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History FAMILY DRAGSTER HISTORY...jim and alison lee...part 2..WITH PICS

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by eastcoast57, Jul 9, 2009.

  1. Here is the previous link....
    http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=377969&showall=1

    When i left off, my grandpa Jim had wrecked the Logghe car and been involved in some other unhealthy accident..To find a quick fix for a driver, Bub Reese was hired. Reese drove for the first Div. 1 points meet of the year, only to leave and take his amassed points with him, leaving none to my grandparents. When it was decided to take the car back west to have a 392 fuel burner built by Ed Pink installed, Pink suggested a new and upcoming driver.....

    "Surfer" Hank Westmoreland would go on to drive the famous "Beachcomber" top fuel car of Don Johnson and the USA 1 turbine car as well, but he started shoeing for my grandparents fueler. Westmoreland arrived in summer of '67, and in the weeks before the Indy nats in august, he set the NHRA national et record of 6.88, unheard of at the time..The record itself was set in BB/FD by adding weight, but as Pink advised "go for the BB record and it will probably bump out the AA record too..he was right....
    At the same time that Sneaky Pete Robinson and Tom McEwen were fighting for a 6.92 in Cali, the east coast was passing them by....

    Surfer Hank at Cecil County....

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    from National Dragster...

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    Thanks to Westmoreland's awesome driving, nanny and pop were able to clinch the division one title that year....

    When my grandparents parted ways with Hank, it was time to paint the car...once again it was sent to the west coast and finished off with a full body by Hanna and paint job by Cerny....now the need for a new talented shoe was filled by Tom Raley of Maryland, who drover the fueler through its hey day of the golden age of top fuel slingshots....

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    Heres a shot from fall testing at Etown in 67...new body and paint...and driver!

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    Beautiful...

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    Maple Grove Dragoway in early 68...

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    Shot with fans on the return road....

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    PAY TIME!!

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    with the closing of 1968, Raley had yet to break a record, albeit running hard as ever and consistantly..but 1969 would be a different story. New equiment was heading east again from the west coast... My grandma Alison began to become more involved at this time as chief mechanic and often did the tune up rather then my grandad..."If we cant be the california guys, we might as well use their parts to beat them"....

    Were planning on going to York Saturday, so it might be a few days before i can scan more pics since the grandparents take em to the shows....will keep updated...thanks....

    T. Hilton
     
    Last edited: Jul 9, 2009
    quick85 likes this.
  2. Heres Hank Westmoreland in Don Johnson's "Beachcomber" at OCIR.....maybe two years after he set the record in my grandparents fueler....hell of a driver....

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    T.H.
     
  3. AnimalAin
    Joined: Jul 20, 2002
    Posts: 3,416

    AnimalAin
    Member

    Nice pics. Please feel free to post any of your family racing history. Not sure I ever saw your grandfolks race, but I remember the cars vividly from the magazine coverage at the time. Top notch stuff.
     
  4. That's Darwin Doll handing Jim the winners check. He's the promoter of the York US30Reunion this weekend. I'm sure you'll see him there on Saturday.
     

  5. thanks for the info rich..cant wait....

    T. H.
     
  6. RAY With
    Joined: Mar 15, 2009
    Posts: 3,132

    RAY With
    Member

    East coast thanks for posting the pictures and story. I really enjoy all this old stuff as many others on here do
     
  7. speedtool
    Joined: Oct 15, 2005
    Posts: 2,540

    speedtool
    BANNED

    Terrific stuff.
    Thanks for posting both threads!
     
  8. uwonamos
    Joined: Dec 30, 2007
    Posts: 271

    uwonamos
    Member
    from Omaha, Ne

    Thats good stuff, I'd be proud of that history for sure.
     
  9. James Maxwell
    Joined: May 6, 2006
    Posts: 549

    James Maxwell
    Member
    from So-Cal

    Awesome! Must be pretty cool to have a motorhead Grandma!
     
  10. rick finch
    Joined: May 26, 2008
    Posts: 3,504

    rick finch
    Member

    I keep repeating myself...great stuff, keep it coming!:cool:
     
  11. 408 AA/D
    Joined: Jun 15, 2008
    Posts: 177

    408 AA/D
    Member

    That's Buster Couch in the background of the first picture, chief starter for NHRA for many many years. I used to call him couch the grouch.

    408 AA/D
     
  12. Rockys Rod Shop
    Joined: May 16, 2008
    Posts: 92

    Rockys Rod Shop
    Member
    from nj

    How's the resto coming i haven't seen Brain in a while. I was wondering if it was almost done it was funny how he came to get ahold of it i saw some of his pic on we did it for love and i called him to see if he had some pic of my dads car. He called and told me and said he knew my dad back then and made me some prints for me and dropped the off at my shop. We got to bull chitin and i asked him if he liked the Jim and Alison lee car and he said it was his favorite. So i asked him if he wanted to know where to get it the car was hanging in a small garage a 1/2 hour from my shop i gave him a phone number and told him good luck but i think the guy needed some bucks and he mite get lucky 5 days latter he called and told me it was in his drive way. Hope to see it soon

    Rocky
    Rocky's Rod Shop
     
  13. Royalshifter
    Joined: May 29, 2005
    Posts: 15,579

    Royalshifter
    Moderator
    from California

    Somemore great history.
     
  14. brandon
    Joined: Jul 19, 2002
    Posts: 6,368

    brandon
    Member

    cool shots and a great story to match...lots of cool history on both sides of the family tree...:D
     
  15. Great story about the nicest couple in drag racing. Hope to see all at York HAMB meet-n-greet 1 PM Sat in the lobby by the wooden horse.
     
  16. Right on brother.......great pictures.
     
  17. oj
    Joined: Jul 27, 2008
    Posts: 6,454

    oj
    Member

    Great story! Hope to meet you (and others) sat at either Carlyle or York.
    I can't tell you how much i enjoy this story, i have read many different books about FED racing and none of the professionally written books with the glitzy pictures captures the feel as much as your telling. Thanks, oj
     
  18. glad you all have found this of interest....between tryin to bust ass on my roadster, find parts and do fab work 8 hours a day, its been a lot of work.....but worth it...

    Will be headin to York tommorow, and hopefully getting the grandparents to come over to the "meet and greet"....hope to see some of you people there....

    T. Hilton
     
  19. I said it before This is outstanding information and kudos to you for keeping it alive.
     
  20. had a good weekend at the York reunion.....met some legends, even got a quick on air interview with the grandparents :eek:...and cool enuff, got a nice little envelope full of never before seen originals....

    In the staging lanes..fillin it up with the sauce..check out the Wheeler Dealer AAFD from maryland in the background...killer.....mid '68

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    Working on the clutch....

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    New England Dragway...68....

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    T.H.
     
  21. KING CHASSIS
    Joined: Aug 28, 2005
    Posts: 1,862

    KING CHASSIS
    Member

    Great stuff!!!!!
     
  22. Rolleiflex
    Joined: Oct 25, 2007
    Posts: 1,243

    Rolleiflex
    Member

    Awesome, thanks for continuing to post all of this history!
     
  23. OOPS! found a ton more from the archive of the first Don Long car....had to get my head straight after the weekend....Enjoy!

    hittin the scales...late '67

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    Westmoreland...can tell by the helmet...

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    Mr Raley with his proud new suit and ride...

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    Gettin strapped in by grandma...

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    First pass with new full body and paint....

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    Winners circle at Capitol Raceway...

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    The rig...brand new complete Ed Pink early model waitin just in case...

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    Pop workin on the clutch...

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    Raley pullin up, Pop checkin the barrel valve...

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    Leavin HARD...

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    Comin back the return road...

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    Nanny pullin the plugs,,,check out the NHRA Div. 1 champion jacket!

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    and ill leave off with Raley lettin the laundry out to dry....

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    Next up ill start in the 1969 season,,,,new car and new speeds.....





    T.H.
     
  24. VA HAMB
    Joined: Jun 14, 2006
    Posts: 1,377

    VA HAMB
    Member

    Awesome! Not only is the history great but the fact that your family has someone(you) that has so much interest in it. To me that's the best part.
     
  25. Todd, this stuff is my life!!!



    T.H.
     
  26. the man himself keepin a watchful eye over the injector...

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    T.H.
     
  27. hotrod mike
    Joined: Nov 21, 2006
    Posts: 1,728

    hotrod mike
    Member

    And, naturally, a JA sticker on the injector. All the cool kids had them back in the day :D
    I'm enjoying this post a lot. I hope you, eventually, post every picture you have. I love that some are captioned. Thanks, Mike
     
  28. so now i know where you get all your good looks,,,,
    sweet story tyler,,,

    xxxooo
    miss hootch
     
  29. haha yeah jacks on the wild side, i got some "advice" from him over the weekend at the York reunion.....great time....


    T.H.
     
  30. btt if anyone is interested......






    T.H.
     

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