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1971
Dec. 4 - Richard Tharp wheeled Harry Schmidt's "Blue Max" Mustang to
the Miami National Open Funny Car title. Tharp, who qualified with a
Miami-Hollywood Speedway strip record of 6.73, got by Paul Smith in
the final.
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| Richard Tharp in Harry Schmidt's "Blue
Max" circa summer of 1972. Photo by Steve Reyes. |
Dec. 4 - Bill Leavitt's "Quickie Too" Mustang won Funny car at Lions
Dragstrip, carding the first 6.4-second run for the class. Leavitt ran
times of 6.53, 6.51 and a final-round best ever 6.48 to beat Jake Johnston
in Gene Snow's number two Dodge.
1972
Dec. 2 - "The Last Drag Race" was held at Lions Dragstrip. Carl Olson
in Mike Kuhl's dragster beat Jeb Allen for Top Fuel and Tom McEwen over
Don Prudhomme in Funny Car. Low e.t. of the meet (and in the history
of Lions) was a 6.02 by then recent NHRA Supernationals winner Don Moody
in the Walton-(Wes)Cerny-Moody dragster.
Dec. 2-3 - Don Garlits won an 8-car Top Fuel show at Miami-Hollywood,
dropping Clayton Harris aboard Jack McKay's New Dimension dragster in
the final. Harris had low e.t. at 6.09.
Dec. 9-10 - "Jungle Jim" Liberman's Vega won Funny Car at Beeline Dragway
in Scottsdale, Arizona, whipping 18-year-old Billy Meyer, Don "the Snake"
Prudhomme, and in the final, Jake Johnston in Gene Snow's Revell Dodge
Charger. "Jungle's" 6.50 was low e.t.
1973
Dec. - Nothing here, folks and besides my Drag News are in the
storage bin.
1974
Nov. 30 - Dec. 2 - The Snowbird National Open at DeSoto Memorial Speedway
in Bradenton, Fla., was won by Don Garlits (Top Fuel), Raymond Beadle
(Funny Car), and Joe Varde (Pro Stock). Garlits' final-round low e.t.,
top speed 6.09/241.28 covered Dick LaHaie's 6.27/233.16. Beadle, in
Harry Schmidt's three-race old "Blue Max" Mustang II, dropped Ira Hollensbe's
Vega in the final with a low e.t., top speed 6.46/226.70 and Varde's
"Magic Christian" Mustang beat Paul Marshall for Pro Stock.
Dec. 7 - Doug Rose's "Green Mamba" jet dragster beat "Airplane Freddy"
Sibley's "U.S.-1" two out of three at Orange County Int'l Raceway. Rose
had a best of 6.95, 240.64, while Sibley's best was a 6.98, 231.36.
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| The late Dodger Glenn wheeling Jim Fox
and Fred Frey's "Frantic Ford" Mustang II. Photo by Jim Cutler. |
1975
Dec. 10-11 - The first NHRA Winston Puerto Rico Nationals are held at
Salinas Speedway. Featured cars in match races were Dodger Glenn's "Frantic
Ford" pasting Bill Leavitt's "Quickie Too" Monza in Funny Car, and Bob
Glidden icing out Richie Zul in the McBetts Camaro three straight. A
number of mainland NHRA Division 1 cars took part, swelling the overall
field to almost 300 cars.
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