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ROUND 12: Featuring
the Jokerst Bros, the Tulsa Oiler, Johnny White, Stephens &
Venables, Don Garlits' Charger, Dick Custy, Terry Hedrick, Radici
& Wise, Vels/Parnelli Jones, Riehle & Mayo, Murf McKinney,
Jess Tyree, and Mighty Mike Van Sant.
Jim
and Jerry Jokerst from St Louis started racing funny cars in the
late 60s on the injected UDRA circuit, upgraded to a supercharged
nitro burning "Mr. Sinister" Firebird in 69. Another
Firebird followed in 70, and a "Mr. Sinister" Camaro
through the mid-70s when the Snidely Whiplash Vega was debuted.
Name was coined by an AHRA announcer with reference to the "Mr.
Sinister" Camaro, and the name was adopted on the Vega. Jokerst's
remained Bowtie fans throughout with all the cars Chevy motivated.
Brothers were AHRA and IHRA regulars, attended a few NHRA events
towards the end of their careers. Jokersts retired in 76 when
the expenses of running a nitro flopper became too great. Interestingly,
this car sat in their garage for almost 20 years, was sold just
5 years ago! (Photo and info courtesy of Jerry Jokerst)
Ex-Top
Gas terror and Tulsa machine shop owner Dick Moritz ran the Tulsa
Oiler Mustang in the mid-70s... Moritz was a Top Gas mainstay
in Div 4 in late 60s, won 4 straight division titles and was the
AA/Gas record holder for a period. Oiler line included the pictured
Mustang and a Monza in the late 70s; drivers included Steve Bernd
who was a former crew chief for Gary Burgin and Tom McEwen, and
Texas alky flopper shoe Jim White who also drove the LA Hooker
on tour in Australia in the mid/late 70s and won the 91 NHRA Nationals
wheeling the Hawaiian. Name change followed for the car as the
decade came to an end... nice looking line of St. Moritz floppers
followed the Oiler line. Cars ran through the late 80s with Mopar
and Chevy shells. (Photo by Jim White... no, not THAT Jim White!)
From
Division 4, the "Land of the Good Guys," came Johnny
White and the Houston Hustler. White came to floppers from sprints
cars and circle track racing in the late 60s, cut his teeth with
the White & Calloway Mustang flopper in the early 70s before
taking over the reins of Albert Reida's "Dodge Fever."
In 73 White bought the LA Hooker Mustang from the Beaver Bros,
ran the car two seasons before it burned to the ground in the
summer of 75. White reemerged with pictured F/C for 76, a car
previously campaigned by Cecil Lankford which was one of the last
cars built by Lil' John Buttera before he gave up building race
cars to build street rods. White's first NHRA national event victory
came at 77 Cajuns Nationals with the Mustang II. White remained
an NHRA Division and National Event regular, closed out the decade
with a Corvette bodied Houston Hustler which carried him into
the 80s. (Photo by John Shanks)
The
Stephens & Venables Quicksilver Vega, circa 1975. Longtime
campaigners in Texas top fuel wars, the team got into flopper
racing after wealthy Texan Roy Cullen (of the Houston Cullens)
built this Romeo Palamides car for alky F/C racing, then decided
funny cars weren't his thing after a few shakedown passes. Car
retained Vega body through it's first year, was later reshelled
as a Monza after the Vega was damaged at Green Valley. Following
damage to the Monza body, car was fitted with a Charger shell,
primered and sold. After their 2 year detour into funny car racing
(during which time the team still occasionally ran their T/F car)
Stephens & Venables returned to their T/F roots with another
in the long line of beautiful Quicksilver cars before calling it
quits in 1980. (Photo and info courtesy of Dick Venables via Gary
Osborn)
Evolved
from the Gold Digger Mustang came the short-lived Gary Bolger driven
Don Garlits/Bud Richter Charger from 1971. Car was the Mustang
rebodied with a Charger shell after Ira Lichtey along with the
Chicagoland Dodge dealers put the deal together. Dealers were
suppose to pay for the body, paint, and tin while Garlits lent
his name to the project for a percentage of each appearance. Deal
didn't work out too well (it's a long story) and following a stormy
2 month "honeymoon" the deal fell through. Gold Digger
Mustang body went back on the car and the Charger body was sold
to Tom Hoover. Above photo was taken at Thompson Dragway in the
summer of 71 at one of the car's last appearances. (Photo by Charles
Gilchrist, info courtesy of Gary Bolger)
The
Kansas Kid, Dick Custy is shown in his last funny car, circa 1976.
Custy cut his teeth racing T/F cars in the rare air of Colorado
in the 60s, stepped up to F/C racing in 1970 with a Challenger
run under the Whitted and Custy banner. Cuda bodied car followed
after a move to the mid-west, but car burned at St Louis, was
replaced by Billy Meyer's "flying submarine" Mustang.
Custy went solo with the Mustang after partner Whitted retired,
later rebodied the car in the pictured Monza shell. He confined
his activities to AHRA, match racing, and the Coke Cavalcade circuit
(in 76), led the AHRA points chase for a period in 75. Following
a fire with the Monza at the 76 OCIR Manufacturers Championship,
Custy called it quits and retired! (Photo and info courtesy of
Dick and Diane Custy)
From the early 70s comes
the Camaro of Terry Hedrick of "Super Shaker" fame.
Car was Hedrick's 69 Chevy powered Nova reshelled (and Chrysler
powered) after blower explosion destroyed the former. Unfortunately,
pictured car was destroyed at Rockingham in fall of 71 and Terry
ended up with bad burns. He teamed with Kosty Ivanof on the Super
Shaker Vega for the 72 season and for the 73 season, debuted an
ill-fated Pro Stock Colt... soon after he retired from drag racing
due to increasing family and business commitments. Terry reports
he "raced approximately 80 - 85 races a season, as high as
5 nights a week and put about 175,000 miles on my transporter."
Fondest memories included "... a number of AHRA national
event wins and being the first Chevrolet powered (with the Nova)
car to run in the 6's and 200 mph." (Photo and info courtesy
of Terry Hedrick)
One
of the most popular teams of the 70s was St Louis based Radici
and Wise from Wise Speed Shop, circa 1974. Driver Paul Radici
was known by a series of nicknames... but perhaps the most popular
was "Wrong Way." Legend has it that he managed to miss
the freeway off ramp to Fremont Raceway 6 times in one morning
to earn the nickname! One anonymous funny car driver stated "Cardinal
rule for me was always let Radici do his burnout first, reason
get him out there where you can keep an eye on him. Besides who
wanted to miss the show?" Team held the NHRA 1/8 mile record
in the mid-70s at 4.52/176. "The Good Guys" were NHRA
regulars, match race favorites and Coke Cavalcade campaigners
in the mid-70s. In the late 70s, Al Hoffman bought the teams entire
inventory at an estate sale and began his flopper career in late
79 while Radici went on to drive Al Kudos "Orient Express"
Arrow. (Photo from Kendall handout courtesy of David Hapgood)
Ex-Mickey
Thompson shoe Danny Ongais drove this ex-Mazmanian Cuda for Parnelli
Jones and business partner Vel Miletich in 73. Firestone supported
the effort as a test bed for new tire compounds. Mazmanian had
hired Ongais to shoe the high dollar flopper, but sold the car
to Jones after success eluded the team. Shortly thereafter Ongais
guided the car to two quick SoCal F/C show wins much to Maz's
chagrin. Other Vel's Parnelli Jones racing efforts during the
same period included a Ongais driven T/F entry, a Trans-Am Mustang,
an Off-Road Bronco driven by Jones, and a three car Indy car effort
spearheaded by Al Unser... and a Mario Andretti driven F-1 car
in 75. Definitely not a bucks down group! (Photo courtesy of Dave
Milcarek)
The
Ken Riehle shoed ex-CKC Riehle & Mayo Nova pictured at Miami-Hollywood
Dragway in Jan 72. During the winter months of the early 70s the
track hosted once a month, open 16 car, 2 day meets that benefited
teams like R&M. According to Ben Brown (Ben Brown on Funny
Cars, Car Craft), local teams were able to get much needed "ink"
to help with upcoming season bookings when the touring pros retreated
to the West Coast for the winter. This left shows like Miami's
open to "locals" and a few regional "hitters."
Unfortunately, Riehle failed to get into the show on this particular
day; field was dominated by Richard Tharp and the "Blue Max"
who defeated the Jokerst Bros "Mr. Sinister" Camaro in
the final. Other "local color" included the "Climax"
Mustang, Dennis Kirkland's Pinto and Paul Aray's "Illusion"
Maverick. (Photo Courtesy of Carl Wilcox)
The
Goodman & McKinney "Indy Challenger" Arrow started
life in 78 as the Goodman & Spitzer BB/FC entry being campaigned
by the Div 3 former Comp Eliminator standouts. Following a crash
in 78, car was upgraded to AA/FC standards and in 79 Murf McKinney
replaced Spitzer as a partner. Prior to this ride "future
chassis builders to the stars" McKinney had been kicking
around Div 3 in the nitro flopper ranks... drove an ex-Doug's Headers
Vega, captured his first NHRA "title" at 76 Div 3 opener
with the car, finished 7th in Div 3 in 78 at wheel of his own
"Kentuckiana" Monza and did time at the wheel of the
Golden Nugget Monza before jumping into this ride to close out
the 70s. (Photo by Michael Beach)
Charter
member of the Coke Cavalcade of Stars and one of the first flopper
to tour "down under" (in 69)... ex-West Coast header
manufacturer Jess Tyree. Known as "Mr. Pontiac" (a nickname
acquired in the 60s with a number of record holding Pontiac S/S
cars) Tyree ran a series of Firebird bodied floppers starting
in the mid/late 60s. Pictured car was campaigned in the early
70s by Tyree, driven during the 72 season by David Ray. According
to Ray "... car was one of the few Hardy cars with the wide
chassis, but the digger roll cage." Ray revamped the car
for the 72 season, installed a 484 Chevy with Dan Geare modified
Enderle injector and fuel pump, Lenco transmission, etc., and
reports the car "... ran good after tossing the first two
blowers, best of 6.82, but it was hopeless outdated... I just
matched raced it, and ran some AHRA Midwest shows." (Photo
courtesy of Drag Racing Memories, info courtesy of David Ray)
Descended
from the long line of Invader floppers came "Mighty Mike"
Van Sant's "Invader" Monza pictured at St Louis Intl
Raceway in the late 70s. Van Sant wheeled the Invader Corvette
in the late 60s, did a short stint at the wheel of M/T's monocoque
Mustang, drove several of the Stone, Woods & Cooke entries
and wheeled the Hawaiian in 74. He then acquired the Stone, Woods
& Cooke Mustang and shortly thereafter renamed the car Invader.
Van Sant was an AHRA regular in the mid/late 70s, won the 76 AHRA
Winternationals at Tucson. In early 77 Van Sant debuted the pictured
Monza. He continued with the Invader line through the mid-80s... (Photo
by Don Eckert)
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