Planning on vending Don...Talk to you at Summit next weekend if you are going up for Blue Suede, Hope to see you there
Blue Angels Hot Rod Club (Massillon, Ohio) The Blue Angels Hot Rod Club of Massillon, Ohio, was formed in late 1952. A small group of 8 drag racing enthusiasts joined together to form a club of like-minded young and middle-aged mechanics. The name of the "Blue Angels Hot Rod Club" was selected, but the origin of the name is unknown. They selected a motto of "Dedicated to Safety" as a backbone of the club and all members pledged themselves to safety in car maintenance and during all driving experiences. On June 6, 1955, the club became affiliated with the National Hot Rod Association. Ralph (Raff) Henson, one of the older men and a mechanic at the local Progressive Chevrolet dealership, was a charter member and acted as an advisor. A few other older men with small business backgrounds and interests in the automobile industry and interest in advising young men to develop their individual capabilities joined the group. Massillon's Municipal Judge Emmett Graybill, High School Principal, I. W. Snyder and C. P. (Pitt) Sanders, Vice-President of Progressive Chevrolet had commended the Blue Angels on their safety attitude and use of otherwise idle hours in furthering their mechanical knowledge. Ralph was quick to defend this club of "hot rodders" against an uninformed public. "When we are drag racing, it is in our car and on the drag strip, not on the local streets and public highways." Their meetings were conducted twice monthly in a room provided by Progressive Chevrolet. Meetings included automotive related subjects of all types to include auto safety films, current events, recently learned "tips of the trade", including passing around copies of the "Hot Rod" magazine and other auto publications. The club dragsters became the "hub" of the club activities. During the winter, all members worked on improving the club dragster from a simple plan into a gleaming, light skeleton drag racer. Then from April to November, various members would prepare and drive to local and out-of-state drag strips (east of the Mississippi and to New York and Canada) and compete against like-minded other clubs and sponsored individual dragsters. The club's first dragster in 1954 was powered by a modified GMC six-cylinder engine of less than 300 cubic inches and did develop adequate horsepower to attain 1/4 mile speeds of 115-120 mph at Akron, Columbus and other local tracks. In 1956, a Chevrolet V-8 engine of 265 cubic inches was used. Later years' dragsters used a single larger cubic inch engine or dual engines with multiple carburetors or injection systems and superchargers. In 1965, the small Chevrolet engines could not develop enough horsepower to stay competitive and the club went to a Chrysler V-8 with a large supercharger using nitroglycerin and alcohol for fuel. During the life of the club, they set many speed and elapsed time records for the 1/4 mile tracks to include holding the national records for short periods of time. The speeds in 1954 were about 107-115 mph and 11:50 seconds ET for the 1/4 mile, and in early 1971, the speeds were 225-240 mph and about 6.50 seconds ET. Many trophies were awarded and displayed in the showroom of the Progressive Chevrolet dealership in Massillon which was by the Lincoln Way Bridge. Similar to many small organizations, the membership was a continuous cycle of older members leaving and new members joining. The club was dissolved in 1971 when being competitive and winning at drag racing became very expensive and too time consuming for a family man. Highlights of Blue Angels Trips to Drag Races July, 1955-Won a trophy at Akron (Fulton) Airport Drag Strip in recognition of the fact that an auto built by its members turned the fastest time. The car attained a speed of 107 mph in the ¼ mile. It was the fastest speed of any of the more than 100 vehicles entered in different classes. The Blue Angels car was driven by Glenn Mauger. At that time, the club had approximately 20 members and all assisted in building the car. August, 1955 - The Blue Angels Hot Rod Club now had two trophies. The second won during races at Akron. The club- built car finished first in a Class D race in the ¼ mile at 105.44 mph driven by Glenn Mauger. August, 1956 - at a bi-monthly drag meet in Indianapolis, IN, the Chevrolet powered, V8 dragster set the lowest elapsed time (11.72 seconds) in the history of the strip and brought three trophies back to Massillon for the Blue Angels, turning a top speed of 117.64 mph on pump gas! October, 1956 - won first place in A Open-Gas class at a race held in Oswego, IL. The dragster, powered by a 1955 Chevrolet V8 engine and driven by Jerry Mcavinew, hit 118.42 mph and covered the ¼ mile in 12.7 seconds. Fifty clubs took part in the events for some 20 classes of dragsters and drew attendance of nearly 10,000 on Saturday and Sunday. October, 1957 - despite transmission troubles, the Blue Angels raced their gasoline powered dragster to three victories at the Pacemaker Drag Strip west of Mt. Vernon, Ohio. The car won trophies for top speed of the day (120.54 mph), for tops in the class and top eliminator. The later trophy was taken in two runs, during both of which the dragster was handicapped by a faulty transmission. On the first run, the dragster was locked in second gear and the car actually coasted over the finish line. It was judged the winner in a photo finish! The pit crew partially disassembled the transmission between runs, but could do no better than place it in a locked high gear position. The car made the entire second run in high gear, winning with a speed of over 116 mph. Winter, 1957-1958 - a new dragster was built at Ralph Henson’s house and garage. The frame was designed and built by Dick Furbashay and Raff (Ralph) with labor from Club members. A fiberglass body was designed and built in Raff’s home basement. First a body frame was built with a plaster “male” mold and sanded smooth, which was then covered with fiberglass cloth to make a smooth inner surface “female” mold. Next the “female” mold was turned over and thinner fiberglass cloth was laid inside to form a lightweight and smooth outer surface dragster body. July, 1958 - Twenty-three members took a 4 day trip to Union Grove, WI, with the fiberglass car and the new “Lead Sled” car. The “Lead Sled” used a fuel mixture of 20% nitro-methane and 80% alcohol. The car ran a 301 cubic inch Chevrolet V8, equipped with 4 carburetors in a specially built light weight bridge-type frame of 97” length, using a 1946 Packard transmission modified to run only in 2nd & high gears. The front suspension was a modified lightweight Ford axle with motorcycle wheels. The rear axle was a modified ’46 Ford differential narrowed to 21” between the 8” wide Glendale drag slicks. The car weight was approximately 1150 pounds ready to run, minus the driver. The car blew a clutch assembly on a trial run when Harold Smith shifted from 2nd to high because of high RPM’s, but coasted across the finish line at 115mph. Late, July 1958 - traveled to New Baltimore and Saginaw, MI; the fiberglass dragster ran 123 mph in 11.20 seconds and won three trophies. The “Lead Sled” ran 140 mph in 11.00 seconds but was beaten in the final race. Late, March 1959 - traveled to Daytona Beach with both cars: the single engine white fiberglass body car and the blown engine lightweight car. Won the Gas Dragster classes, but speeds and times were not recorded. Then traveled across the Florida peninsula to the home track of Don Garlits and set our best times of 149 mph and a 9.98 ET. This was a National Class A gas dragster record for one week until someone on the West Coast did a little better. May, 1959 - traveled to Toledo, OH and won two trophies in Top Eliminator and Top Time of the Day. Top speed was 136 mph and 10.36 ET. Early, November 1961 - traveled to West Salem, OH (Dragway 42); results for the twin-engine car was a best of 167 mph in 9.16 seconds ET and results for Blaine Shiveley’s supercharged car was a best of 160 mph in 9.22 seconds ET. Late, November 1961 - traveled to VA; one trophy was won, but no money prizes and suffered several broken rear ends. July, 1962 - the Blue Angels Hot Rod Club beat the world’s fastest gas powered dragster to win the mid-season championship drag race at Erie, PA. Driver Gary Biggins took the dragster to a top speed of 168 mph while finishing in an elapsed time of just over nine seconds. This win bettered the performance of Lee Pendleton of Ashland, OH, whose dragster, powered by an Allison aircraft engine, holds the American Hot Rod Association speed record. August, 1962 - took the season championship at Erie, PA. The Chevrolet powered dragster beat a field of seven cars while attaining a top speed of 170 mph. September, 1962- won the East Coast Championship of the American Hot Rod Association in Erie, PA.; posted a speed of 170 mph for the ¼ mile and an elapsed time in the low 9’s. May, 1963 - the new dragster weight is 1040 lbs. (without driver) and reached a speed of 176.37 mph at 8.73 E.T. July, 1963 - raced at Magnolia, OH; won $125.00 and set a new track record of 159 mph at 8.73 E.T. September, 1964 - took top honors at Dragway 42 in West Salem, OH. The dragster, driven by Gary Biggins, posted a speed of 180 mph in the ¼ mile in 8.60 seconds. July, 1965 - set new record at Magnolia dragstrip. The Class AA fuel dragster owned by the club and driven by Gary Biggins was clocked at 8.12 mph. The old time was 8.33 E.T. Biggins had the Blue Angels car up to 184.44 mph. July, 1971 - The Blue Angels car, driven by Stan Bowman, qualified for the Grand Nationals of the American Hot Rod Association at the Marion County raceway. The car posted an E.T. of 7.33 seconds at 193.96 mph, despite wet track conditions. Finding the Dragster and the Reunion As a young man, John Popovich, would go to drag races with his dad, and recalls hearing his dad talk about a club in Massillon that had a race car, but he never saw it when he was young. The initial link to the past came in the form of Harold (Smitty) Smith, a former club member, to whom the Popovich’s were introduced. Through Smith, they then were put in contact with Gary Krug, another former club member. Krug eventually put the Popovich’s in touch with Gus Conley, a Canal Fulton, OH, resident who had a collecti9n of racing pictures. He also was the one who was able to ultimately help the Popovich’s discover the long-long dragster piece. “From talking to all these guys, we always heard that there was a piece of one of the cars in some lady’s attic”, Andrew (John’s son) said. “No one knew anything other than that.” It seemed like Gus knew everyone in Canal Fulton, so we just asked him one day if he knew anything about a car being there. To make a long story short, Gus’ sister-in-law was married to a man named Carl Gilcher. Carl was also a club member and had ended up with the car and still had it stored in the attic of the house. The piece of the dragster was only the back half of the car. Now, the Popovich’s wanted to see what the former Blue Angel members wanted to do with the piece. That’s where the proposed reunion came into the picture. “The main goal for me has always been to get these guys together and keep that memory alive”, Andrew said. “I think it’s something that needs to be remembered. Finding this car was just kind of like something we could build off of and get these guys interested again”. The Blue Angels held a reunion in Navarre, OH, in November of 2010, and 39 people attended. During the reunion, each member was asked to stand, introduce themselves and tell a short story about their experience with the Blue Angels. Almost everyone had a good and amusing story to tell, bringing back many good memories. Many commented on the positive impact on their life while in the club. How they got to do, see and travel the Eastern United States and Canada, work hard, be a team member, be part of a winning racing team and share some experiences that they would otherwise never have had the opportunity to do if it hadn’t been for the club. More recent reunions were held in July, 2011 and December, 2012 at different locations. The present plans call for the club to complete a replication of the “Twin Angel” dragster for display and cacklefest purposes.
Here at Gasser Madness, we are dedicated to preserve the term "Gasser" One of the requirements to run in the NHRA Gas classes back in the 50's and 60's were the cars had to have a hood/ hood top. In order to run Nostalgia Gas at our events, cars have to have hoods. Our friend Johnny Rotten recently put a blower on his bad ass Chevy, can we help him find a fiberglass hood to cut up for Rock'N'Race?
Thanks Don for the Blue Angels history! I was raised in Navarre and Massillon was our cruise area during the late 60’s. I’ve heard of the club but never knew the history.
If you haven't been to the rebuilt Dragway 42, it is simply put, awesome. This is the parking situation for this year's event. Last year we ran out of parking! This year we moved some things around to better utilize the vast footprint this place enjoys! This event is really worth looking in to!
Band list so far! Friday 6:30 Open 7:45 The Schwartz Brothers 9:00 Whiskey Daredevils 10:15 Hellfire Sinners Saturday 4:00 The Tri-Tones 5:00 Rocket 88’s 6:00 Blatant Finger 7:30 The Velvematics 8:30 My Drunken Uncle 10:30 Walking in Circles
The Jalopy Journal
