Motorsports Newsletter 06/05/24

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1) Email servers such as AOL, Gmail, Yahoo, etc have been restricting my newsletter due to size of the emails I send out and the number of readers who receive the newsletter. I am going to try and reduce items, length and readership gradually and see if that helps delivery problems. You will notice shorter announcements and no BOLD COLORS.

     ALT Sports Data will offer statistics, odds and insights. The partnership gives NHRA fans a greater opportunity to engage with race teams more than ever before, as well as the chance to receive more detailed information about what’s happening on the track through the sharing of information with ALT Sports Data.

     AND: RUFUS PARNEL (Parnelli) JONES, AUGUST 12, 1933-JUNE 4, 2024. One of the greatest drivers to ever race an Indy car. Parnelli passed away at his home today in Palos Verdes, CA. You will be missed PJ, but not forgotten. Rest in Peace and God’s speed. From Chris Agajanian

     AND: Thank you to readers who gave good advice on a shorter and slimmer newsletter.

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2) Pat Ganahl’s final hot rod project was his 1933 Ford Fordor, built by Pat with the help of his son Bill Ganahl of South City Rod & Custom. In our tribute to Pat, we included photos of the sedan. customerservice@roddersjournal.com. Sent in by Steve Coonan and Don Smith.

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3) From Chris Agajanian: There are only 7 drivers that have won the Indy 500 three times. Out of those seven drivers, four of those drivers have won the coveted race four times. If Helio Castroneves wins this year, he will be the only man in history to win the Indianapolis 500 five times. The other 4 winners: AJ Foyt, Al Unser Sr, and Rick Mears behind. (to be continued)

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4) SCTA & BNI calendar for 2024: May 18-19, 2024 (El Mirage Dry Lake). June 9, 2024 (El Mirage). July 14, 2024 (El Mirage). Bonneville (Utah) Speedweek, Aug 3-9, 2024. Sept 15, 2024 (El Mirage). Bonneville (Utah) World Finals, Sept 28-Oct 1, 2024. Oct 20, 2024 (El Mirage. Nov 9-10, 2024 (El Mirage). rulebookinfo@scta-bni.org, 661-802-1355.

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5) From Jim Miller, researcher for AHRF.com (Gas/Fuel wars, serialized in coming issues): “By the end of the war internal combustion engine technology was firmly established as to bore-stroke ratios, air-fuel, compression etc. and corporate experimentation was basically stopped to work on the new-fangled jet engines. That’s when the car guys/hotrodders/racers took over the job. The 283″ Chevrolet Duntov Cam was actually an Ed Winfield grind he got royalties off of. The nitro secret was circulating in Southern California late in ’46 thanks to Tether Cars, Fran Hernandes and Ed Haddad, who drove midgets for Howard Keck. Haddad told Vic Edelbrock about Nitro. Edelbrock later cheated and added a little Nitro in his Methanol mix that was disguised using rose petals (it smelled great when burnt) in his V8-60 powered Midget to beat the Offy’s. Keck’s crew (hotrodders Travers, Coon. Hilborn, Nairn etal started using a dash of Nitro in qualifying only at Indy but learned early don’t go over 20% or the engine blows.” (to be continued)

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6) BOOK REVIEW Corvette Drag Racing: The Golden Era, by Jim Dillon (2023). As Dillon wrote, “…in 2010 I made the decision to drag up an old derelict 1962 Corvette drag car from the back of my shop and see if I could build a street/strip warrior and do a little time travel of my own. I found out in short order that I was not alone. Some of us old timers had great memories of the ’60’s and ’70’s and wanted to recapture the good times that we had experienced. Add into the mix that a number of younger racers were now taking more of an interest in the renewed ‘gasser’ craze. My memories of the stock and modified Vettes of the ’60’s made my decision to get involved in some small way a no brainer.” Dillon then praised Quain Stott and the Southeast Gasser organization for creating the rules and events for nostalgia racers on the East Coast. Today such groups dot the American landscape, and they are as enjoyable and competitive as ever. (to be continued)

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8) May issue of Vintage Metal. Walter Wilson’s Little Willie by Graeme Jackson. 2023 marked not only the Centenary of MG but also 100 years since the establishment of the Tank Museum at Bovington in the UK. It was a visit by Rudyard Kipling to the tank graveyard at Bovington in 1923 that set in motion the foundation of a central museum for the vehicles that helped to end what was then called the “War to End all Wars.” Dublin born Walter Gordon Wilson invented the Wilson Pre-Selective, self-changing, epicyclic gearbox, patented in 1919.

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9) Motorsports Hall of Fame of America Unveils 2025 Induction Class (continued). Dale Jarrett followed his father Ned Jarrett (MSHFA Class of 1997). He was named one of NASCAR’s 50 Greatest Drivers in 1998. From: Adam Saal

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10) DUFFY LIVINGSTONE. “In 1948, we started using what they called roving fiberglass [a high-strength, coarsely woven fabric used in all phases of fiberglass molding] which was the remains of a continuous strand of fiberglass. We’d wrap that around the core.” “We made $66 off our first customer. A dual exhaust job was $49.50. That included splitting the manifold on a Chevy-6. We were only there a year because they sold the building. We then moved to Monrovia to what used to be a gas station and changed the name to GP Muffler. We were making glass pack mufflers. We’d write on a bill of sale GP for glass packs or SP for steel packs.” (to be continued)

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11) Ice Speedway Racing History: Over the years ICE has developed and incorporated many innovations into the sport. Most of these improvements have been in the areas of technical regulations and developments, safety regulations and competition rules. http://icespeedway.com/history_ice_racing.html (to be continued)

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12) BILL HINES. Written by Anna Marco at anna.osr@gmail.com, 20 May 2016. “You may recall the Buddha Buggy, The Lil Bat, The Big Bat, molded side pipes, Watson’s ‘58 T-Bird and The Golden Nugget. You may also remember the dual frenched antennas with trailing lead tails were completed in a day.  From across the garage, he could see a headlight ring mounted ¼ inch off center while those of us standing right in front of it were blind to the obvious. He made us fix it to his exact specifications and he was not above pushing us out of the way to do things himself. Don’t forget his FINS, standing proud and tall as a testament to the golden age of American auto design. Most notably, Bill was regarded as a master lead slinger (a lost art form) stating, ‘Bondo is poison, and cars shouldn’t be made out of plastic.’ His grandson Mitch will carry on the legacy of his lead craft.” (requested by Dick Martin; to be continued)

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13) “The ‘Become a Racer’ program really encapsulates the ‘Speed for All’ motto when it comes to NHRA drag racing,” said Evan Jonat, NHRA Vice President of Live Events. “We’re proud to offer the opportunity for potential drivers of any skill level and at a small cost to race and compete in safe matter and have fun at our venues.

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14) ED PINK story, written by Dick Martin 2012 (captions left in text, to be serialized) “I was building race cars for something to do in between pictures. When I got them done, I naturally had to take them down to the dragstrip and run them,” Ivo says, jokingly. “I won two trophies in one day at Pomona, one for winning the class and the other for setting the record—it was like winning two Oscars on the same day. I gave up a 20-year movie career and went professional drag racing for another 20 years.” Ed added to his early customer list the legendary hot rod/race car upholster and drag racer Tony Nancy and “Big John” Masmanian, famous for his immaculate Willys 392 Chrysler Hemi A/GS. Ed would travel to Sherman Oaks to pick up Nancy’s parts and take them to his home garage to machine and return. What Ed did for the three racers was machine work—just heads and cylinder blocks—but enough work for his small home-based company to survive.

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15) Ken Cooper met and talked to many American visitors over the years including Dean Moon and Roy Gammell who wrenched on the Mooneyes dragster in 1963. Also, that year he had a chat with the legendary Mickey Thompson. See

https://eventcoveragearchive.eurodragster.net/features/ken_cooper_rich_butcher/default.asp. From: John Hunt.

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16) John Massingberd with his warm, friendly but firm handshake, quick wit and genuine charm, John had a fantastic ability to never be at a loss for words. He pioneered new ground in radio and television coverage of Canadian motorsport. The Pro Modified Racing Association feels it fitting to recognize Eric Tomas with the John Massingberd Award. Past Recipients: Carl Spiering, Fred & Betsy Smith, RW (Bob) Slack, Vern Christy, John Waldie, Tim Miller, Bruce Biegler, Harvey Silverthorne and Rob Potter.  From Bruce F. Mehlenbacher

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17) BLAST FROM THE PAST…. From the Wally & Barbara Parks story, We Did It Our Way. On January 2nd my father sent a V-Mail letter, referred to as Victory Grams, and these were short letters similar to the internet or phone text messages of today. I’m not sure exactly how much you can write on one of these V-Mail forms, but probably it was a short note. They had to be flown or sent by ship back to the United States and that meant that after a tanker was unloaded with fuel and supplies for the front-line troops there was space for mail. It might take months for the mail to be delivered and when it was the censors could have blacked out much of the message. Japanese and German submarines often sank tankers and recovered mail and used it to determine what the Americans were up to. My father got around that censorship by drawing cartoons that told a story and the cartoon on January 2nd showed my father chasing the mail clerk and attempting to bash the clerk over the head with the caption, “If that mail clerk doesn’t bring me some mail soon!” It was a clever way to avoid the censors and it told my mother to write more often.

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18) Congratulations to Emeline King on receiving the 2024 Presidential Lifetime Achievement Gold Medal Award. From your friends at Hidden Pioneers hiddenpioneers@gmail.com.

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19) Books and Manuals from CarTech Publishing, 6118 Main Street, North Branch, Minnesota 55056, 1-800-551-4754,

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20) Real Road Racing; The Santa Monica Road Races, by Harold Osmer and Phil Harms (conclusion). Chapter Nine is named Return from The Trenches 1919. Cliff Durant won the race with an average speed of 81.27mph. This was the last year a race was held in Santa Monica. Chapter Ten is titled the Epilogue. Various drivers are discussed and what happened to them. …are tables and charts with interesting statistics about race drivers and the races they won…a spectacular book.

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21) Book Signing @ The Roar of Lions at the Lions Automobilia Museum on Saturday, June 22. Ed Pink will be signing his new book, Ed Pink, The Old Master. His handiwork has powered 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.

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22) Trailblazers Banquet – April 6. The Dick Hammer Award went to David Aldana, a 4-time AMA National winner who wore the black leather suit with a contrasting human skeleton on the front and when he said, “You don’t know how fast you can go till you fall down,” during his interview in the movie On Any Sunday. From Howie Zechner (to be continued)

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27) Al Caldwell’s Drag Race Gazette was kind of a 5×7 sized newsletter/publication that was given out for free at all the Northern California drag strips. It was maybe 8 to 10 pages, printed on some really cheap yellow stock paper. I think Al printed the thing in his basement on his ancient printing press. From there he would deliver them to whatever drag strip was running that weekend. Mainly Fremont because it ran every weekend. It featured photos of all the NorCal racers in action with captions and race reporting. Al made his money from ads that appeared in his Gazette, Goodies Speed Shop, Vic Hubbard’s speed and marine, Champion speed shop and Gotelli’s speed shop all paid for ads in the gazette. Local drag strips also purchased advertising when a special event was taking place. I was kind of Al’s unofficial photographer, I covered Fremont, Half Moon Bay and Vacaville for him. If I ventured down to Los Angeles, he would run photos of NorCal racers completing in SoCal events. Well, that’s about it on Al and his Drag Race Gazette. From Steve Reyes