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Round 37: Featuring
Division 5 funny cars, including Kenz & Leslie, Art Ward, Curt Wasson, the “30 Below” Vega, Bill Schifsky, Tom Hoover, Danny Miller, Ron Salzbrunn, Kyle Green, and the Jackson Bros.
Kenz & Leslie are
Colorado racing legends, but especially in drag racing. In the 1960s, they
raced in several different classes in drag racing. The Kenz & Leslie
team raced fuelers, blown sports cars, and funny cars. The cars all were
Ford powered and mostly driven by Roy Leslie, Jr. In 1966, the “777”
team got one of the Logghe Bros. built Comets to race due to their
connections. Their success allowed them to become the premier funny car
from Colorado in the late ‘60s. The “High Country Cougar III” was
the third funny car the team raced. Run in 1969 and 1970, the Cougar was a
seven-second car in the rare air. It was replaced a by Mercury Comet in
1971. The team retired from drag racing by the end of the year. (Photo
provided by Drag Racing Memories; info from The Draglist files)
Art Ward and Jerry
Bradley formed the “Henchman” funny car team and raced this 1968
Cougar in 1970. The car was the former Kenz & Leslie “777/High
Country Cougar II.” Ward had previously driven the “Assassination”
AA/MSP Corvette and MG, and the original “Assassination” Corvair AA/FC
of Roger Guzman in the late ‘60s. Jerry Bradley had raced the
“Henchman” Camaro funny car as an AA/Altered. Both men were successful
in Colorado drag racing events in the late ‘60s. The team had an average
year with the Cougar. In 1971, Art Ward built the first “Avenger”
AA/FC. (Photo courtesy of David Ray; info from The Draglist files)
Curt Wasson was one
of the Midwest’s best Chevy racers in the late sixties and early
seventies. The bright Day-Glo yellow “Superstitious” Camaro was very
easy to spot in a crowd. The 1968 Camaro was powered by Chevrolet’s 427
semi-hemi engine backed with an automatic transmission. Wasson match raced
the car almost everywhere east of the Rockies. The Camaro ran sevens at
190 plus according to Draglist files. The Camaro became outdated by the end of
1970, and for the 1971 season, Curt drove for Ira Hollensbe in the
“Super Star” Vega. The new Vega was one of the first Chevys to run in
the sixes. Wasson later toured Puerto Rico and built the “Million Dollar
Baby” Monza. Curt Wasson was killed in a highway accident before he
could race the new car. (Fred Simmons photo courtesy of David Dilbeck at www.georgiadragracing.com;
info from Draglist files)
The “30 Below”
Vega was a great name for a funny car from Fargo, North Dakota. Tom
Fischer had the car built with the best of everything, including a late
model 426 Hemi by Ed Pink and paint by Don Kirby. Jim Swedberg and Byron
Nelson both drove the car in competition. Nelson became the full time
driver after Swedberg suffered an accident in the car. Byron drove the car
in match races, local divisional races, and at a very few national events.
Best times were in the high sixes at 200 MPH plus. Fischer and Nelson went
BB/FC racing in 1974 only to tip the can again with the “Foxy Lady”
Monza. (Photo provided by Gary Grant; info from Byron Nelson and the Draglist
files)
Bill Schifsky was a
nitro veteran by the time the “Cox” Pinto hit the tack. The trailer
manufacturer had raced AA/Fuel Dragsters in the sixties and teamed with
Tom Hoover on the “White Bear Dodge” funny car. Schifsky got one the
great sponsorships of the ‘70s from Cox Models, builders of nitro
powered scale model cars and planes. The Cox company sold many 1/16 scale
nitro powered Pintos to model lovers. Randy Scrimer drove the low riding,
late model hemi powered Pinto in 1971, then was replaced by Doc Halladay.
The Pinto’s best time according to the Draglist files is a 6.74. Schifsky
later raced the “Beartown Shaker” funny cars until the early ‘80s.
(Photo courtesy of Drag Racing Memories; info from the Draglist files, Dennis
Doubleday, and Bill Duke)
Tom Hoover left the
top fuel ranks to drive the “White Bear Dodge” in 1970. There were
four different “White Bear Dodge” funny cars. Gary Algory and Bill
Schifsky owned the first couple of cars. Hoover alone owned the last two.
The first two machines were painted basic solid colors and the final two
were decked out in candy colors, something that became a Tom Hoover
tradition. The pictured Charger was built in 1973 and ran mid sixes. In
1974, the team split up, and Hoover built the first Showtime Vega. (Photo
from Drag Racing Memories, info from the Draglist files)
The Danny Miller
Dodge Challenger began life as the former LA Hooker Maverick, a Fiberglass
Trends Maverick shell on an S&R Race Cars chassis. A blower explosion
destroyed the Maverick body in Wichita, KS, during the summer of 1972 and
Miller installed a new Ron Pellegrini Challenger body with the help of
Fran's Pit Stop. The Challenger body still sees action; it’s now mounted
on the Westport Dodge nostalgia machine. In 1972, Miller used a 426 inch
Keith Black cast iron block with iron heads and goodies such as an Isky
cam, Bowers blower, Cragar drive, and Enderle injection. In ’73, Miller
stepped up to a 454 C.I. Chrysler. The best ET for the car was a 6.43 and
a bunch of 6.50s. Danny tuned and drove with Bob Aroldi or Bob Hafele
along to help.
Miller quit racing
his car in late 1973, and Don Schumacher recommended to Shirley Muldowney
that she hire Danny as her crew chief. Miller tuned Shirley’s car in
late 1973 and Bill Taylor's Super Duster for four months in 1974 before
leaving racing entirely. Before the 1972 season, Danny Miller had
raced a Willys gasser and the former Ramchargers ‘67 Dart on the
Injected UDRA circuit. The MCS Enterprises Dart in finished 2nd in UDRA
points in 1968. Miller built the “Plastic Fantastic” funny car in the
winter of ‘69-‘70. Danny believes it was the first modern narrow funny
chassis. After racing, Miller became a manufacturer’s rep for the
computer industry until he retired in 1996. He now builds rear ends in his
garage five days a week. Some retirement! (Photo provided by Don Eckert;
text and info provided by Danny Miller)
Ron Salzbrunn began
his fuel funny car career in the final “Jungle Jim” Monza. Salzbrunn
bought the Monza from Jungle’s brother Bob Liberman, after Bob had
unsuccessfully campaigned the car with Carl Ruth driving. Ron Salzbrunn
had the same lack of success with the car after a moderately successful
career in UDRA BB/FC racing. In 1979, Salzbrunn kept the “Jungle Jim”
logo on the Monza and managed to finish in the top ten in Division 5
points.
In the ‘80s, the
car was renamed the “Twin Cities Shaker” and managed a best time of
6.40 seconds. Ron had a very dangerous accident in the car in 1982, when
the throttle hung on the way to the burnout box. The Monza went out of
control and into the guardrail, with Salzbrunn exiting the still running
car. An official shut off the car with a fire extinguisher. No one was
hurt in the incident, but Salzbrunn retired soon afterwards. (Photo
courtesy of Hugh Munro; info from the Draglist files, Bret Kepner, and Hugh
Munro)
Kyle Green entered
the funny car wars with the “Mile High Express.” The Firebird was
originally built as the “Mob” Fiat AA/Fuel Altered. Ed Moore drove the
car in 1977 and then Miller and Moore sold the car to Al Arriaga. Al raced
the car as a “transformer,” switching between the “Mob” Fiat body
and the “Spanish Galleon” Trans Am body as bookings required. Kyle
Green and the Green Family bought the car from Arriaga, who purchased
another funny car from Roland Leong. The young Kyle Green began racing the
car in AA/FC, but the cost of racing the car on nitro and Kyle’s lack of
experience prompted an exodus to TA/FC by 1981. The “Mile High
Express” TA/FC team still races to this day with hired drivers. (Handout
courtesy of the J.W. Last files; info from the Draglist files)
The “High Heaven”
team officially did not get their funny car start in the ‘70s. Instead,
the Jackson Bros. spent the seventies as the premier AA/FA team in
Colorado. In 1979, the Jacksons began to build the Vega AA/FC in order to
race more often. The beautiful Vega began with the team’s blown fuel
Chevy, and later switched to an aluminum Rodeck Chevy. Cal Jackson did the
driving while Les handed the tuning. The Ken Cox built Vega hit mid-sixes
while running mostly match races, Division 5 events, and an occasional
national event. Photo courtesy of www.autoimagery.com;
info from Les Jackson and the Draglist files)
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