, Tennessee. Godbold Engineering is a motorsports engineering firm that uses applied physics, metallurgy, testing, and surface engineering to solve complex problems in motorsports. From: Dimitri Elgin dema@elgincams.com.
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50) BILL HINES. Written by Anna Marco at anna.osr@gmail.com, 20 May 2016. Bill was a self-made man, a brilliant mechanical engineer, bordering on genius, who could build folding armatures for convertible tops from scratch (without plans) and is acknowledged by the low-rider community as the Godfather of Hydraulics. Bill had his ideas stolen by Detroit automakers but nonetheless claimed, “a true custom is candy apple red with fins and white or tan interior.” He admired GM’s great automotive designer Harley Earl, apprenticed Dick Dean and the Alexander Brothers, rubbed shoulders with Larry Watson, Junior Conway, Bill Carr, Dean Jeffries, George Barris, Eddie Martinez and Jesse James, and he wasn’t afraid to take risks in his own builds. (requested by Dick Martin; to be continued)
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51) In the late 1980s, John Massingberd co-established Promark Motorsport International, which included Raceline Motorsport Television and SnowTrax Television with Bruce Mehlenbacher, two media ventures responsible for bringing Canadian motorsport to a greater audience and well-deserved prominence. Along with coverage of drag racing, stock car racing, road racing, and tractor pulls with Promark Motorsport International and Raceline Television, he co-founded and co-anchored Raceline Radio in 1992. John was the executive producer of Canada’s first nationally syndicated motorsport radio program, the Raceline Radio Network, along with Erik Tomas. Raceline Radio was Canada’s first and only nationally syndicated motorsport radio program that celebrated 31 years on the air in 2023 as Canada’s National Radio Motorsport Authority. From Bruce F. Mehlenbacher, Pro Modified Racing Association (PMRA), Bruce@JAJentertainment.com .
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52) The remaining NHRA YES (Youth & Education Services) events the Hidden Pioneers plan to support. 2024 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series Season Schedule. July 26-28, 2024, 36th annual DENSO NHRA Sonoma Nationals, Sonoma Raceway, Sonoma, Calif. To purchase tickets, go to www.nhra.com. From Hidden Pioneers.
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53) MAY 31, 1969, Copyright Times Mirror Company, by Jim Murray. “They said Mario Andretti couldn’t win at this racetrack, and they said Andy Granatelli couldn’t set up a car that wouldn’t be under a tow by 50 laps. The original car Mario came to qualify had only one minor fault; the wheels wouldn’t stay on. But, as long as they did, they turned awfully fast. Andy tried to sooth him by saying this second car was really more reliable. But it was like being offered a date with the ugly sister because she could cook better than the pretty one and could play the harpsichord.” (to be continued)
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54) Book Signing @ The Roar of Lions on Saturday, June 22, 2024. “The Old Master” Ed Pink will be signing his newly released book, Ed Pink, The Old Master. Ed Pink’s gift for designing and building engines made him a motorsports icon. His handiwork has powered, among others, drag-racing superstars Don Prudhomme and Tom McEwen, Indy Car legends Al Unser and Tom Sneva, sports car heroes Bob Wollek and Brian Redman, and USAC champions Tony Stewart and
Kasey Kahne. From: Lions Automobilia Museum at info@lionsautomobilia.org.
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55) Please take a look at our Hidden Garages show series info and links below to see content coming to a city near you!
Bill Montgomery and Bernard talk about the Global Diversity Summit for 2021 (youtube.com). Bill Montgomery
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56) The Mailbag arrives: “I see by your writing that Steve Reyes in Item #1 is about to write a book about OCIR. If you would let him know that I worked at OCIR for Mike Jones and Company, Bill White along with announcer Paul Culley, etc, when it started up in the late 1960’s early ’70’s. I can tell some good stories. The most amazing race was the FC Manufacturer’s meet. 32 funny cars in a round robin. There was the Ford Team, Chevy Team, Mopar Team and I think the AMX team. All racing each other round robin. Winner vs winner, loser vs loser. The midnight races with Way Out Willie with the National and International Brotherhood of Racers, etc.” Big John Morehead, Las Vegas, NV (to be continued)
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57) Weather puts Kyle Larson’s Indy 500, Coca-Cola 600 double plans in jeopardy. Pulling out of the 500, substitute drivers still are possibilities as rain threatens a tight schedule. Mario Andretti: Liberty CEO says Andretti Cadillac F1 entry will never be granted. Reports surface that 84-year-old Mario Andretti and Liberty CEO Greg Maffei had a conversation during an event at the Miami Grand Prix. Former F1 driver Romain Grosjean still making peace with ovals, Indy 500 ghastly F1 Bahrain GP crash, fire in 2020 is a constant reminder of racing danger. From Autoweek & Don Smith.
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58) Ice Speedway Racing History: Technology is advancing in the Quad Division at a feverish pace. In fact, these days some riders are building lightweight tubular frames just for indoor ice racing competitions. The original set of rules for Quads had a maximum engine displacement regulation of 250cc for 2 and 4-stroke engines. In 1990 the rule changed to allow 360cc maximum displacement for 4-strokes while keeping the 2-stroke limit to 250cc. In 1992 the Quads adopted an “Open” engine displacement rule. Now we see everything from 1100cc Harley-Davidson V-Twins, 1000cc 4-cylinder Suzuki, 650cc 4-cylinder Kawasaki engines to the new age 4-valve head, lightweight, single cylinder powerplants. With Open rules, who knows what American ingenuity will come up with next! Great racing and experimentation in technology! ICE Unlimited Outlaw Quads should be interesting indeed. http://icespeedway.com/history_ice_racing.html (to be continued)
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59) I’m in the middle of writing Black Ravik screen play and want to finish it and get it published. I’m going to set time aside and watch the Indy 500. If I wasn’t so busy I would actually go to Indy to watch it live. When I slow down, INDY 500 is on my bucket list. Paul D. Escudero
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60) This Week on Cars Yeah Mark Greene interviews John Oats, Ron Carlsten, the Brinkerhoffs and Lalentino Balboni. From: Mark Greene at info@carsyeah.com.
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61) From: Autoweek Racing Daily autoweek@newsletter.autoweek.com . Disappointing Ford Mustang dark horse yet to
deliver in NASCAR Cup. It’s been 14 years since Ford hasn’t won within the first nine races of any season. You don’t see
this everyday: MotoGP rider briefly gets on wrong bike after crash. If you crash in a motorcycle race, be sure to remember which team you currently race for. Sent in by Don Smith.
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62) Jackie Stewart was quizzed by RRDC President Bobby Rahal. A champagne toast celebrated the evening. Mario Andretti and Stewart traded barbs but displayed true respect for each other as not only on-track rivals but off-track friends. Stewart with acclaimed artist Bill Patterson. Stewart signing the Bill Patterson “live” painting. (for copies of the photographs please contact Albert Wong). From: Judy Stropus jstropus@earthlink.net.
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63) NASCAR Hall of Fame welcomes Ricky Rudd, Carl Edwards, Ralph Moody for class of 2025, left out are Ray Hendrick & Randy Dorton. Former F1 Chief technical officer Pat Symonds to join Andretti Cadillac F1 effort. Rick Hendrick: ‘talent, desire’ are driving Kyle Larson’s Indy 500 effort. Santino Ferrucci knows eyes will be on him starting Indy 500 next to Kyle Larson. McLaren to sport Ayrton Senna-inspired liveries at F1 Monaco Grand Prix. Senna raced for McLaren between 1988 and 1993, taking 35 of his 41 Formula 1 wins for the team. Autoweek and Don Smith.
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64) BLAST FROM THE PAST…… From the Wally & Barbara Parks story, We Did It Our Way. Wally Parks writes to Mary Parks. My father wrote to my mother on Thursday, December 2, 1943, and most likely from the South Pacific; servicemen were not allowed to say where they were or what fight they were going to be in. Dad started his letter, “H’Lo (he drew his face looking over a fence). My darling Mary – Hello Honey, I got two nice letters from you today. Sure was glad to get them. Keep feeling well as you are, and I’ll be happy. It’s good to know you’re not having any troubles. Have you decided upon a name yet? How about ‘Susan Gail’? Then we could call HIM ‘Sue.’” Wasn’t there a song called, “A Boy Named Sue?”
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65) Trailblazers Banquet – April 6, 2024. Next were the Hall of Fame inductees: Five-time MX World Champion Roger De Coster: Former Trailblazer President Walt Fulton III: Multi time Motorcross Champion Broc Glover: Nine-time female National MX Champion Mercedes Gonzalez-Natvig: Former Houston TT winner Mike Haney, Tuner/bike builder Pete Pistone. I mean come on. Where do you start when you’re talking about this kind of Motorcycle royalty. Each has enough history to fill a book, and each has books written about them so for those who have been living in a cave and don’t recognize their names I urge you to look them up. You will be impressed. Do want to share this, “One generation plants the tree and another gets the shade,” Broc Glover quote that so well capsulates what being a Trailblazers is all about. And for all the ladies this Mercedes Gonzalez-Natvig quote, “People told me girls can’t race and then came along Sue Fish and I said if she can beat the boys, I can beat the boys.” From Howie Zechner howie@razvideo.com. (to be continued)
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66) Motorsports Hall of Fame of America Unveils 2025 Induction Class. Ed Iskenderian (1921-) The “Camfather” was born July 10, 1921, in Central California to Armenian parents. Young “Isky” was curious about mechanics and technology, his first job was repairing vacuum tube radios. He grew up around cars, particularly fascinated by the racy sounding, lightweight “gow job” hot rods he and his buddies saw around town. Coming home to Los Angeles after WW2 Air Force service, he befriended Ed Winfield (MSHFA Class of 2011) and began grinding his own hot camshafts and valve gear. He ran his Model-T rod at the dry lakes and became a major player in the early days of Bonneville and the NHRA. Isky sponsored and supplied his speedware to racing icons including Don Garlits and Mickey Thompson (MSHFA Class of 1990), boat racers and the early days of NASCAR. Iskenderian Racing Cams became a major force in the performance industry, Ed serving as SEMA’s first president. From: Adam Saal at SaalGoodPR@gmail.com or 321-890-2848.
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67) Filling in for former world champion Jose Gonzalez, Eric Dillard picked up the victory in the Congruity NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series presented by LearnEV+ on Sunday as part of this weekend’s 24th annual Gerber Collision & Glass Route 66 NHRA Nationals presented by PEAK Performance at Route 66 Raceway. From: NHRA
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68) A refocused and retooled Rahal/Letterman/Lanigan squad heads to qualifying weekend for the Indy 500 talking about competing for the win one year after failing to qualify one of its cars. Scott Dixon Settles into Sounding Board Role for Ganassi Indy 500 Effort. Dixon made his first Indianapolis 500 start way back in 2003. F1 Drivers Want Simpler Rules, Equal Treatment for Offenses. Two-time Formula 1 champion Fernando Alonso even wonders about bias against Spanish drivers: “I think the penalties are a little inconsistent from our point of view.” Eddie Gossage, Former Texas Motor Speedway President, dies at 65. He put a Texas-size approach to both the construction of the Texas speedway and its operations. From: Autoweek autoweek@newsletter.autoweek.com and Don Smith.
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69) ED PINK story, written by Dick Martin 2012 (captions left in text, to be serialized). The word got out that Ed was a crack machinist who really knew racing engines. Ed began working out of his home garage. Up-and-coming drag racer, “TV” Tommy Ivo, was one of his early customers. Ivo, being a child actor, knew how to put on a show at the drags. Ivo was a formidable drag racer with wickedly fast equipment. His AA/GD (gas dragster) held the elapsed time record of 8.69 and was the first gas dragster with speeds of 180 mph in the quarter-mile. Ivo scoured the junkyards for Hemi gold and would keep piles of motors in his mom’s garage. (Actually it was his garage. He purchased the home for his parents, where he still lives today, when he was 12 years old with his movie money.) “I did most of my own engine work,” Ivo begins. “I started out with taking apart and putting back together all of the clocks in the house, which progressed to my bike that was apart more than it was together, and then my car when I turned 16.” Ivo’s mother would make deliveries to Ed’s house in her Cadillac. The Cad would be so loaded with Chrysler Hemi heads and cylinder blocks for Ed to machine, the Cad would be dragging on the ground. To see the captioned photographs go to https://www.motortrend.com/staff/dick-martin/ .
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70) Officials from NHRA and Worldwide Technology Raceway announced today that the 13th annual NHRA Midwest Nationals, the third of six races in the Countdown to the Championship playoffs, will feature four qualifying sessions during the event, which takes place September 27-29, 2024, in St Louis, Missouri.
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71) Sherm Porter’s Schedule of car shows and events (fuely32@sbcglobal.net)
JUNE 22, 2024, With the Cardinals, Bishop Diego HS, Santa Barbara, 9am-3pm. info@classicswiththecardinals.org
JUNE 22, 2024, F-100 Western Nationals, Canyon RV Park, Anaheim, www.f100westernnationals.wordpress.com
JUNE 23, 2024, Pomona Swap Meet, Los Angeles Fairplex, 714-538-9091
JUNE 23, 2024, Corvettes of Sonoma County Swap Meet & Car Show, Santa Rosa, CA crazyminx@comcast.net.
JUNE 29, 2024, F.A.S.T. Santa Margarita Ranch Time Trials, 1/10th Mile, Santa Margarita, CA. Gates open 8am, no early birds, open to 1934 and older cars & trucks, must have a Ford Model-T, A or B engine to compete, other pre-’34 4-cyl.
JUNE 29, 2024, 27th Annual Rods & Roses, Carpinteria, CA. Vehicles must be 30 years old or older, 10am-3pm. For info: www.rodsandroses.wordpress.com
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72) Mario Andretti 1969 Winner Indy 500, “Mario is the most successful export since pizza.” Jim Murray
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73) F1 Emilia Romagna Vettel pays tribute to Ayrton Senna. Oliver Bearman struggling in F2, Williams’ cars are too heavy. Past winner Marcus Ericsson narrowly makes the Indy 500 after miscalculating during his first LCQ run. Rookie Nolan Siegal is the odd man out after slapping the wall in a last-ditch effort to qualify. Complete Indy 500 starting grid: Scott McLaughlin leads Penske front-row sweep at Indianapolis. McLaughlin, Will Power, defending race winner Josef Newgarden will lead the Indianapolis 500 field. Kyle Larson surprises in Row 2. From Autoweek & Don Smith.
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74) MAY 31, 1969, Copyright Times Mirror Company, by Jim Murray. “There is very little doubt Mario Andretti is the greatest race driver in America, maybe the world. He looks like something that fell out of your watch pocket. If he was any smaller, there wouldn’t be room for his heart. People have been rooting for him to win the 500 for the same reason they rooted for Stan Musial to play in a World Series. But the only guy who’s had worse luck than he at the 500 has been Andy Granatelli. People thought that alliance would go down faster than Mussolini’s name. But the combination showed its tailpipes to the flower of American racing Friday. Mario was so far ahead at the end; he could have won on a bicycle. Even with a comfortable lead, he was driving like a guy leaving a bank robbery.” (to be continued)
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75) May issue of Vintage Metal. Targa Classica Event in Victoria March 2024 by VSCC member Scott Mackie Torquay car park with competitors’ cars. Scott’s Triumph is in the front row, flanked by an Alfa Romeo spider and a Ferrari coupé. With the Triumph’s Michelotti design, it’s an Italian line-up. A New Start 70 Years Ago by Bob Campbell Dominant début. Juan Manuel Fangio and Karl Kling, both in streamlined Mercedes-Benz W196s, on the front row for the start of the 1954 Grand Prix de l’ACF at Reims. Alberto Ascari is alongside in a factory Maserati 250F. Photo from Mercedes in Motorsport by Alan Henry. Editor Bob Campbell is at robertcampbell4@icloud.com.
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76) Kurt Busch has advice for Kyle Larson for Indy 500: ‘I’m proud of him.’ Busch pulled off the Indy 500/Coca-Cola 600 double in 2014; this weekend he is at F1 Monaco Grand Prix. Forever young Helio Castroneves ‘honored, blessed’ to get shot at 5th Indy 500 win. The 49-year-old, four-time Indy 500 winner has another chance to rise above ‘incredible gods of racing.’ NASCAR suspends Ricky Stenhouse Jr’s dad for role in All-Star race brawl. Ricky Stenhouse Jr not suspended but fined $75,000. From: Autoweek at autoweek@newsletter.autoweek.com , and Don Smith.
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77) DUFFY LIVINGSTONE, by Dick Martin (To see the photos go to https://www.motortrend.com/staff/dick-martin/ ). “I built Mitchell’s first glass pack muffler,” stated Duffy. “Originally, mufflers were packed with steel and eventually the material deteriorated. Some liked the rapping sound, but the noise grated on most people after a while. When Mitchell started making mufflers, he bought the casings and cores and the end caps from Porter Muffler in Los Angeles, and we’d put the glass in the mufflers. The first glass pack mufflers didn’t work out. The resin melted. We used the same fiberglass as you put on the hood of a car. The stuff would blow out the back of the muffler and if you were following too close behind, you’d start to itch,” laughed Duffy. (to be continued)
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78) Real Road Racing; The Santa Monica Road Races, by Harold Osmer and Phil Harms (serialized review). In 1914 Ralph DePalma won the Vanderbilt Cup Race in his Mercedes with an average speed of 75.49mph over 35 laps. Eddie Pullen won the American Grand Prize Race in his Mercer at an average speed of 77.32. DePalma won $4000 and Pullen won $3000, a fortune in those days. The attendance topped 100,000 people, there were no fatalities, and the prize money was upped to $20,000. With everything going right, the city of Santa Monica had the premier auto race. Chapter Eight is called Back Again 1916. Santa Monica officials lost the Cup and Grand Prize Race to San Francisco and did not put on a race in 1915. The Vanderbilt Cup and American Grand Prize Race returned to Santa Monica in 1916, after a dismal mess at the 1915 races in San Francisco. Dario Resta won the 1916 race in the Vanderbilt Cup and Howard Wilcox in the Grand Prize Race. A tragic accident took the lives of a driver and three spectators and injured three more. The race was then suspended because of World War I and there was no racing in 1917-18. (to be continued)
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79) HOT ROD Drag Week competitors will return to the big stage of the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series May 31-June 2, 2024, as part of a special Drag and Drive exhibition during the NHRA New England Nationals at New England Dragway. This special feature marks the first time Drag Week competitors have attended the historic facility in Epping, NH.
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80) Good job on the Newsletter. I’m not aware of any major magazine that has 101 articles worth reading or for that matter the New York Times. Paul D. Escudero (author)
PAUL: Appreciate the compliment. We consider you the Motorsports Newsletter’s Chief Sci-Fi author. Keep writing.
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81) Jaguar Cars £22.50, by Nigel Thorley 160 pages, 387 images. An on-the-spot information resource for all Jaguar cars from 1922 through to 2008. General model information, specifications and other production details for each model are given in chronological order, with illustrations for each model and special features, helping owners and enthusiasts with identification and authenticity. Also in the series: Triumph & Standard, Morris, Rootes (Hillman, Humber, Singer, Sunbeam, Talbot), Rover, Austin, Ford, Riley & Wolseley, Citroën and Jaguar. From: Veloce is at newsletter@veloce.co.uk. Veloce – an imprint of David and Charles 2 Poundbury Business Centre Middle Farm Way Dorchester, Dorset DT1 3WA UK.
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82) Dave Nicholas’ story continued. “Painted on the rear of the Autosport Team BMW 2002 was the name ‘Nazdar,’ so named by owner Jiri Nechleba, which is a popular drinking toast in his native Czechoslovakia. The second race for the BMWi 2002 was at Watkins Glen for the Camel GT. The Autosport Team finished in a respectable fifth place in their class. Since Nicholas had spent a good deal of time building the new car and had driven a few of the shop’s customer cars in races, Jiri kept his promise to have Nicholas split the driving with John Magee for the IMSA 500K at Watkins Glen in September. Although the car had a 1600cc engine compared to the two-liter BMWs, Jiri hoped the weight savings would offset the greater power.” From: Dave Nicholas at davnik6@gmail.com. (to be continued).
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83) John Nikas will be at Autobooks/Aerobooks on Saturday, June 15, 2024, to autograph his book Nash-Healey: A Grand Alliance, from 11am to 3pm. Autobooks-Aerobooks is at 2900 W. Magnolia Blvd, Burbank, CA. 818-845-0707 or go to
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84) Neil Smith, British-raised and living in California, Smith attended his first Group C race in Brands Hatch in England at age 9, eventually becoming a scholar of sports car racing and its history. His fascination with Group C and IMSA GTP was the catalyst for the research that led to writing his debut book, ON THE PROWL: The Definitive History of the Walkinshaw Jaguar Sports Car Team. Worked as a journalist and co-drove in a US national rally championship. Judy Stropus
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85) Continued story: “I did a little bit of everything. I classified and staged cars. Did some starting duties in relief and the most fun part, I did some announcing. During big events like NHRA Points meets, I hung out with Mazmanian and his crew in the pits, bummed around with Steve Carbone, Herm Peterson, Mike Sorokian before he crashed and died and some of the interim events like the stunt fliers, Bill Shrewsberry Hemi Under Glass, The Back Up Pick Up, etc. Those were the days.” Big John Morehead, Las Vegas, Nevada is at bigjohn701@gmail.com. (to be continued)
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86) MAY 31, 1969, Copyright Times Mirror Company, by Jim Murray. “Nineteen cars bombed out of this race. But only one crashed. This race used to kill more people than crocodiles. It used to be listed under major causes of death in this country right below cardiac arrests. They could have card games in the hospital Friday. It ranked no higher than tonsillitis as a cause of death. This race was so safe, the only driver injury was an earache. The yellow light was on only 14 minutes. Most of the cars, so to speak, died in bed. In the pits.” (to be continued)
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87) KNOW YOUR MOTORSPORTS PERSONALITY: Brett Root, President of IMCA Racing. IMCA (International Motor Contest Association) continues the mission of affordable, entertaining and competitive auto racing as a sanctioning body. IMCA is committed to establishing and enforcing fair and consistent rules that will strengthen and promote the racing industry. NHRA Crew Chiefs: Rob Flynn, Crew Chief for Mike Salinas (1st 300 mph on an 1/8 mile). From Epartrade.
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88) Maurice Takoor met John Bennett in 1963 and became a member of the BHRA. He also became a photographic editor on Drag Racing & Hot Rod magazine and later worked with John at Spa Engineering. From 1968 to 1978 Maurice along with John Hill worked as the tech crew at Santa Pod alongside the RAC Scrutineering Bay. In the early 1990’s Maurice organised a 30th anniversary BHRA Meet which was well attended and led to the forming of the BHRA Pioneers Club open to anyone who was involved in drag racing in the 1960’s. Maurice is still very much involved in drag racing and recently ran the ex-Dave Miller BMC powered Spirit slingshot from the 1970’s with help from Dave Gibbons and Dick Hogben. https://eventcoveragearchive.eurodragster.net/features/maurice_takoor/default.asp . From: John Hunt
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89) F1 Lewis Hamilton says he’d pick Kimi Antonelli to replace him. The 17-year-old Formula 2 driver is believed to be on Mercedes’ short list to take Hamilton’s seat next season. Fight between Ricky Stenhouse Jr & Kyle Busch mars NASCAR All-Star show. NASCAR Star of Stars Joey Logano wins All-Star race at North Wilkesboro. Baseball Hall of Famer Ken Griffey Jr to lead the field at the 108th Indianapolis 500. Griffey will drive the Corvette E-Ray pace car at the Indy 500 on May 26. From: Autoweek autoweek@newsletter.autoweek.com . Sent in by Don Smith.
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90) 46th HSR Mitty at Michelin Raceway. Reigning Gene Felton Memorial Challenge winner “Front Row Joe” Nemechek went a perfect three-for-three in the annual tribute race for Felton, the late Georgia-based driving star and 2019 HSR Mitty Grand Marshal. Winning both the Saturday and Sunday HSR Group 8 Historic Stock Car races in his NEMCO Motorsports 2007 #47 Toyota Camry, Nemechek amassed enough points to keep a personal lock on the perpetual Lanier Technical College Gene Felton Trophy as the only driver to win it in the Pro category each of the three years the race has been run.
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91) I am Nick Brooke-Langham and have been liaising with John Hunt in regard to the (UK) Dragfest Anniversary. John gave me your email, as I would like to subscribe to your newsletter.
NICK: You’re all signed up. Feel free to send in news whenever you wish.
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92) May 28, 2024, is the mile marker and 10-year anniversary of the Cars Yeah podcast. Had you told me 10 years ago that I would produce over 2,500 shows and would earn over 3.8 million unique downloads I would have laughed. From: Mark Greene at Cars Yeah info@carsyeah.com.
READERS: Mark is an exceptional interviewer and makes it fun. Please contact Mark with your story and see if he can squeeze you in for an interview. I’ll bet (legally) that Mark has interviewed hundreds of people that you know (about). It’s fun, entertaining and educational. Go to his site https://carsyeah.com/ and see for yourself.
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93) From Epartrade: Masaaki Bandoh, chairman of GTA, joined us for the 2023 Race Industry Week. Super GT is the top level of sports car racing in Japan and is a hugely popular series. Hosted by Brad Gillie, SiriusXM, Channel 90, Late Shift.
AND: Dave Morton, Running for SEMA Board of Director, “I’m not your typical SEMA Board candidate. Unconstrained by inherent bias, I’ll bring fresh ideas to help SEMA and the industry shift forward to capitalize on opportunities and better serve the needs of its members,” said Dave Morton, Senior Vice President and Managing Director of Fifth Third Bank Motorsports. team@epartrade.com.
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94) I just received the approval for the book on Orange County International Raceway (OCIR) from Arcadia publishers. I think it will be a companion piece to Don Gillespie’s OCIR DVD. Steve Reyes
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95) Randy Walls. Text by Randy Walls, edited by Richard Parks. 26 March 2012, for Gone Racin’ archives. (serialized)
“My grandfather was Will Walls, and he was born in 1885 in Breckenridge County, Kentucky. Will was a farmer and outlived two wives, but the third one was too young and outdid him. He died at the age of 97 and was still joking and laughing to the last minute. His third wife was only 67 years old at that time and they had three children, my half aunts and uncles. Uncle Helm was my oldest uncle by Will Walls and was my father’s oldest stepbrother. My Uncle Helm lived to be 94 before he passed away. Uncle Arthur was a Hatfield and a brother to my Grandmother Jane Hatfield Walls. Aunt Jose is still alive at the age of 89, as is Aunt Goldie who is now 83, and my Uncle Wilson is 92 and brags that he is going to hit at least a 100.” (to be continued)
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96) Harley Night 1, Costa Mesa Speedway 5/11/24 (serialized). “After what can only be described as a dreadful start to the 2024 Speedway race season after the forced cancellation of the April 13, Spring Classic, the Jack Milne Cup because of rain, Mother Nature finally smiled and blossomed with that perfect day of sun and warmth Southern California is so well known for. One must understand that Speedway here at the Costa Mesa Fairgrounds is more than racing. It’s a happening with roots that go back over a half century when 1937 World Champion Jack Milne and Harry Oxley first promoted here. Riders became legends as the facility gained fame for its tight, take no prisoners racing.” Howie Zechner (continued).
