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Tommy Ivo | |
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| Born | April 18, 1936 |
| Occupation(s) | Actor and Drag racer |
| Years active | 1944-73 |
Tommy Ivo (born April 18, 1936), also known as "TV Tommy" [1] and "Instant Ivo" [2] is an American actor and drag racer, who was active in the 1960s racing community.
Ivo was born in Denver, Colorado. His acting career began in the early 1940s, with notable performances including Cousin Arne in I Remember Mama (1948), Joey in Prejudice (1949), David in The Lost Volcano with Johnny Sheffield. and William Button in Plymouth Adventure (1952).
In 1955 Ivo appeared as Shelby in the "Heart of a Cheater" episode of the Lone Ranger TV show. He also appeared in Make Room for Daddy as daughter Terry's boyfriend Walter in "Terry Goes Steady" in 1958. The teenage Hot Rod film entitled Ghost of Dragstrip Hollow (1959), features a brief appearance of Tommy Ivo as a dragster racer and race car builder. From 1959 to 1961, Ivo appeared as Herbie Bailey on The Donna Reed Show .
In 1961 Ivo appeared as William, the young son of Motel owner Mrs Prattle -‘Praytell’- in the American ‘neo noir’ crime Film “The Cat Burglar” written by Actor and former criminal Leo Gordon, starring Jack Hogan, June Kenney and John Baer.
Ivo guest starred in an episode of the syndicated adventure television series, Rescue 8 and in two episodes of Leave It to Beaver (one being S3E37’s “Wally’s Play” as “The Duke”). He also guest starred on the ABC/Warner Brothers western series, Sugarfoot and on the NBC western series The Tall Man . In several episodes of Father Knows Best , he played one of the Bud Anderson's friends. During the 1961–62 TV season, Ivo played the role of Haywood Botts in another ABC sitcom, Margie . In 1963 he appeared in the "Honeymoon Hotel" episode of the Petticoat Junction .
In the late 1950s, Ivo raced a twin (side by side) Buick nailhead-engined dragster which was the first gasoline-powered dragster to break the nine-second barrier. [3]
The car held the Drag News AA/GD et record at 8.69. The Twin Buick also was the first gas dragster to record speeds of 170, 175 and 180 mph which were Standard 1320 records as well. It was unique in appearance and won numerous races, including NASCAR's first National Drag Race. Later he designed a four-engine, four-wheel-drive dragster he called Showboat (with a quartet of Nailheads), [4] but NHRA ruled it the first "exhibition" dragster, and he was unable to race it. [3]
In 1963, Ivo's Barnstormer, a nitro-burning 392 Hemi-powered slingshot, [5] purchased to replace the failed Videoliner, [6] ) became one of only two seven-second Top Fuel dragsters, so he staged a Seven Second Match Race with the other, the Greer Black Prudhomme dragster, driven by Don Prudhomme –Prudhomme won. [7] During 1964, Ivo traveled to England, with Don Garlits and other racers, to participate in the First International Drag Festival, a six-event series that did much to promote drag racing in the United Kingdom. [3]
During 1972 and 1973, Ivo attended 100 race meets; this record was matched only by "Jungle Jim" Liberman and Ed "The Ace" McCulloch. [8] He retired from the circuit in 1982. [9]
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.
Funny Car is a type of drag racing vehicle and a specific racing class in organized drag racing. Funny cars are characterized by having tilt-up fiberglass or carbon fiber automotive bodies over a custom-fabricated chassis, giving them an appearance vaguely approximating manufacturers' showroom models. They also have the engine placed in front of the driver, as opposed to dragsters, which place it behind the driver.
Shirley Muldowney, also known professionally as "Cha Cha" and the "First Lady of Drag Racing", is an American auto racer. She was the first woman to receive a license from the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) to drive a Top Fuel dragster. She won the NHRA Top Fuel championship in 1977, 1980, and 1982, becoming the first person to win two and three Top Fuel titles. She won a total of 18 NHRA national events.
The front-engine dragster is a type of racing car purposely built for drag racing. Commonly known as a "rail", "digger", or "slingshot", it is now considered obsolete, and is used only in nostalgia drag racing. Wheelbases ranged from 97 to 225 inches.
Marion Lee "Mickey" Thompson was an American auto racing builder and promoter.
Kenneth Dale Bernstein is an American drag racer and former NASCAR and IndyCar team owner. He is nicknamed the "Bud King" for his success in the Budweiser King funny car and dragster. He has also been nicknamed the "King of Speed," because he was the first driver to break 300 miles per hour in the standing-start quarter mile. Bernstein owned King Racing, which he drove for in the NHRA and fielded various cars in other racing series such as IndyCar and NASCAR. Bernstein retired from full-time competition in 2002 and moved his son Brandon into the Bud King Top Fuel dragster, but returned to finish the season in place of his son after Brandon suffered a severe injury. With the exception of a brief return to Funny Car in 2007, Bernstein did not return to the car and instead continued to run his team until the end of the 2011 season when he left drag racing altogether.
Don Prudhomme, nicknamed "the Snake", is an American drag racer.
Conrad "Connie" Kalitta is an American businessman and former drag racing driver, nicknamed "The Bounty Hunter." Kalitta is the CEO of Kalitta Air and the owner of Kalitta Motorsports.
Nostalgia drag racing is a form of drag racing that uses cars from earlier eras of drag racing, as well as cars built to fit the guidelines of earlier eras using parts that would have been available in that era.
Russell James Liberman was an American funny car drag racer, nicknamed "Jungle Jim." In 2001, he was named #17 on the list of the Top 50 NHRA drivers of all time. Liberman was known for driving backwards at 100 miles per hour (160 km/h) after doing his burnout.
Jack Chrisman was an American drag racer. He was a drag racing pioneer and 1961 champion. He was influential in the formation of the Funny Car class, as he introduced the first blown injected nitro-burning Funny Car. The National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) ranked Chrisman 23rd on their Top 50 drivers in 2001.
Dale Armstrong was a Canadian drag racer and crew chief. After winning 12 National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) and 12 International Hot Rod Association (IHRA) events in the 1970s, including the Pro Comp title in 1975, he became Kenny Bernstein's crew chief. The combination produced four consecutive national championships in Funny Car and another in Top Fuel. Bernstein became the first driver to top the 300 miles per hour mark in an engine tuned by Armstrong. Armstrong has been inducted in numerous halls of fame. He died on November 28, 2014, at his home in Temecula, California, at the age of 73. He had sarcoidosis.
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.
Showboat is a four-engined four-wheel-drive exhibition slingshot dragster, built by "TV Tommy" Ivo in the 1960s.
A dragster is a specialized competition automobile used in drag racing.
Woody Gilmore was a dragster and funny car chassis builder in the 1960s and 1970s.
Steve Swaja is an American dragster designer in the 1960s.
The Logghe Stamping Company is a dragster and funny car fabricator based in Detroit, Michigan.
The 1978 NHRA Summernationals were a National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) drag racing event, held at Englishtown, New Jersey, on 16 July.
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."
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