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

This might be one of the earlier drivers of Fling Traylor's US Turbine 1, as George managed to get his plume out of the car....Roo is right, the car was unmanageable until the Stone Age Man took his turn at the wheel, here are a couple of shots:

 

Quit the hood on the Comet but it looks right.

 

Hook 'em up!

 

Before he began fielding Top Fuel cars, Bruce Wheeler drove several street cars at the drags, including this B/S ’64 GTO.





Wheeler, far right, teamed with tuner Dick Burgess, left, and Al Friedman to race his first Wheeler Dealer car with surprising success during 1967 and 1968.

 

In terms of popularity, versatility, and skill, few drivers could match the accomplishments of Hayden Proffitt, who dominated the early heads-up Super Stock competition in the early 1960s and went on to become one of the star attractions of the original Funny Car contingent during the second half of the decade. Proffitt's affable personality made him an instant hit with the fans, and he also ranks as the only major drag racer to have enjoyed factory backing from four of Detroit's major corporations, General Motors, Ford, Chrysler, and American Motors.
After serving in the Merchant Marine, Proffitt began racing circle-track events in Houston in the late 1940s and won the state championship in 1948. Proffitt and his wife, June, moved to Southern California in 1949 and switched to drag racing when he began competing at C.J. Hart's Santa Ana track in 1952.

Proffitt's early rides included a '53 Plymouth, '54 Buick, and a pair of new small-block Chevrolet V-8 powered entries in 1955 and 1956. He then began running out of Bill Thomas' shop with his '57 Corvette, and his winning record enabled him to obtain a parts deal with Chevrolet. He drove both a '58 Chevy stocker and a '37 Chevy in B/Gas before hooking up with Mickey Thompson to drive Pontiacs from 1959 through early 1962.

Hayden Proffitt drove a variety of Pontiacs at the start of the 1960s, including this '61 Pontiac Catalina with a hood scoop that was permitted in Optional Super/Stock, which was the predecessor for the Factory Experimental classes.




In mid-1962, Proffitt returned to Chevrolets and ran a 409-cid-powered Biscayne with the backing of Cone Chevrolet. According to Proffitt, he and Bill Jenkins were the only Chevrolet racers who earned a salary from the factory at that time. After defeating the field of the 50-quickest Super Stockers to win Stock at the 1962 NHRA U.S. Nationals, Proffitt began preparing a '63 Chevy with the Z-11 engine, but he switched to Mopar for the 1963 season after Chevrolet withdrew its factory support. "Several of the top Chrysler racers, like Al Eckstrand and Roger Lindamood, helped talk me into it," said Proffitt.

During the 1963 season, Proffitt's '63 426-cid Max Wedge Plymouth became one of the most renowned Super Stock entries on the West Coast, and he capitalized on his success by obtaining sponsorship backing from Lou Baney's Yeakel Plymouth and opening his Hayden Proffitt & Associates engine-building and -tuning business. Proffitt was then given one of the first Plymouth Hemis in early 1964.



Proffitt's 409-cid Chevrolet Biscayne bubbletop outlasted the likes of Don Nicholson, Dave Strickler, the Ramchargers, and others to win the Stock title at the '62 U.S. Nationals.
Proffitt by now had become one of the most coveted drivers in the doorslammer ranks and was recruited by Mercury's Fran Hernandez and Al Turner to campaign an A/Factory Experimental Comet with Ford's new SOHC 427-cid engine in 1965. "The 'cammer' engine made lots of horsepower," said Proffitt, "but it also broke a lot of parts, and we didn't win as many races." After converting the Comet into a Funny Car by altering the wheelbase and replacing the carburetors with Hilborn fuel injection, Proffitt decided to return to his General Motors roots by constructing a Corvair Funny Car for 1966.

Proffitt's personal favorite ride was his '66 Corvair Funny Car, which used Rat Motor power to run in the mid-eights.

 

During the 1960s and 1970s, Hubert Platt was one of drag racing's most successful and most popular campaigners of Ford products. With his '64 Thunderbolt, '65 Falcon, and stretched-wheelbase '66 Mustang Funny Car, Platt was one of the most frequently booked drivers on the match race circuit and became a fixture at NHRA national events with his East Coast Ford Drag Race Team Super Stock and Pro Stock entries.

Platt became interested in high-performance vehicles during the 1950s in a somewhat unusual manner. "I was hauling liquor at the time, and at first, I put an Oldsmobile engine in my '51 Ford," said Platt. "After that, I got a DeSoto with a big Hemi that I called Hu Baby. Nothing could outrun that car."

By 1957, Platt switched to racing at the sanctioned dragstrip in Manassas, Va., with his brand-new '57 Chevy that was followed by a '58 Chevy with a dual quad Police Interceptor engine. After trading that car for a 409-cid Chevy in 1962, Platt and his brother Houston began to work for 1961 and 1962 Winternationals winner Don Nicholson at his Nalley-Nicholson shop in Atlanta.

Platt and Nicholson would have continued to compete with General Motors products, but the corporation's decision to cease factory-backed racing in 1963 changed that. Nicholson moved to Mercury, and Platt switched to Ford with a '63-1/2 lightweight Galaxie fastback with a 427-cid engine, then received one of the first of Ford's radical '64 Ford Fairlane 427-cid Thunderbolts.

After establishing himself as a match race star with his 427-cid-powered '64 Thunderbolt and '65 Falcon entries, Hubert Platt continued to shine with the Paul Harvey Ford stretched-wheelbase '66 Mustang Funny Car.
The Thunderbolt was a huge improvement over the heavier Galaxie, but it still wasn't enough to hold off the 426 Hemi Mopars. So Platt sold his Thunderbolt and built a 427-cid Ford Falcon for 1965.

"It wasn't legal for Super Stock racing like the Thunderbolt, but it was just fine for match racing," said Platt. "I got booked for a lot of dates with the Falcon, and I made more money with it than any other car I ever had."
Platt later altered the wheelbase of his Falcon and added Hilborn fuel injection to conform to the match race format. He also ran a stretched-wheelbase Ford Mustang during this period.

After establishing himself as a match race star with his 427-cid-powered '64 Thunderbolt and '65 Falcon entries, Hubert Platt continued to shine with the Paul Harvey Ford stretched-wheelbase '66 Mustang Funny Car.

 

Here's a picture with me and Hayden in Great Bend Ks.

 

With most of the top drag racing teams competing for NHRA world championships at the 1967 NHRA World Finals, there were more than a few upsets as independent campaigners not only won in some of the top categories but also nabbed the biggest drag racing purse offered up to that time.

After qualifying ninth with a 7.23, few gave relatively unknown local racer Bennie Osborn much of a chance of winning the Top Fuel title. But Osborn made good use of his extensive knowledge of the Tulsa, Okla., racing surface and outlasted a field that included Don Prudhomme, Tom McEwen, Creitz & Greer, and Pete Robinson for the upset victory.




Osborn, near lane, defeated heavily favored Prudhomme in the final by pulling ahead in the last 300 feet to take the 7.03 to 7.12 decision. To show that his win was no fluke, Osborn repeated as the Top Fuel world champion in 1968.



Gordon “Collecting” Collett used a string of holeshots to collect his latest trophy, and he capped his strong starting-line performance with a 7.93 to 7.92 gatejob on Bob Smith in the final round to win the only Top Gas world championship title of his career.





Ed Miller won drag racing’s biggest purse to date, $16,000, for capturing the Super Stock crown. A check from George Hurst accounted for $10,000 of the bounty, which was Hurst’s effort to promote interest in the then-new multiclass eliminator format for Super Stock that was introduced in 1967.





Miller’s win was just as big of a shocker as Osborn’s; unsponsored Miller prevailed over a large number of factory-backed teams from Chrysler and Ford. The victory earned Miller factory sponsorship from Mopar with a generous deal that lasted for several seasons.





Joe Davis drove the Davis & Ingram Jewel T AA/A to the Super eliminator title when final-round opponent Walt Marrs broke out by running .14-second under the national record with a 10.29. Davis’ winning time was a 9.11 on a 9.03 mark.




For years, Chico Breschini was known as “Cheatin’ Chico,” a tongue-in-cheek way of his competitors expressing their admiration for his considerable skills that produced accomplishments such as his Comp world championship at the 1967 World Finals with his injected B/Dragster.




Gordon Matney’s nine-second 427-cid Chevy-powered A/Modified Sports entry was the quickest car in the field, and he came from behind in all four rounds of competition to win the Street crown. His final-round opponent was Jan Riedel’s six-cylinder-equipped E/MP entry, and Matney ran him down, 9.57 to 11.06.



George Cureton’s G/SA ’56 Chevy panel wagon dominated the Stock action from the start by qualifying No. 1 with a 14.27 and marching through the field to win the final round against Wally Nissan, who lost on a red-light in his H/S ’56 Chevy.

 

"George Cureton’s G/SA ’56 Chevy panel wagon dominated the Stock action from the start by qualifying No. 1 with a 14.27 and marching through the field to win the final round against Wally Nissan, who lost on a red-light in his H/S ’56 Chevy."

Anybody know if the '56 panel was stock with a Dual Range Hydra-Matic rather than a Powerglide?

 

So THATS where the name came from. Cool info.

 

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Does anyone remember Hayden racing a Dragster with a blown Chevy, around 1960 ?

 

yes. I might be able to dig up a pic.

 

I saw a video from Don Tuttle's collection, Hayden was racing at Cotati, I believe. As I remember the car was red, and was pushed by a '60 Chevy. Back in the 70's, I built a 24' enclosed trailer for a local guy, he traded it to Hayden. I got to meet him at Portland one night, Hayden showed me the additions he had installed, and finished the inside. He was a real gentleman !

 

I have the Don Tuttle collection, tho I haven't watched it in some time. IIRC it shows a ride-along with Hayden in the dragster. I'll dust off the old VCR & try to find the tape & watch it again.

Mick

 

Yes. I have a Don Tuttle video with a camera mounted on Hayden's Dragmaster blown SBC. Good shots from the front and rear of the car.