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Favorite Top Gas Dragster Driver/Car? (2 Viewers)

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TopFuel@Lions

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What would be your favorite Top Gas Dragster, driver or car, or both?
Here down below are some that I saw race, these drivers and teams go way back. Most of these come from the actual AA/GD ranks and a few from the Top Eliminator days as well.
Danny Ongais Walt Rhoades
Tony Waters Don Cain
Mark Pieri Connie Kallitta
Jack Jones Walt Stevens
Billy "the kid" Scott Ray Motes
Gordon Collett Austin Myers
Dave Grassi Jimmy Nix
Bob Noice Harrell Amyx
Floyd Lippencott Jr. Tommy Larkin
Jim Minnick Cliff Smith
Richard Warrick Don Hampton
Dick Pader George Bolthoff
Bill Mullins Jim Bucher
Chuck Beal Rico Paris

Those are just a handful of the very many who drove those fine diggers in the day, yours?

TopFuel@Lions
 
Dye & Hampton Two Bad, twin SB Chevys side by side with a Simca (Fiat) body. Also Quincy Automotive, which became the Freight Train, twin Chevys in-line, Floyd Lipponcott Jr (Bob Muravez). Eddie Hill twin side by side Pontiacs. Dode Martin, Dragmaster Two Thing, side by side Chevys. The Bustle Bomb, broke the 150 MPH barrier in 1955. Lloyd Scott driver, had one engine (Olds) in front of the driver and 2nd engine (Caddy) behind the driver. Jimmy Scott, Weiss & Scott single engine, Moved to Pro Comp as AA/GD and ran 6.90's, terrorized the class. Scott was the starter at San Fernando. One of my favorite shows at Lions was AA/FA, JR/F dragster and Top Gas Dragster. They ran all 3 classes as "the show". This later morphed into Combo Elim at OCIR, which in turn became Pro Comp.

I'm also thinking that Roger Gates, who is a Mater, drove T/G before he ran nitro. OK, that's my list with one cup o' Joe. BTW Mark, that is a great list! Add Tony Nancy, who ran T/G with a Rat motor.
 
The Odd Couple-Fiat/Chevy ran out of Ken's Automotive.
 
Oh yeah, I remember the Odd Couple. Blown Chrysler & Blown SB Chevy. They won Pomona one year.
 

FEATURE- Remembering On Tour with Steve Reyes

Drag racing results, news photos and highlights from NHRA and IHRA series events
www.dragracecentral.com

Here are some cool Steve Reyes Top Gas twins photos. A couple of the Odd Couple, driven by Walk Stevens. Boy, when you saw 2 twins race side by side, you'd never forget it. I saw Dye & Hampton Two Bad race Quincy Automotive (Freight Train) around 1962 at San Fernando. Could not believe the power & noise these cars made. I think I'll remember that until my mind woofs the blower. :)
 
Bennett Osborn, Sand Springs, OK
Twin engine Chevys.
Drag strip at Tulsa was first race track I saw.
 

Phil Soares, The Punkey Kid, out of Hawaii. He ran at San Fernando, Lions, OCIR. Later ran Cannon & Soares T/F back motor car. T/G car was painted yellow with red polka dots.
 
Anyone remember the name of the car and Driver from Nebraska who had a twin engine Pontiac with fuel injection and I think nitrus. I think it ran alcohol dragster.

Was the name Double Trouble or was that another car.
 

Conrad, I have a photo of a car called Double Vision. #55 T/AD. Allen Hartley is the driver. Rear engined car, looks like 2 injected big block Chevys, but they could have been Pontiacs. This car ran gas & nitrous. Didn't really have the power to run with the rest of the class. Had the little front tires that Garlits pioneered. Cool looking car, from early - mid 1990's. Took the photo at (then) Firebird in Phoenix. I think that Hartley later ran Top Fuel. Sorry I can't download the photo. Looked on line & there is a 2nd version of this car, different paint & injectors. It's on U Tube, the link above.
 
My personal favorite was the "Freight Train" with Floyd Lippencott Jr. aka Bob Muravez. They ran a 6.98 (approx) at Indy one year. Gordon "Collecting" Collett and Leo Dunn who I remember when
I was with Ray Strasser and David Baca when they first ran A/Fuel. He was into restoring pre '63 Corvettes at that time. Gil Rothweiler drove Leo's car at one time although it may have been on fuel
then. I still have vivid memories of those old cars as I started racing in 1960 as a junior in high school. Those were really fun times!
 
Bob, re; Leo Dunn. Was that Brunelli & Dunn, rear engined car from 1972, had twin unblown Chevys? I saw that car at Lions Last Race. Seem to remember it was a NorCal car.
 
glofria said:
I was too young back then so I asked my dad. He says Walt Stevens and The Gas Company car.

BTW, if you haven't already seen this site, We Did I For Love has hundreds of photos of the early days of racing. http://wediditforlove.com/sitemap-free.html
Click to expand...

Gino, there is actually a Cliff Morgan section on We did it for love, somewhere. Posted photos maybe 20 years ago? Had some front motored AA/FD and other stuff, if I remember right. You can spend hours on that site. :)
 
In Southern California........Weiss & Scott. They ran AA/GD before they ran TAD. Jimmy Scott is still out there!
Those Pro Comp days were great!
 
I'm a little bias with this answer but I'm going to say Walt Rhoades.
I kinda know him :)
He drove the Train as well.
 
Walt Rhoades. Safeway Sandblasting Top Gas Dragster. Later ran back motor T/F. Used to come to the line with the fueler, rev it up to about 6 grand and take off. I'm thinking early 70's with that car, also run by Safeway Sandblasting. Greg, is Walt your dad? Lotsa good memories of those cars.
 
2 cars make the favorite list for me. First when "Goob" wheeled it, then when Bob M. drove it, the Freight Train was the bomb, especially that first win at Parker Avenue. My favorite victory was the win at the greatest one day dragster race ever, the 67 P.D.A. at Lions. Then my second would be all those weekly wins by Bolthoff, dude won a truck load of races, especially at the pond.

TopFuel@Lions
 
The Train did crash once at Lions. I saw the crash. Car just started going left to right & it flipped, in the left lane. Don't remember who the driver was, but John Peters was upset about it. I think this was when the Train still had the Chevys. No fun watching that!
 
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