Untitled Document

"In 1969, the Ramchargers, Beebe & Mulligan and myself had front-motor cars on order from Woody Gilmore. Well, (John) Mulligan was killed at Indy that year and Woody and him had been real tight, real good friends. It tore Woody up, and one day, I called him up to see how the car was going and he asked me would I be interested in a rear-motor-dragster. He and Pat Foster drew one up, built it, and were going to test it at Lions. Knowing Woody's reputation I said, 'Yeah.' They got to Lions, Foster was driving, and launched it. The car started rocking side-to-side like it was too top heavy. It finally went off the top end into the dirt where the motor flew out of the chassis.

"Woody called me, told me what happened, and said, 'Are you still interested?' I said, "Okay, do what you think is best." At the time, he wasn't quite sure why the car did what he did, but he and Foster and his crew were working on it. I went to Orange County in 1970 and ran it and it seemed okay. I entered Bakersfield that year, the same weekend that Garlits lost his foot at Lions, and tried to qualify. However, the engine blew and we were done.

"We took it back to Michigan and ran it and by spring were running consistent 6.7s at 220-mph. In the summer I won the AHRA Summer Nationals title in New York (New York National Speedway) and during that weekend Garlits was with us. In fact, he rode in our push truck between the second and third rounds of the race and when we got back to the pits, we let him take off the body panels so he could look at it. Knowing how sharp he was, he probably took a mental picture of it.

"How would I like to be remembered? I had the first successful rear-engine Top Fuel car of the new era, the first in the sixes at 200-mph, and the first to win a national event." - Dwane Ong

Coming in Part 2 (online February 19th) Six more innovations that changed drag racing for the better - and six that just didn't work.

Hot Rod
Hot Rod, America's leading hot rodding magazine, focuses on high-performance and personalized hot rods, Chevies, and musclecars.

Hot Rod Bikes
Hot Rod Bikes helps riders customize and modify their Harley Davidson bikes for cruising in style. You'll be an easy rider in no time.

Import Car
Import Car is the complete import service magazine. It gears itself exclusively to the vehicle repair needs of import specialist technicians. The in-depth, technical nature of the magazine's editorial content helps technicians of all abilities do their jobs more efficiently and effectively.