Just received this from an old buddy. It takes about half an hour to watch but it is great! For some reason I couldn't get the links t open using Firefox but Internet Explorer worked great.
Get yourself a BIG cup of coffee (or other beverage of your choice), sit down in front of your PC and watch these two drag-racing videos. Make sure your PC's audio system in on and cranked up!
The first one tells the story of the very first "DragMaster" gas dragster (named the "Master's DragMaster") built in 1958 by Jim Nelson and Dode Martin with a crankshaft-driven blower and 352 cu. in. small-block Chevy engine. This dragster was a precursor to the DragMaster "Two Thing" which they built in 1960 using two blown/carbureted 352 cu. in. small-block Chevys - they set Top Speed with it at Indy in 1961. They leave Oceanside, CA where their business was located to travel to the 1959 NHRA Nationals run at Detroit Dragway. On the way to this meet, they stop in Oklahoma to race to compete at a regional meet which they win (notice that their winnings at the Oklahoma regional meet consisted of a trophy and a savings bond!). Then, it's on to Detroit Dragway for the Nationals. Does this look familiar?! - open trailers and NO Interstates!........how long it must have taken them to make THAT trip! Not to mention all the cleanup the race car required if bad weather was encountered during it!
The second video covers the 1959 NHRA Nationals with some great video footage. One of the most impressive cars in competition there was Jack Moss' "Too Much" twin-engined small-block Chevy A/Dragster (he stayed at the same motel I was staying in at Indy in 1961 and got to meet him). He was competing with a single-engined dragster because three weeks prior to the '61 Indy meet, Jack crashed "Two Much" at a regional meet in Roswell, NM. He managed to "save" enough pieces from it to assemble the single-engine digger so that he could run Indy. I have a 33 1/3 rpm record that was recorded at this particular 1959 NHRA meet that has "Two Much" making a pass..........the audio from that run is AWESOME! Jack "runner-upped" to Rodney Singer's blown Lincoln-powered A/Dragster at this meet. Back then, you could run two engines in A/Dragster IF they were normally-aspirated.........Jack's "Two Much" digger used two 352 cu. in. Hilborn-injected small-block Chevy engines that were mounted upright and side-by-side.........you can see this in a couple of the shots. Also notice how LONG most of the gas coupes/sedans stayed in low gear! The Ramcharger's 331 cu. in. Hemi-powered "High 'N Mighty" C/A '49 Plymouth coupe was competing at this meet and can be seen making a pass.........Al Ekstrand and Tom Hoover shared the driving duties.
There was a death at this NHRA meet caused by the fact that NHRA still allowed fuel tanks inside the driver's compartment of a race car. A B/G '52 Dodge 2-door sedan with 331 cu. in. Chrysler Hemi power, with a Moon fuel tank mounted inside the car on the passenger's side floorboard, was making a pass when the clutch pressure plate came apart, cut through the Dodge's floorboards and punctured the Moon tank which caught the car on fire. Before the NHRA Safety Crew could get to it, the driver had perished. Needless to say, after that terrible incident no more fuel tanks of any kind were allowed inside the driver's compartment of a race car.
Click on the included links in the order they are listed here which will take you to the WEB page where these videos reside. Click on the green icon in the center of the WEB page to start them and ENJOY!
http://www.archive.org/details/Ingenuit1958
http://www.archive.org/details/Ingenuit1958_2
Get yourself a BIG cup of coffee (or other beverage of your choice), sit down in front of your PC and watch these two drag-racing videos. Make sure your PC's audio system in on and cranked up!
The first one tells the story of the very first "DragMaster" gas dragster (named the "Master's DragMaster") built in 1958 by Jim Nelson and Dode Martin with a crankshaft-driven blower and 352 cu. in. small-block Chevy engine. This dragster was a precursor to the DragMaster "Two Thing" which they built in 1960 using two blown/carbureted 352 cu. in. small-block Chevys - they set Top Speed with it at Indy in 1961. They leave Oceanside, CA where their business was located to travel to the 1959 NHRA Nationals run at Detroit Dragway. On the way to this meet, they stop in Oklahoma to race to compete at a regional meet which they win (notice that their winnings at the Oklahoma regional meet consisted of a trophy and a savings bond!). Then, it's on to Detroit Dragway for the Nationals. Does this look familiar?! - open trailers and NO Interstates!........how long it must have taken them to make THAT trip! Not to mention all the cleanup the race car required if bad weather was encountered during it!
The second video covers the 1959 NHRA Nationals with some great video footage. One of the most impressive cars in competition there was Jack Moss' "Too Much" twin-engined small-block Chevy A/Dragster (he stayed at the same motel I was staying in at Indy in 1961 and got to meet him). He was competing with a single-engined dragster because three weeks prior to the '61 Indy meet, Jack crashed "Two Much" at a regional meet in Roswell, NM. He managed to "save" enough pieces from it to assemble the single-engine digger so that he could run Indy. I have a 33 1/3 rpm record that was recorded at this particular 1959 NHRA meet that has "Two Much" making a pass..........the audio from that run is AWESOME! Jack "runner-upped" to Rodney Singer's blown Lincoln-powered A/Dragster at this meet. Back then, you could run two engines in A/Dragster IF they were normally-aspirated.........Jack's "Two Much" digger used two 352 cu. in. Hilborn-injected small-block Chevy engines that were mounted upright and side-by-side.........you can see this in a couple of the shots. Also notice how LONG most of the gas coupes/sedans stayed in low gear! The Ramcharger's 331 cu. in. Hemi-powered "High 'N Mighty" C/A '49 Plymouth coupe was competing at this meet and can be seen making a pass.........Al Ekstrand and Tom Hoover shared the driving duties.
There was a death at this NHRA meet caused by the fact that NHRA still allowed fuel tanks inside the driver's compartment of a race car. A B/G '52 Dodge 2-door sedan with 331 cu. in. Chrysler Hemi power, with a Moon fuel tank mounted inside the car on the passenger's side floorboard, was making a pass when the clutch pressure plate came apart, cut through the Dodge's floorboards and punctured the Moon tank which caught the car on fire. Before the NHRA Safety Crew could get to it, the driver had perished. Needless to say, after that terrible incident no more fuel tanks of any kind were allowed inside the driver's compartment of a race car.
Click on the included links in the order they are listed here which will take you to the WEB page where these videos reside. Click on the green icon in the center of the WEB page to start them and ENJOY!
http://www.archive.org/details/Ingenuit1958
http://www.archive.org/details/Ingenuit1958_2
