{"product_id":"ultimate-drag-racing-driver-boxset","title":"Ultimate Drag Racing Driver Boxset","description":"\u003cbody\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhile the established stock and modified brackets are\u003cbr\u003elong-recognized as the heart and soul of drag racing, it was\u003cbr\u003ethe wheelstanders that more often than not put butts in the\u003cbr\u003ebleachers. In that category, some of the most well-known\u003cbr\u003enames included Bill “Maverick” Golden’s Little Red Wagon,\u003cbr\u003eBill Shewsberry’s L.A. Dart and Chuck Poole’s Chuck\u003cbr\u003eWagon. Although, most memorable of all was the Hurst\u003cbr\u003eHemi Under Glass Plymouth Barracuda campaigned by\u003cbr\u003eBob Riggle.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003eRiggle started his career in the early 1960s as a car\u003cbr\u003ebuilder and mechanic for Hurst-Campbell and eventually\u003cbr\u003eascended to pilot the Hemi Under Glass. When he left\u003cbr\u003eHurst in 1969, the Hemi Under Glass franchise transferred\u003cbr\u003ewith Riggle. He continued for six more years as the owner\/\u003cbr\u003edriver of a succession of Hemi Under Glass renditions.\u003cbr\u003eIn the 1990s he resurrected the concept of the original\u003cbr\u003ecar—making four different versions (1966, 1967, 1968,\u003cbr\u003eand 1969)—and continued to thrill drag racing fans with his\u003cbr\u003ewheelstanding antics.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAt the time of this writing, Bob’s last run with the Hemi\u003cbr\u003eUnder Glass was in the summer of 2019. He claims to have\u003cbr\u003eretired (he was 83 years old at the time), but he’s claimed\u003cbr\u003ethat before!\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis is Bob’s story, one that Mark Fletcher and Richard\u003cbr\u003eTruesdell, co-authors of the 2012 book Hurst Equipped, are\u003cbr\u003ehonored to share. They say the story was easy to tell—given\u003cbr\u003etheir unprecedented access not only to Bob but also to\u003cbr\u003ehis vast archive of photos that reflect his ongoing popularity.\u003cbr\u003eMany of the photos in this book are seen in print for the\u003cbr\u003every first time.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e• Bob Riggle is recognized as the greatest wheel stander\u003cbr\u003eof all time and as drag racing’s most popular exhibitionist\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e• Many never-before-seen photos from the Bob Riggle\u003cbr\u003earchive illustrate this history of Hemi Under Glass\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e• Bob Riggle has made 10s of thousands of drag racing\u003cbr\u003epasses, entertaining 10s of millions of fans\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAbout the Authors\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003eRichard Truesdell is a veteran magazine editor with\u003cbr\u003emore than 25 years of experience. He has written scores\u003cbr\u003eof magazine articles and has been the editor-in-chief of\u003cbr\u003eChevy Enthusiast and Car Audio and Electronics. Currently,\u003cbr\u003ehe is the editorial director of Automotive Traveler.\u003cbr\u003eMark Fletcher has been a regular contributor to several\u003cbr\u003eautomotive websites and magazines. Mark is a long-time\u003cbr\u003emuscle car enthusiast, and owns a Hurst SC Rambler. Currently, he resides in Steven’s Point, Wisconsin.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\nMany fans of drag racing consider the most interesting era to be from the \n1950s through the 1970s, the years when the sport really took off. During \nthat period, so much changed from a speed and technology standpoint that \npeople often refer to this time as the golden age of drag racing.Drivers \noften became associated with a particular manufacturer, such as Chevy, \nFord, or Chrysler through sponsorship, factory team rides, or sometimes \nsimply their own preference. The more successful drivers became household \nnames in the drag racing community. Chevy had Grumpy Jenkins, Pontiac had \nArnie \"the Farmer\" Beswick, Mopar had Sox \u0026amp; Martin and Dandy Dick Landy, \nand Ford's most successful driver of the era was the legendary \"Dyno Don\" \nNicholson.Nicholson's first wins on a national level were actually in the \nearly 1960s in Chevrolet products. He became extremely successful on the \nmatch-race circuit. Then, in 1964, he switched over to Mercury with the \nnew Comet after General Motors enacted a factory ban on racing activities. \nHe won 90 percent of his match races that year. He stuck with Ford and \nMercury products and won throughout the 1960s and 1970s, even after Ford \nalso pulled the plug on factory team sponsorship. He made it to the final \nrounds in nearly 50 national events during that period, in addition to \nwinning championships, awards, and match races along the way. If you are a \nfan of a certain era of racing, a Ford fan, or certainly a \"Dyno Don\" fan, \nthis book will be a welcome addition to your library.\n\nMeet drag racing legend and pioneer Shirley Shahan, the Drag-On Lady!\n\nAs the first woman to win an NHRA national event when she was named Top Stock Eliminator at the 1966 Winternationals, Shahan blazed a trail for women in drag racing. During the golden era of drag racing, it was rare to find diversity in the sport. Shahan is what’s commonly known as a living legend.\n\nIn a career that spanned the 1950s and into the early 1970s, Shahan drove 1956 and 1958 Chevys and was one of the lucky few who was able to purchase one of the rare 1963 Chevrolet RPO Z11 Super Stockers. Later, when she was driving for Plymouth and Dodge, Shahan made the name Drag-On Lady both famous and feared. She then moved to American Motors and raced very successfully with the new SS\/AMX.\n\nFrom 1958 to 1972, Shahan set records and won numerous awards. She was inducted into the International Drag Racing Hall of Fame, Super Stock Magazine Hall of Fame, and Mopar Hall of Fame, and she was honored with a lifetime achievement award at the Bakersfield racetrack. In addition, Shirley won the Top Stock category at the very first March Meet at the legendary the Famoso Raceway track near Bakersfield, California, which made her the first person (male or female) to do so. In 1966, she was the named one of Hot Rod magazine’s Top 10 Drivers.\n\nShe raced against the best drivers during the golden age of drag racing and more often than not blew off the doors of her opponents. She had a fierce passion for winning, and in this book, you’ll feel what it was like to be behind the wheel as she steers you through her illustrious career. Fasten your seat belt; it’s going to be a wild ride.\n\n\u003cp\u003eBorn and raised in central California, Larry “Butch” Leal\u003cbr\u003ewas obsessed with cars from a very early age. What began\u003cbr\u003ewith field cars turned into hard work and new Chevrolets.\u003cbr\u003eThis took place when the golden era of drag racing was in\u003cbr\u003eits infancy, and Leal joined with enthusiasm. He performed\u003cbr\u003ewell at the track with his early Chevys and had an impressive\u003cbr\u003enumber of wins before he was out of high school. His\u003cbr\u003esuccess brought him plenty of attention and collaboration\u003cbr\u003ewith other big names in the sport.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn 1963, GM pulled out of the sport on an official basis.\u003cbr\u003eAs a result, Butch (at age 19) teamed up with Mickey\u003cbr\u003eThompson and joined the Ford camp, securing a ride with\u003cbr\u003ethe factory team and its new Thunderbolts for 1964. After\u003cbr\u003ehis success that season, including winning the Super Stock\u003cbr\u003e(S\/S) class at the 1964 NHRA US Nationals in Indianapolis,\u003cbr\u003eChrysler came calling, and Butch signed on to race the new\u003cbr\u003ealtered-wheelbase cars in match races for 1965, as the\u003cbr\u003eNHRA did not have a class for these new “funny” looking\u003cbr\u003ecars. While Leal dabbled again with Ford and Chevrolet\u003cbr\u003elater, his relationship with Chrysler lasted well into the\u003cbr\u003efollowing decades, running both Funny Cars and Super\u003cbr\u003eStockers.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePenned by talented automotive historian Bob McClurg,\u003cbr\u003ewho was there for it all, and featuring full collaboration with\u003cbr\u003ethe book’s subject, Butch “The California Flash” Leal covers\u003cbr\u003ethe span of his fascinating career during arguably the\u003cbr\u003emost interesting era in drag racing history. Butch was an\u003cbr\u003e11-time NHRA champion and 4-time recipient of Car Craft\u003cbr\u003emagazine’s All-Star Driver of the Year award in a career\u003cbr\u003ethat spanned the 1960s through the 1990s. It’s all here, the\u003cbr\u003eevents, great vintage photography, and the stories from one\u003cbr\u003eof the best storytellers the NHRA has ever known. Add this\u003cbr\u003eentertaining volume to your drag racing library today.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e• This is the first ever biography on Butch “The California\u003cbr\u003eFlash” Leal.\u003cbr\u003e• It is filled with never-before-seen vintage drag racing\u003cbr\u003ephotography.\u003cbr\u003e• Leal is a great storyteller; he shared many stories for\u003cbr\u003ethis book.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\n\u003cp\u003eArnie “the Farmer” Beswick was called “the consummate\n  underdog” by Hot Rod magazine. While there was\n  good reason, there is much more to his unbelievable\n  career. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e Born a third-generation farmer in the small town of Morrison, Illinois, Arnie Beswick’s driving career began not behind the wheel of a straight-line terror but that of a tractor. On local dusty roads, Arnie’s budding reputation grew with street cars, as the “flying farmer” was coined to describe his driving style. When drag racing began in the Midwest in the early 1950s, Arnie was one of the pioneers who campaigned Dodges and Oldsmobiles. In 1960, he purchased his first Pontiac and never looked back.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e At the beginning, he didn’t like the “farmer” nickname, but he quickly learned to utilize the name to lull his competition into complacency. After all, what could a simple farmer know of the world of high-performance drag racing? Throughout the 1960s, Arnie’s Mr. B’s Passionate Poncho, Mystery Tornado, Star of the Circuit I and II, Tameless Tiger, and Super Judge all contributed to dispel the myth that a simple farmer couldn’t dominate straight-line racing.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e Arnie was an innovator, fierce competitor, entertainer and showman who always gave fans their money’s worth at the track. He is still brand loyal--sticking with Pontiac long after production models ceased. Arnie has always been a fan favorite for this reason, and he continues to exhilarate fans at the track with his cast of potent Pontiacs.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e• Arnie “The Farmer” Beswick is the most renown Pontiac drag racer in history \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e• This is the first book covering the career of Arnie Beswick \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e• Contains never-before-seen images and a first-person account of the subject’s career\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\nDon “The Snake” Prudhomme reveals for the first time\never his incredible life and career on and off of the drag\nstrip.\n\nImagine spending a year with Don “The Snake” Prudhomme,\nhaving coffee together and talking about his life,\nhis racing, his friends, and his family. He’d tell you about\nhow he rose from being a high school drop-out who was\npainting cars to a respected Top Fuel dragster driver and\nsuccessful businessman. You’d hear how he toured the\ncountry with Tommy Ivo and “The Hawaiian” Roland Leong,\nracing all the legends from “Big Daddy” Don Garlits to “The\nGolden Greek” [Chris] Karamesines.\n\nHe’d say how he met Tom McEwen and recall how\nthey became the Snake and the Mongoose, leading to a\ncareer in Funny Cars that netted him four championships\nin a row. He’d talk about the thrill of first wins and owning\nhis own teams but also the struggles of bad seasons,\ncrashes and fires, broken parts, and broken contracts.\nAlong the way, he’d speak about the people in his life, such\nas engine-builder Keith Black and NHRA president Wally\nParks, and those who were killed in the wild and unpredictable\nsport of nitro racing.\n\nIt wouldn’t be only racing, though. Prudhomme would\nshare lessons he learned about business and life from\nsuch varied sources as a neighbor in Granada Hills to Ford\nGT40 driver Dan Gurney. He also would talk about the\nimportance of family: how his wife, Lynn, and daughter,\nDonna, changed his world and how finding out about his\nAfrican-American roots opened his eyes to a culture and\ninheritance he’d always wanted.\n\n• Don Prudhomme is arguably the most famous drag\nracer of all time\n• This will be the first time Don Prudhomme has talked\npublicly about his life both on and off the track\n• Don Prudhomme won 49 NHRA races, 4 NHRA\nChampionships, and won the US Nationals 7 times\u003c\/body\u003e","brand":"MidlifeClassicCars.com","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45179716993304,"sku":"KIT9781613255612\/B06019\/9781613255810\/978161325710","price":167.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0057\/9813\/3831\/files\/kit9781613255612b060199781613255810978161325710.jpg?v=1772261686","url":"https:\/\/www.midlifeclassiccars.com\/cs\/products\/ultimate-drag-racing-driver-boxset","provider":"MidlifeClassicCars.com","version":"1.0","type":"link"}