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Fuel Altered Files, Part 7
Text by Danny White
Today the Super Thief altered is remembered as much for its appearance as its performance. The beautiful altered with the cowling over the driver was owned by the Horchar Brothers: Bill, Bob, and Chuck. The brothers had previously run the Paraphernalia AA/FA Bantam and replaced it with the lighter Super Thief. The Super Thief name was a play on words from the Super Chief funny car of Nelson Carter. Kenny Youngblood painted the Super Thief in its distinct colors from a personal Blood design. The Super Thief was powered by 354 Chrysler Hemi unlike the 392 Chrysler used by most other altered racers. The brothers with Chuck at the wheel ran the car from 1970 from 1972 with best times in the seven-second range. (L&M Photo courtesy of Bob Plumer; info from Draglist files)
Colorado joined California as one of the hotbeds of fuel altered racing. The High Heaven Bantam AA/FA of the Jackson Brothers was among the toughest in the Mile High State. Cal and Les began racing this Bantam with an injected Chevy on nitro around 1971 but later added the blower. Cal did the driving for the team while Les tuned the nitro fueled 427 Chevy. The original High Heaven ran from 1971 to 1973, and then was replaced by a new Peek Bros. machine. The team continued to race altered until the late seventies when they switched to funny cars. In 2005 the team made a short return to the AA/FA wars with Les’ son Keith at the wheel. (Photo courtesy of Big Bob Snyder; info from Draglist files)
Hailing from the land Down Under was Kerry Johnson and his Country Hemi Altered. The Country Hemi ran both alcohol and nitro in the short time it ran. The car was a traditional altered, not a transformer like some cars that ran in the late-seventies. Johnson did not race for long as the Draglist files only have him running in 1978 season. (Photo courtesy of Steve Thomas and www.visualveocity.au; info from Draglist files)
Dave Hough is a legend in the world of fuel altereds and it was in this car that he made one of the greatest passes ever in a fuel altered. The Super Shops chain of auto parts stores stepped in to sponsor Hough’s AA/FA in 1976. The Norm Porter built Super Nanook debuted with the old style Donovan Hemi but was replaced with the late model style Milodon Hemi topped with a distinctive shotgun injector. It was during this time after NHRA had dumped the AA/FA class that Dave stepped up to promote races for the awful-awfuls. Hough got races for the other teams from Southern California to El Paso as well as Tucson.
Dave was invited in 1977 to help fill out a short AA/FC field at the PDA race at Orange County, as were Ed Moore in the Mob and Leon Fitzgerald’s Fuel Heaven. Hough laid down an awesome 6.189 at 233.76 and worked his way to the finals where he fell to Don Prudhomme’s unstoppable Army Arrow. The run was over four-tenths of a second quicker than any AA/FA had ever gone! The run stood as the fastest run ever until Ray Higley’s 6.01 surpassed it in 1985. The Super Nanook was given away at the NHRA World Finals in 1977 and Hough moved on to funny cars. (Photo courtesy of Auto Imagery and www.autoimagery.com; info from Draglist files)
It can be said that if not for Rod Hynes, we might not have fuel altereds running today. Hynes got his start as a crewmember for other altered racers, working his way up to crewchief on the Savage Jr. car of Lee LeBaron. Rod got his chance to drive in the late-seventies, shoeing the Scrounger Bantam of Stan Lucas. The car began as the M&S Race Cars built Shockley and Sons machine driven by Sy Shockley. Lucas purchased it and renamed it the Scrounger (the car was also called the Indecision for a time). Stan later renamed the car Black Magic after a fire burned the Bantam body. In 1983, the team returned to the Scrounger II moniker and ran a best of 6.77 at 211. In 1984, Hynes picked up sponsorship from Coors Light and ran the car in this livery into the 1986 season. In the early eighties, the number of AA/FAs dropped literally to a handful and might have died if not for the efforts of Rod Hynes! We thank you, Rod! (Photo courtesy of Big Bob Snyder and www.vintagedragclub.com; info from Draglist files)
Dave Gruzen made a foray into fuel altered racing in 2006. Gruzen had been racing Nostalgia I in his tall modified fuel roadster before adding this small block Topolino. The Merciless Mouse was driven by Tim Brown before the addition of nitro. Dave got the little Fiat to run a 6.80 on small load of nitro in nostalgia AA/FA racing. The costs and lack of places to race sidelined this car, and Gruzen limits its outings to “cacklefests.” (Photo courtesy of Pete Gemar and More Better Pics; info from Draglist files)
Dave Hix has a unique AA/FA in two respects: it is powered by a Fontana Hemi and is covered by an aero body Bantam by Spitzer. Hix’s claim to fame began in the 80s as part of the CIFCA alcohol funny car circuit. In 2001, he added the Bantam body to the funny car chassis. Dave would later pour nitro into the tank, which put the Hi-Tech car into the fives. Hix ran a good 5.74 at 244 at the 2006 Chuy’s race in Bakersfield. (Photo courtesy of David Hapgood; info from Draglist files)
Carl Johnson is an old time racer who made a comeback in his Why Not 3 in 2003. Johnson had won the World Series of Drag Racing in the early 60s! Carl returned in this mean retro AA/FA that featured a 392 Chrysler Hemi for power. The Why Not 3 met an early end in an accident and was replaced by the Why Not 4, which ran 7.48 at 204 in 2008. Unfortunately, Why Not 4 met a similar fate as its earlier cousin and Carl decided to retire from racing once more. (Photo courtesy of Brian Wood; info from Draglist files)
Rick Howell has been racing for over forty years and has raced comp dragsters, junior fuelers, blown gas altereds, funny cars, and this, the Power Play AA/FA. Famed chassis builder Steve Plueger built the tubing and Norm Porter built the one of a kind body. The car features a TFX engine combination ran a super 5.37 at 270 at Boise with Greg Uffens at the wheel. In 2008, Howell changed the combination on the car switching to a single mag with other changes in order to run with the Texas based Outlaw Fuel Altereds Association. Rick has run a 3.80 200 best on the eighth mile with the new combo. (Photo courtesy of Chris Graves and Max Cackle Photos; info from Draglist files)
Mike Hilsabeck has been racing altereds since the late seventies with this ex-Jim Dunn chassis. The car began life as Dunn’s Satellite funny car in 1974. Mike purchased the car in 1979 and added an altered body. He has raced the car as AA/FA off and on since then as well as running it as a funny car on alcohol. In the 1980s, Mike called the car Major Motion, and then renamed it the Arizona Thunder in the 90s. Hilsabeck has raced the much updated car as a nostalgia style AA/FA, running a 6.26, 228 best in 2009. Mike has been racing this car for 30 years! (Photo courtesy of Pete Gemar and More Better Pics; info from Draglist files)
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