Bill Maverick Golden Passes

[Nunz]

Driver of The Little Red Wagon, another legend gone. RIP Bill

 

[FABMAN]

Sad, really enjoyed his show. We'll pray for family and friends.

 

[Toejam]

Back in the late 60's he rolled the LRW here in ABQ, a local painter who did a lot of custom painting and body work on it. Golden split town without paying him!

 

[stitcherbob]

very sad....one my favorite legends

I've had that pic of the LRW at Half Moon Bay framed on my dresser for years.....

 

[mw6789]

He was quite a guy. I grew up in Searcy Arkansas and Maverick lived just around the corner in Kensett. In the late seventies, I was parts and service manager at the local Dodge dealership and we would get in crates of parts from Chrysler for Maverick. One of my good friends has quite a story about meeting Maverick the first time in Little Rock in the late 50's and actually street racing him. Maverick had relatives in the Central Arkansas area, and that is what got him relocated to Arkansas. Andy Pulley, who was a good friend and former brother in law of mine, revamped the Little Red Wagon at his Pulley Engineering chassis shop shortly before Andy perished in a plane crash. Still remember a friend of mine telling the story about heading back to work one day in Searcy and seeing the Little Red Wagon backed in a driveway a couple of blocks from his house. He said he about crashed from gawking. We had all built Little Red Wagon models in the 60's and always thought it was neat when the legend moved to our area. RIP Maverick.

 

[.]

I always loved watching him run at Cordova as a kid. To this day whenever I see any wheelstander the Little Red Wagon automatically pops into my mind.

 

[mick]

Brent, i have the same fond childhood memories from the same track....lil' red wagon vs. chevy rebellion'

 

[vegasnitro]

One of the first T-Shirts I had as a kid, circa '77 or '78 was of the Little Red Wagon.

 

[turbojoe]

1971. Saw the Little Red Wagon, the Chuck Wagon and the Backup Pickup at Carlsbad Raceway. Quite a show for a 15 year old first timer to a drag race. Always love seeing the wheel standers!

 

[Nick Name]

Someone needs to tell the story about the night at Lions when Maverick and Chuck Poole decided to see who could keep the front end up the longest.

 

[stitcherbob]

If we have no eyewitness story (which I prefer) I can post the available account....

 

[stitcherbob]

 

[nhrafan1972]

I always loved watching him run at Cordova as a kid. To this day whenever I see any wheelstander the Little Red Wagon automatically pops into my mind.

Brent, i have the same fond childhood memories from the same track....lil' red wagon vs. chevy rebellion'

Me three. I can't tell you how many LRW and Chevy Rebellion passes I saw at Cordova. Summer would have been incomplete as a child not going to Cordova. The legends and great race cars still fill my mind as an adult. It warms me when life gets cold. I just want to say thank you for the memories and great shows. God speed!

 

[mw6789]

Maybe I missed it, but I am a little surprised that I have not seen this get a mention on Comp Plus, DRO, or the NHRA site.

 

[stitcherbob]

http://news.allpar.com/index.php/2015/09/famed-wheelstander-bill-maverick-golden-29994

 

[stitcherbob]

"In the DVD, "LIONS, the Greatest Drag Strip" (Part 3), Bill Golden describes the night when he was booked at LIONS to compete with Chuck Poole's, "Chuckwagon", also Dodge wheelstander. It was a 2 out of 3 match race, with the winner determined by distance of their wheelstands. The last faceoff of the night came, both wheelstanders were called to the starting line and the Little Red Wagon was first to attempt the longest length for a wheelstand for the evening. Golden pulled the front wheels up and carried them all the way through the traps...and kept going. He finally shut it down, and barely got it stopped before he ran out of real estate.
Next up was Poole. As Golden watched from almost a half mile away, he said he could see Poole pull the wheels up and head down the track. Apparently Poole, knowing the distance that Golden had gone, was in no mood to be beat, no matter what. Poole went through the lights, kept the wheels airborne and headed for where Golden was shut down at the end of the track. He didn't lift off until he was sure he beat Golden's mark, but it was too late for him to shut down safely.
Poole went ass-over-teakettle and ended up on Willow Avenue, crashed and wrecked...much to the amazement of commuters...a half mile from the starting line.
Poole was delighted that he was the victor."

 

[mw6789]

"In the DVD, "LIONS, the Greatest Drag Strip" (Part 3), Bill Golden describes the night when he was booked at LIONS to compete with Chuck Poole's, "Chuckwagon", also Dodge wheelstander. It was a 2 out of 3 match race, with the winner determined by distance of their wheelstands. The last faceoff of the night came, both wheelstanders were called to the starting line and the Little Red Wagon was first to attempt the longest length for a wheelstand for the evening. Golden pulled the front wheels up and carried them all the way through the traps...and kept going. He finally shut it down, and barely got it stopped before he ran out of real estate.
Next up was Poole. As Golden watched from almost a half mile away, he said he could see Poole pull the wheels up and head down the track. Apparently Poole, knowing the distance that Golden had gone, was in no mood to be beat, no matter what. Poole went through the lights, kept the wheels airborne and headed for where Golden was shut down at the end of the track. He didn't lift off until he was sure he beat Golden's mark, but it was too late for him to shut down safely.
Poole went ass-over-teakettle and ended up on Willow Avenue, crashed and wrecked...much to the amazement of commuters...a half mile from the starting line.
Poole was delighted that he was the victor."

Boy Poole showed him didn't he LOL!!!!!!!

 

[Nick Name]

I was there that night, but we couldn't see what was happening down at the end. I heard that Poole moved over and drove it out the back gate, across the rtoad and hit a fence and endowed it several times. In any event, thwt was theend of the Dodge Chuck wagon. After that it was a VW.

 

[SoCal Racer]

He may not have been the first although I've always thought of him as the premier wheelstander. I remember watching him race against the Hemi Under Glass 'Cuda and Fugitive 'Vette at Thompson Drag Raceway when I was a kid. R.I.P. Maverick!

 

[stitcherbob]

http://nhra.com/blog/dragster-insider/