| 56101
EDIT THIS!
|
NHRA.com Staff Photo
Photog Web |
Jerry Ruth (M) from
Seattle, Washington
USA
(Comp Nr/Finish:
601 ) |
1969 - Category: TOPFUEL, Type: TN, Class: AA/FD, Div: 6 |
| "Jerry Ruth" Owned by Jerry Ruth
from
Seattle, Washington
USA
| Crew Chief: Jerry Ruth |
| '69 Dragster by
Don Long |
Powered by Supercharged Nitro 392 Chrysler Hemi with
direct drive |
| 1/4 Mile ET: |
6.680 at Bremerton WA 5/03/69 (NR) |
1/4 Mile MPH: |
226.70 at Bremerton WA 5/03/69 |
| 1000 FT ET: |
Unknown at Unknown |
1000 FT MPH: |
Unknown at Unknown |
| 1/8 Mile ET: |
Unknown at Unknown |
1/8 Mile MPH: |
Unknown at Unknown |
|
|
Entry's 1969 Performance Ratings (0 to 100) based on comparison to average ET/MPH:
|
|
1/4 Mile Rating: ET 75.43,
MPH 70.16 |
Entry is 0.95839 times average ET and 1.03535 times average MPH |
|
1000 FT Rating: ET 00.00,
MPH 00.00 |
Entry is 0.00000 times average ET and 0.00000 times average MPH |
| 1/8 Mile Rating:
ET 00.00,
MPH 00.00 |
Entry is 0.00000 times average ET and 0.00000 times average MPH |
|
| 1969 Records: |
1/4 Mile: 6.400 ET, 238.15 MPH |
1000 Ft. 0.000 ET, 0.00 MPH |
1/8 Mile: 4.660 ET, 174.00 MPH |
| 1969 Average: |
1/4 Mile: 6.970 ET, 218.96 MPH |
1000 Ft. 0.000 ET, 0.00 MPH |
1/8 Mile: 5.030 ET, 160.70 MPH |
| 1969 Minimum: |
1/4 Mile: 7.540 ET, 202.41 MPH |
1000 Ft. 0.000 ET, 0.00 MPH |
1/8 Mile: 5.400 ET, 149.69 MPH |
|
|
No Racer Website |
No video link |
Web Search
|
Web Image Search
|
Web Video Search
|
|
Notes: Confirmed 6.68 National Record at Bremerton, Wash., on 5/3/69, but there were rumors that a 6.485 came up on the boards somewhere in 1969. Also number three qualifier at Bakersfield 69 at 6.79. | Ruth ran at the AHRA Winternationals, but lost to Cliff Zink in the first round. At the NHRA Winternationals, he qualified #15 in the 32-car field. A first-round 7.10 beat a quicker 7.04 by Dave Powers. In the second round, Ruth was on it again as his 7.07 beat Don Cook's quicker 7.00. Unfortunately, he smoked the tires in round three and lost to Leroy Goldstein's 7.40. At Las Vegas for the Stardust Open on February 16, he lost to Jim Nicoll in the first round. As mentioned above, he qualified #3 at Famoso for the Bakersfield March Meet. A first-round 7.66/164 advanced over a broken Leland Kolb. In round two, a 7.25/217.39 dropped the race against Larry Dixon's 7.05/222. At Riverside for the HRM Championships, a 7.07 qualified #16 in the 32-car field. A first-round 7.04/218 beat Rick Stewart (7.41/196), but a sleepy 7.02/219.51 lost to John Mulligan's 7.14/216. Ruth won on March 30 in Sacramento. He qualified #4 with a 7.33 and then ran 7.19 and 7.11 (Low ET) before beating Jim Herbert in the final with a 7.29. He fouled away Low ET of the meet at Seattle on April 13 when in the first round, against Dwight Salisbury he fouled away a 7.13 to Dwight's motor expiring 7.53. On May 18, he faced Don Garlits at a best of three match race in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Going into the match, Ruth held the track records at 7.11/219.50. In the first race, Garlits' 7.21/210 beat Ruth's 7.26/202.70, but Jerry came back to win the match with runs of 7.07/208.32 over Don's 7.30/205 and another new track record 7.06/203.60 over Don who broke a crankshaft. On June 1, Ruth reset the NHRA Top Fuel record to 6.68 at the Division 6 race at Bremerton. He qualified #1 with a 6.68/226.70 (Top Speed) and went into the final of the eight-car show only to lose on a holeshot by Dick Kalivoda. Dick's 7.06/206 beat Ruth's 6.98 for the title. He made up for the loss the following week at the Travelon's Fuel Championships at Seattle. Ruth ran 6.94/216 and 6.99/214 to get to the final against Herm Petersen. There he ran a final Low ET shot of 6.87/221.12 over Herm's 6.96/222 for the win. At the third Division 6 race at Mission City, a 6.86 beat Larry Hendrickson in the first round, but in the semifinals he got out of shape and lost to Gaines Markley. Ruth ran well at the PDA Championships at OCIR on July 19. He qualified #11 in the 32-car field with a 6.94. In the second round, he ran a 6.94 to beat Jim Davis' 6.91, and in the third round (32-car field) a 6.98 beat Pete Robinson's 7.04. Jerry finished ahead of Steve Carbone in their semifinal match, but unfortunately for Ruth, he had crossed the center line and was disqualified. At the fourth race of Division 6, he made it into the final only to lose to Petersen's 7.14/210 with an off pace 7.83/203.16. He did win the Division 6 final at Seattle on August 24 running 6.88/226.13 (Top Speed) over Petersen in the first round, and 6.81/225.00 over Kalivoda in the semifinal. In the final, he stepped it up to a Low ET of 6.78/220.04 to win over Hank Johnson's 7.27/217. | “This is 1969, Orange County [Int’l Raceway] at the U.S. Pro Dragster Championship race. When you see a car wheelstand like this, it means you’re trying to run it too light. Looks like it could have used another 15 pounds on the nose; 15 pounds wouldn’t have hurt the e.t.“. (Info from Phil Burgess, NHRA.com, referring to the photo for this entry). JM |
|
Submitted by Gena White, Last updated on Tuesday, May 12, 2026, 05:17:00 PM by
John Murnan II.
Approved by Bill Pratt. |
|
Rankings updated: 05/12/26 03:05:13 am EDT
