40 years ago (1 Viewer)

[Kat]

40 years ago on Labor Day, I took this photo of John “the zookeeper” Mulligan’s clutch explosion.

In the summer of 1969 I had gotten a new 35mm camera with a telephoto lens. I had been attending the Nationals in Indy since 1966. At that time there were very few fans that had cameras with telephoto lenses. I was watching the race thru the viewfinder, and by the time I got it focused John was at the finish. I managed to rewind and get a couple of more shots. When I got my colored slides developed, I viewed the crash several times. Later when I found out that Moe had died 17 days later from a result of the accident I pulled out those 3 slides and never looked at them again. This summer I had over 400 of my drag racing slides scanned into digital photos and I included these shots of the B & M dragster. I had seen very few pictures of this accident in any magazines throughout the years. See this link for more photos of Moe and his rides that I took in his earlier years. Pictures by 7nighthawk - Photobucket

More photos and stories about John’s life and Beebe & Mulligan can be found in Don Ewald’s webb site “We did it for love”. John Mulligan - The Early Years

Enjoy,
Ken

 

[yoda]

Piece of our sport's history there, Ken... Thank you for posting

One of the reasons the 'Mater is the best place to come for drag racing...

 

[mikey]

WTF....the NHRA needs to move those fans off the fence ! lmao

 

[mastertone]

Ken please post all of those 400 photos where we can view them. Those bring back so many memories!

 

[mw6789]

Thanks for posting Ken. Never ceases to amaze me at some of the photos that show up on this site. Thanks for sharing.

 

[BaldyLochs]

Really neat picture (neat now atleast - not so neat back then for the driver.... or the guy in the tan pants & white shirt.... one leg up... that's pretty good reflexes LOL

 

[d'kid]

Ken, Guess I should say thank you, no matter how much looking at those shots hurts.

Gonna wipe the tears and remember the better times.

d'kid

 

[Leon]

That's just awesome . I love this stuff. I wear a "Beebe and Mulligan" Worlds Fastest T-Shirt whenever I can !

 

[AAFA-Freak]

Ken
Terrific shots with the then new 35mm.

Not sure why they did not but NHRA needed to honor Moe at Indy!

Thanks for helping wet these old eyes of mine.

 

[Rajunz]

Great stuff, thanks for posting.

 

[none]

Has it really been 40 years?? Where has the time gone??
Sad memory; great pictures.
Thank you

 

[Nick Name]

Got to watch him race many times. Was at Carlsbad when they did the six. I remember it was the Adams Ware car. Couldn't remember if it was John or the Goose driving.

A couple of years ago, just before they closed Carlsbad, I went down there to see what my vette would mph at a sea level track. I stood on the starting line and looked down track to the pile of tires at the end, and just couldn't believe the first six second pass was made at that track.

They used to have some awesome Saturday nite top fuel shown there.

 

[FuelCarBuilder]

Teary here too. John was my hero. I remember seeing the footage of the accident on Wide World of Sports. Back then, it was November before they would show the Nationals. I knew John had been in a wreck, but did not know he had died until the telecast. Cried like a baby for hours. Wish I could turn back the hands of time for Moe. God Rest His Soul. There is so much we have missed without him being here through the years. God Bless Chops too, I hope he is doing well. Would love to meet him someday. Forever the Fighting Irish.

 

[The Swegian]

Wow what a great shot. Thanks for sharing Ken. I was only 5 years old in 1969 and hadn't been introduced to drag racing yet. That followed the next year and distinctly remember watching the Nationals on Wide World of Sports and the infamous Nicoll-Prudhomme final. You definitely stirred up the memory bank, Ken.

 

[merc49]

40 years ago on Labor Day, I took this photo of John “the zookeeper” Mulligan’s clutch explosion.

In the summer of 1969 I had gotten a new 35mm camera with a telephoto lens. I had been attending the Nationals in Indy since 1966. At that time there were very few fans that had cameras with telephoto lenses. I was watching the race thru the viewfinder, and by the time I got it focused John was at the finish. I managed to rewind and get a couple of more shots. When I got my colored slides developed, I viewed the crash several times. Later when I found out that Moe had died 17 days later from a result of the accident I pulled out those 3 slides and never looked at them again. This summer I had over 400 of my drag racing slides scanned into digital photos and I included these shots of the B & M dragster. I had seen very few pictures of this accident in any magazines throughout the years. See this link for more photos of Moe and his rides that I took in his earlier years. Pictures by 7nighthawk - Photobucket

More photos and stories about John’s life and Beebe & Mulligan can be found in Don Ewald’s webb site “We did it for love”. John Mulligan - The Early Years

Enjoy,
Ken

Thanks Ken. I was there that day.

 

[TSK]

Wow. That's a powerful photo.
I remember watching Wide World of Sports when, at the end of the show, they announced Mulligan had died from his injuries.
What a loss for the sport.

 

[clutchflite]

I was there also - same side about 300' out from the starting line. From there it didn't look like much fire, I just remember a lot of smoke. Went to the pits after first round and the "reports" were all bad but I remember not getting the full story 'til much later, maybe the telecast or National Dragster.

 

[troy boy]

When ever I see a safety part on a race car I always tell people it is only on there because some one died and gave their life for that part...... Thanks John.

 

[The Swegian]

In looking again at this photo, I didn't realize that they ran the car without the body panels. I always think of the Beebe & Mulligan car with the nice two-tone green paint job and full body panels from front to back. Did they do this often?

 

[DrRocket]

In looking again at this photo, I didn't realize that they ran the car without the body panels. I always think of the Beebe & Mulligan car with the nice two-tone green paint job and full body panels from front to back. Did they do this often?

From the full bodies on early fuelers, to covered cockpits, front axle housings (Ala-Big.) they always seem to try them, and end up taking them off.

The reason they always cite?

Weight.

They always end up saying that the performance payoffs aren't worth the weight penalties. I think when the front motor diggers were running, the aerodynamic advantages just didn't pay off for them. Plus, it may have just been easier to not bother with taking them off and re-installing them between rounds.