A special thanks has to go out to Bob Frey. Bob spent 46 years announcing a countless number of NHRA-IHRA races, but facts be known, Bob is also quite the drag race historian. It seemed no matter what question I threw at him, and trust me there were a lot of them, he was there with a well-researched answer. Bob has been a tremendous help through a number of past projects of mine and I can’t thank him enough for his ongoing support. Equally, John Jodauga, long with the National Dragster has been an ongoing contributor to my work. When he heard I had a Dyno Don book in the works, he immediately stepped up and offered to assist in any way he could. Thanks once again, John.
It’s impossible to tell a story such as this without great photographs, so a big thanks to all those who contributed. It feels like I spent hours picking through photos before settling on the 300+ included here. Take some time examining each of these great shots, as they all tell a story of their own.
The list of contributors below prove positive the love and appreciation those within the drag racing community have for Don. Without hesitation each contributed in one form or another, and without them this book would have fallen far short.
C. J. Batten, Bob Bayles, Brian Beattie, Arnie Beswick, Dave Bishop, Jack Bleil, Forrest Bond, Phil Bonner Jr., Bob
Boudreau, Darren Boyce, Dick Brannan, Sonny Bryant, Steve Call, Joe Carson, Mike Cochran, Tony Conover, Bill Coon, Ariel Cordero, Ray Cunningham, George Cureton, John Durand, Lloyd Eggstaff, Dick Estevez, Arlen Fadely, Jim Fuerer, John Gacioch, Robert Genat, Terry Gilkes, Bob Glidden, Jim Glover, Sherman Gunn, Ken Gunning, James Handy, Brian Hankins, Don Hardy, Lou Hart, Randy Hernandez, Mike Hoag, Samuel Hoff, Keith Hudak, Daryl Huffman, Jerry Jardine, Jim Kampmann, Tom Kasch, Brian Kennedy, Irwin Kroiz, Larry Knapp, Ray Kobe, Wayne Langford, Butch Leal, Jim Marlett, John Marsh, Bob Martin, Jason McGrane, Robin McQueen, Ed Meyer, Michael Mihalko, Connell Miller, Don Montgomery, Gordon Moore, Charlie Morris, Thomas Nagy, Robert Nielsen, Dan Nowak, Frank Oglesby, Charlie Pepper, Dan Pfeiffer, Larry Pfisher, Britt Pike, Allen Platt, Alex Polewik, Barrie Poole, Rob Potter, Michael Pottie, Peter Quinn, Steve Reyes, Jack Roush, Ed Schartman, Jim Schild, Tom Schiltz, Tim Schmackpfeffer, Paul Shedlik, Rod Short, Frank Sicinski, Mick Smallridge, Gary Smith, Mike Sopko Sr., Jim Sottie, Roy Steffey, Mike Strickler, Geoff Stunkard, Jan Suhr, Doug Thorley, “Big Gene” Townley, Allen Tracy, Al Turner, Curt Vogt, Fred Von Sholly, Carl Weisinger, Tom West, Bob Wenzelburger, Dan Williams, Todd Wingerter, Ralph Woodall, and Jeff Wright.
Additionally, information compiled for this book came from publications released by: Lopez, Argus, Magnum, Petersen and Dobbs. A big help as well were the National Dragster, Drag News, and Drag World newsprints. A special thanks to Thomas Voehringer, Archivist at TEN: The Enthusiast Network, for digging through the Petersen Publishing vault and coming up with a number of the more favorable shots included here. Of course, I have to give a shout out to those who I have connected with on the World Wide Web. The Internet sure has made chasing leads and hunting contacts so much easier for us writers. Dot com websites that proved to be resourceful included competitionplus, draglist, nhra, jalopyjournal, boss302, fordmuscle, catsccc, 348-409, hemmings, hotrod, nitromater, mercurycougar.net, and 351.net.
INTRODUCTION
Look up the word legendary in the Oxford English Dictionary and you will read, “Remarkable enough to be famous; very well known.” When it comes to Don Nicholson, the man and the impact he had on the sport of drag racing, he definitely fits the bill. What made him remarkable? To begin with, his number of drag racing firsts is unmatched. As a small sample, he had the first Funny Car in the 7s, the first Pro Stock in the 7s, and reportedly the first unblown door car faster than 150 mph. A diverse racer, Don is just one of two people to have made a final-round appearance in six different drag race categories. He’s been there in Funny Car, Pro Stock, Super Eliminator, Street Eliminator, Comp Eliminator, and Stock. And unlike most racers who have a difficult enough time winning with one brand of automobile, Don did it in Chevrolets, Fords, and Mercurys. The man was always a threat regardless of the category he chose to run or the car he chose to race.
If those stats aren’t remarkable enough for you, during drag racing’s golden era, his track record and overall popularity saw sanctioning bodies and numerous publications vote him Funny Car Driver of the Year in 1965, 1966, 1967, and 1968. Don was the first racer to have a nationwide fan club, a club created during the early days of Funny Car. He was so popular that drag racing promoters voted him their number one draw.
With the birth of Pro Stock in 1970, Don led the charge for Ford, winning AHRA, IHRA, and NHRA World Championships in 1972, 1975, and 1977. These feats made Don just one of three Pro Stock competitors to have ever won world championships in all three sanctioning bodies; the other two are Ronnie Sox and Lee Shepherd. Even though Don’s number of national event wins is quite impressive, he always seemed to gravitate toward match racing, where, throughout his career, he maintained a slightly greater than 90-percent win record. Not an easy feat considering that in the early days he faced guys including Arnie Beswick, “Jungle” Jim, and Gary Dyer. I grew up with the Dyno Don of the 1970s; he’s the one who gave fits to guys such as Bill “Grumpy” Jenkins, Sox & Martin, and Dick Landy.
Don’s track record, from the dry lakes of the 1940s through the quarter-mile in the 2000s, was as remarkable as the man himself. A real champion to the underdog, he was genuine and generous to a fault. As you read this book, it will be easy to see that the sport of drag racing just wouldn’t have been the same without the prowess and personality of the legendary man they called “Dyno” Don.
CHAPTER 1
BIRTH OF A LEGEND (1927–1961)
Donald Ray Nicholson was born, along with his twin sister Dorothy May, to Logan and Hallie Nicholson in Springfield, Missouri, on May 28, 1927. The pair was numbers five and six in a family that eventually numbered seven children. Don spent his early years helping on the family’s Missouri farm. As he grew older, his chores included handling the reins of the horses and plow mules. When Don was around 10 years old, his father built a tractor using a cut down 1930 Oakland as a base. It was on this “heap” that Don first gained driving experience. Even though it was no comparison to what was waiting around the corner for him, Don once said, “You might say that was when I got my first taste of speed.”
A four-year-old Don is shown here standing beside the Nicholsons’s 1930 Chevy in front of their Missouri home. Seeking greener pastures, Don’s father and grandfather had initially gone to California around 1925 and purchased a lot in Pasadena. (Photo Courtesy Nicholson Family Collection)
Don’s mechanical aptitude came genetically. This picture of Don’s father, Logan, was taken in his saw shop located behind the family home in Pasadena. Logan perfected and patented a special water method of sharpening blades and tools. (Photo Courtesy Nicholson Family Collection)
This is the building where, after the war, Don and his brother Harold set up their first speed shop. The building was a hangout and doubled as a gym for the Nicholson boys and their friends. Its location was off the alley behind the Nicholson home on Los Robles Avenue in Pasadena. (Photo Courtesy Nicholson Family Collection)
Don and his brother Harold ran Nick’s Speed Shop. The brothers performed bodywork, paint, and performance upgrades. Note the dual rear wheels to harness the power of the 1941 Chevy 6. Performance upgrades included a fabricated intake, Stromberg carbs, and a Ken