History Drag cars in motion.......picture thread.

I remember "Shump" well, and met him while attending car shows in South Carolina. Saw him at an event in Charleston, at the Festival Center. Guys around the vehicle, the 'Thunder Wagon' were giving him the razz about his latest return to restoring the truck . "Shump" calmly got in, fired it up, and demonstrated it's raw power, right there in the parking lot. When he came back and shut it off, there wasn't much razzing to be heard.
After another car show in Columbia, we all rode to a local barbeque hangout, and "Shump" rolled in with his truck and trailer, unloaded the "Wagon", fired it up, and probably would have made some passes, but the local Patrol showed up, and the show was over.
Shumpert once told us his desire before he left us behind was to be able to ride a wheelstand all the way around the Daytona track.
I learned today after finding this site, and doing some web searches elsewhere, that George E. "Shump" Shumpert, passed away in 2012 . I will always remember him as a fun guy to be around, listening to his stories of old, and watching that grin he had when the Chrysler Roar came to life.
R.I.P. "Shump" Feb 9, 1929 / Jul 9, 2012.

 

Is this Joe Pisano's A/G coupe? Not sure of the track: Arizona? Inyokern??

 

Yes its old and crude, but it's our history

 

The old Ontario

 

Surfers, somewhere on the East Coast, Mike Sorokin standing in front of the engine

 

The late John Wenderski, not sure who he is racing, maybe Jerry Baltes? This is Ramona, and it might be the race where John lost his life.

 

I think John was in the right lane when he got off track and crashed. Could have been that same day though.

Yes, the Model A is Joe Pisano's car. saw it at Pomona and San Gabe. Was a very nice car for the time.

 

He was, I should have said "meet" instead of race, he was racing Steineggar and Eisenbaugh in a later race when his car left the track. But I think it was at this meet. And thanks for the ID on Joe Pisano's A coupe, it has sort of slipped through the cracks of famous gassers, but it was typical of Joe's cars, well built and fast.

 

Yes, the coupe was painted a beautiful deep maroon and exceptionally well detailed.

 

"That is John Wiebe with his hands on his hips. I think this picture was taken at Willow Run in Oklahoma City." John Dearmore

 

"I believe this drag strip is---Dallas International Raceway." John Dearmore

 

Vargo Dragway what a blast from the past that is.

Thanks for the memories. Jimbo

 

The track is definitely Inyokern. When the track was closed in 2005 for the expanding airport it was the oldest NHRA sanctioned drag strip.

 

Older than Pomona?

 

Tire Wiper, you may well be right, the capation said "Maryland," but John Weibe would be more likely found in Oklahoma or Texas

 

"He was in the left lane , tower side when he crashed. and he had minor "crashes" the two weeks before. I think he was one of the main reasons that UDRA started, everyone was upset that he died." B. Rennie

"I know we should not speak bad of the dead. But I have to speak out here, we should have had some license he jumped from a 409 super stock to a bad ass top fuel dragster. Way over his head." - "JCB"

"To add to Bill's comments, Wenderski was on a qualifying pass in the left lane and there was no one in the other lane. He drove off the track 3 times on that pass and the third time got him. There was a power box in front of a mound of dirt at the finish line. Wenderski hit the power box drove up the mound rinsed the motor and crashed in the rocks. Once he went over the mound of dirt, no one could see what happened, but the area is strewn with rather large rocks.
If you have a chance to read Pat Foster's stories about he and John sharing an apartment and going to the races, find it. They're great stories." J. Carpenter

"My understanding is that he was killed the week after he ran S&E." W. Nash

"Seems like if he went off the track twice in one run that should have told him something before the third time.
Some guys and girls are born to drive and some are not he was one of those." R. Steffey

 

"Thats a Chuck Conway photo taken at Willow Run in Oklahoma City 1966 . If you look at it you can see John Weibe talking to Sorokin and Bobby Langley in the background. I first posted it on Std 1320 in 2004 but it's since gotten out on the internet without credit to Chuck." B. Gibson

 

Good interview with Tom Jobe in this month's Hot Rod.

 

My memory is vague on this, but I think that John went off the track at Lion's a couple of weeks before this fatal accident and knocked the tailpiece off. Anyone else remember?

In reference to Pat Foster's story about Wenderski on Standard 1320, here it is.

"Wenderski was the "Classic" example of, If I spend enough money, I should win every time school. Very competitive person, in all things, not just racing. John had NO mechanical skills what so ever. That type of driver can get in BIG trouble very quickly, if his hot rod is not sound. At The Pond one Sunday, the clutch started coming apart at about half-track, by the time he got to the lights (under power) the motor was to high C and there was a black cloud pouring out of the cockpit, sparks and shit flying everywhere. In the pit area, a hundred voices in unison were saying, lift John, lift. Not a chance! When we got down there to pick him up, the bellhousing was back from the motor about four inches, the hi-gear shaft was GONE, as was most of the clutch. John was covered head to toe with black clutch dust, all he said to Ronnie was "What's wrong with this thing, it just quit pulling" - He had no idea, he had almost sawed her in half! The next thing he said was "What do you mean, we can`t fix it, with the money I pay you guys, you better fix it! What a beauty!"

FOSTER

 

Evolution of a dragster, Cook & Bedwell, from the San Diego area. Emory Cook once ran a deuce 5-window but graduated to fuel dragsters when he and Cliff Bedwell took the reigns of the Cad-powered Yeakle car, built by Scotty Fenn. In the second shot it has the fuel Chrysler in it, turned 166mph at Lion's, which I believe helped the fuel ban that started in '57. The next pictures show the car after they altered the back half of it, and the final shot is Tom Hanna's version. I don't know the full story but apparently Hanna and Myer took the remains of the Cook & Bedwell car after a crash at Union Grove and built this car. The first photos are from George Klass's site and the rest from Don Ewald:

 

What good was the roll bar?

 

I wondered that myself, they apparently cut off the "squirrel cage" rollbars and put on one that is well below the driver's head, the old ones certainly look safer...

 

I don't know about that. Look how far his head is above the cage.