A popular West Coast drag chassis standard was developed by Scotty Fenn. The so-called Fenn Measurement theorized that the distance between the front and rear axles should be the same as one revolution of the rear tire, as seen in this 89-inch 1959 lay-down cockpit car. From THREE WEEKS IN MARCH, by Mickey Bryant. (Photo by Doug Peterson)
It was just a normal Saturday afternoon in Beverly, MA., in 1951. Trigger Watson was ready to go racing. Can you imagine what those two cars would be worth today? (Watson Family Collection)
Pennsylvanian Lou Blaney catches a little February sun in Tampa in the 1960s, facing the wrong way. He had no cage, no fire suit, and probably no sun tan oil, but none of that got in the way of a fabulous career behind the wheel. (Bradley Poulsen Collection, Doug Haack Photo)
It was May of 1952 when Fred Agabashian’s crew towed into Indianapolis with a glistening low-slung early Frank Kurtis roadster. Quite remarkably it was diesel-powered. From INDIANAPOLIS MOTOR SPEEDWAY – 100 Years Of Racing, by Ralph Kramer. (IMS photo)
When it was “run what ya brung” time in the early fifties, it was time to beware of Hornets. This was an open comp show on the Richmond, VA, Fairgrounds dirt, and it was won handily by Leon Sales in Aubrey Ferrell’s Hudson. World-class racer Runt Harris could do little but watch from his apparently street legal 1940 Ford sedan. From EARLY DIRT RACERS: Virginia/Carolina Auto Racing 1952-1956, Vol. 2, by Bill Mangum.
Kentuckian “Bullet Bob” Reuther set the lasting record on the “Measured Mile” on Daytona Beach in 1957. He was in this tricked-out 1938 Plymouth, fires by a supercharged 1957 Chrysler V-8. It ran a remarkable 150.25 MPH. The car was seriously aerodynamic for its time: moon disks, full windows, all body seams carefully taped over. From BOWLING GREEN STOCK CAR RACING, by Larry Upton and Jonathan Jeffrey. (Russ Thompson Collection)
Frank Kurtis did it all. How about the ’36 Ford he presented to the Southern California Plating Company to tow their race car to Ascot? The chopped and padded roof – and slanted windshield – were predictors of the early West Coast custom style. From KURTIS-KRAFT – Masterworks of Speed and Style, by Gordon Eliot White. (Bruce Craig Photo)
Soon after moving South, mechanical wizard Ray Fox took a job with Robert Fish at Fish Carburetor in Daytona. He built and wrenched the infamous M-Fleet modifieds, exercised by jockeys like Speedy Spiers, Larry Flint, and Fireball Roberts. They owned the Southeastern full coupe circuit in the early fifties. (John Grady Collection)