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70s
Funny Cars: Round 50
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by Danny White
What a difference a
year makes in drag racing. In 1969 this was the top funny car in drag racing
when Danny Ongais drove the Mustang for Mickey Thompson. In 69 Ongais won to
many races to list and had one of the first if not the first six-second times.
In 1970 Ongais was gone and now Johnny Wright was the driver of choice for
Thompson. Along with a new driver and new paint, the team was forced to run a
new engine, the Boss 429 Hemi. The 429 Hemi proved not to be up to the standards
that the fragile SOHC had proven in the last couple of years. On top of all that
the car that was state the art in 69 was now heavier than new cars built at the
start of the new decade. The Thompson and Wright did not last for long and
Wright left to drive the Hell Fire Corvette. Another driver of Thompson later
crashed the famed 69 Mustang. (Photo by L&M photo, courtesy of Bob
Plumer/Drag Race Memories; info from Draglist files)
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The Pennsylvania
based Stoner Brothers got into funny car racing in 1971 with this outdated
Pontiac Firebird. The car was the former New Breed out of California that
was raced by famed engine builder Steve Montrelli with different hired drivers.
The Stoner Brothers put a Chevy in the car and put Buzzy Pastor in the driver
seat. The team did not race for long and by 1972 the car was sold to Carl Hegge
and Rick Stambaugh to be run as the Norseman. (Photo courtesy of Bill Truby;
info from Bill Duke and Draglist files)
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Ray Aniacia had one
of the last Corvair AA/FC’s in the country. The car was the former Poff's
Super Puffer that Ray had bought the car from Ken Poffenberger. Aniacia raced
the candy apple red Corvair with a blown and unblown setup. The Showdown was
mainly raced in Northeastern match races and was a regular at Englishtown races
before Ray retired from racing. (Photo courtesy of Big Bob Snyder, used under
license of Vintage Drag Club; info from Dennis Doubleday, Ted Pappacena, and Draglist
files)
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The Evan Brothers
raced out of the Buckeye state of Ohio, the pair raced match bash in 60's with a
Barracuda that brother Bob drove. The pair resurfaced a few years later with the
former Mr. Pickett Cuda Bob Pickett had raced in 1971 and 72 on the West Coast.
This extremely rare shot came from New York International on Long Island, a
scene of many funny match races under the guidance of Ed Eaton. The Evan Bros
did not race this funny car very long and faded from the scene very quickly.
(Photo courtesy of Big Bob Snyder, used under license of Vintage Drag Club; info
from Dennis Doubleday and Draglist files)
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Bob Norwood is
probably best known for his unique racecars such as a blown Ferrari doorslammer
and nitro-fueled import powered funny car. Norwood has had allot of success in
road racing and at Bonneville, but this Cuda funny car has to be his best known
drag racing car. The Cuda was state of the art when Portier Speed built it in
1972 and very lightweight for the time. Though the Hahn Motors car was an
injected nitro funny car that did not stop Norwood from racing against AA/FC's
in local races. The Cuda ran a best of 7.24 190 before being parked. (Photo
courtesy of Tom West/Replicas West, info Draglist files)
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The Icemaker was a
funny car out of New York State; it was owned by Dennis Voduris and drove by Bob
Barry. Marino’s Italian Ices, makers of frozen deserts, sponsored the team.
The Charger was built by former funny car racer Rollie Lindblad and had a late
model Chrysler hemi for power. The Icemaker was raced mainly at Northeastern
match races in 1974 and 1975 before the team split up. Voduris retired from
funny car racing and driver Barry later went out on his own with the Rolling
Thunder Monza. (Photo courtesy of Tom West/Replicas West, info Draglist files)
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Fred Forkner was
famed engine builder that was better known for his series of TF cars. Forkner
like many other dragster drivers got into funny car racing and bought from this
Charger from Nichols & Oxner. Forkner did not race the funny car for long
and let Lew Arrington lease the car to fulfill his match race dates after the
demise of the Brutus. Forkner went back to racing dragsters. (Photo courtesy of
Big Bob Snyder, used under license of Vintage Drag Club; info from Dennis
Doubleday and Draglist files)
Billy Bunch raced the
Chevy powered Vega out of Galveston, Texas in the mid-seventies thus the
Islander name. This is very obscure funny car that raced mainly in local funny
car action by Bunch. The best that Bunch did in the Vega funny car was a runner
up finish once to Gene Snow. Bunch still lives in the Galveston area to this day
and is said to be local legend. (Photo courtesy of Hector Leal and www.roddingandracing.com; info from John Bockelman and Draglist files)
The Jungle Fever Cuda
of Gene Goethe was a long, running funny car that was raced for nearly twenty
years. Goethe debuted the Hemi-powered Cuda around 1972 in local Colorado match
race action. Goethe ran this car with many updates and later converted the car
to the cheaper alcohol. Goethe and his hired driver raced the Jungle Fever as
late as 1989! (Photo courtesy of Big Bob Snyder, used under license
of Vintage Drag Club; info from Dennis Doubleday and Draglist files)
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Jim Robbins was the
former driver of the Banzai Charger when he debuted the Bayou Shaker in 1974.
Robbins was coming off a successful 1973 year on the local Division Four scene
when he and partner Bobby Bradshaw built the Hemi-powered Vette. The Bayou
Shaker would be raced in match races mostly with the occasional national event
thrown in. Robbins was based out of the Channelview, Texas the same town
as Johnny White, there he would run the series of Bayou Shaker Corvette funny
cars off and on with minimal success into the nineties when he retired from
racing. (Photo courtesy of Hector Leal and www.roddingandracing.com; info from Draglist files)
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