Related Research Articles
Drag racing is a type of motor racing in which automobiles or motorcycles compete, usually two at a time, to be first to cross a set finish line. The race follows a short, straight course from a standing start over a measured distance, most commonly 1⁄4 mi, with a shorter, 1,000 ft distance becoming increasingly popular, as it has become the standard for Top Fuel dragsters and Funny Cars, where some major bracket races and other sanctioning bodies have adopted it as the standard. The 1⁄8 mi is also popular in some circles. Electronic timing and speed sensing systems have been used to record race results since the 1960s.
The National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) is a governing body which sets rules in drag racing and hosts events all over the United States and Canada. With over 40,000 drivers in its rosters, the NHRA claims to be the largest motorsports sanctioning body in the world.
Donald Glenn Garlits is an American race car driver and automotive engineer. Considered the father of drag racing, he is known as "Big Daddy" to drag racing fans around the world. A pioneer in the field of drag racing, he perfected the rear-engine Top Fuel dragster, an innovation motivated by the loss of part of his foot in a dragster accident. This design was notably safer since it put most of the fuel processing and rotating parts of the dragster behind the driver. The driver was placed in front of nearly all the mechanical components, thus protecting him and allowing him to activate a variety of safety equipment in the event of catastrophic mechanical failure or a fire. Garlits was an early promoter of the full-body, fire-resistant Nomex driving suit, complete with socks, gloves, and balaclava.
Wallace Gordon Parks was an American writer. He was the founder, president, and chairman of the National Hot Rod Association, better known as NHRA. He was instrumental in establishing drag racing as a legitimate amateur and professional motorsport.
The Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum houses a collection of memorabilia, automobiles, and motorcycles related to the sport of hot-rodding. It is located on the edge of the Los Angeles County Fairplex.
The Famoso Bakersfield Raceway dragstrip is located in McFarland, California just north of Bakersfield, California, and is known historically as the home to the annual March Meet, also known as the U.S. Fuel and Gas Championships.
Eddie Hill is an American retired drag racer who won numerous drag racing championships on land and water. Hill had the first run in the four second range (4.990 seconds), which earned him the nickname "Four Father of Drag Racing." His other nicknames include "The Thrill", "Holeshot Hill", and "Fast Eddie". In 1960, he set the NHRA record for the largest improvement in the elapsed time (e.t.) when he drove the quarter mile in 8.84 seconds to break the previous 9.40-second record.
Virginia Motorsports Park (VMP) is a 1/4 mile dragstrip in Dinwiddie County, Virginia, just outside of Petersburg. It opened in 1994 and originally hosted the NHRA's Virginia NHRA Nationals. It has a seating capacity of 23,000 spectators. After a brief time with IHRA beginning in 2010, the track returned to NHRA in 2012.
Mendy Fry is an American dragster and funny car driver competing in the NHRA. Under the tutelage of her father, Ron, she began driving quarter-midget sprint cars at age 4. As a teenager, she campaigned in the NHRA Top Alcohol Dragster class. She is the only female drag racer to record a 5-second 1/4 mile elapsed time in a front-engined Top Fuel dragster, as well as the only female member of the exclusive "Nostalgia Top Fuel 250 mph Club". In 2019 she recorded the first 5.4 second quarter-mile elapsed time in a AA/Fuel Dragster.
Tom McEwen was an American drag racer who was a winner of the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) U.S. Nationals. His racing career spanned 45 years. He is ranked at number 16 on a list of the 50 most significant drivers of NHRA’s first 50 years.
Bakersfield is home to several minor league sports franchises and collegiate athletic programs at Bakersfield College and California State University, Bakersfield.
New England Dragway is a 1⁄4 mile NHRA dragway in Epping, New Hampshire, Rockingham County, United States. The track hosts the New England Nationals event as part of the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series. The track also hosts a regional event as part of the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series.
Santa Ana Drags was the first drag strip in the United States. The strip was founded by C.J. "Pappy" Hart, Creighton Hunter and Frank Stillwell at the Orange County Airport auxiliary runway in southern California and was operational from June 19, 1950 until June 21, 1959
Roland Leong is an American drag racer, whose "Hawaiian" brand cars achieved many victories. He later went on to act as crew chief in Funny Cars races.
Leah Christine Pruett is an American drag racer, currently driving an NHRA Top Fuel dragster for Tony Stewart Racing.
Shirley Shahan is a pioneering American woman drag racer.
Roberta Maxine Leighton was an American drag racer. She was the first woman licensed by the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) to race competitively. She was also the first woman to win a national title, in the 1962 U.S. Nationals at Indianapolis, in the J/S class. In 2002, shortly before her death, she received a lifetime achievement award at the World Finals at Pomona.
The NHRA Summernationals were an annual drag racing event run by the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA).
Doug Thorley was an American Funny Car drag racer, hot rodder and businessman. In 1967, he won the NHRA Nationals' first Funny Car Eliminator title, and was given Car Craft's All-Star Drag Racing Team Funny Car Driver of the Year Award in 1968. Hot Rod magazine describes him as "one of drag racing's most famous early era drivers."
Steve Reyes (Born:1948) is an American photographer and storyteller from Oakland, California. Reyes has been included in Don Garlits' International Drag Racing Hall of Fame (2002), NHRA California Hot Rod Reunion Honorees (2009), and the East Coast Drag Times Hall of Fame (2011).
References
- ↑ Griffith, Mike (October 23, 2019). "Mendy Fry enters California Hot Rod Reunion with car owner, championship at front of mind". The Bakersfield Californian . Retrieved October 3, 2020.
- ↑ Brewster, Louis (March 23, 2017). "Steve Gibbs steps away from NHRA after 48 years". Los Angeles Daily News . Retrieved October 3, 2020.
- ↑ Bertilsson, Bo (1999). Classic Hot Rods. MotorBooks International p. 116. ISBN 978-1-6106-0882-4.
- ↑ French, Jackson (June 13, 2019). "Hot Rod Reunion to showcase hot rods, drag racing". The Daily News . Retrieved October 3, 2020.