Text by Danny White ~ Photos by Franklin Ratliff

Photo courtesy of Ky Michealson

In the 1970s, rocket dragsters were in their heyday. Long before today's top fuel cars, the rockets were the first four second performers in the quarter mile. The unpredictable machines had a dark side, however, and that was a high driver mortality rate. One of those drivers, Russell Mendez, drove the "Free Spirit." The wheel covers eventually installed on the "Free Spirit" were blamed for the crash that took Russell's life and were implicated in other accidents as well. The covers subsequently were outlawed by NHRA.