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Legends of the Quarter-Mile |
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Presented by The Drag Racing Heritage Foundation |
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Roy Steffey |
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Logghe, Steffey & Rupp The "Prussian" and the World Championship
The Prussian was equipped with a .030 over 354 with a 4 bolt main set up topped off with an Enderle injector and pump and fired by a Mallory Super mag which made it much like the majority of the top fuel cars of the time. What set it apart was some of Roy’s innovative ideas such as a special Schneider cam that allows the engine to make horsepower at a higher RPM than most and a 3.90 gear that took the 354 through the lights at 11,000 rpm. Roy also added a set of “mousetrap” springs that Dave Schneider sent along with the cam. The springs were so strong that Roy had to fabricate a special tool just to hook them to the loops on the rockers. The tool was 24” long with an old wrist pin welded to it but still required a great effort to hook the springs. In addition Roy would use stock 354 valves that he reground instead of the larger racing valves that most cars used. It was these and some other innovations that set the car apart from the others and made it a winner.
With the car tested and Roy satisfied with it’s potential the team headed south for the first NHRA Springnationals at the newly built dragstrip at Bristol, Tennessee. (Editor’s Note; this was the first race that featured fuel cars that I ever attended and I was hooked from that point on). A strong field of Top Fuel cars showed up for this race as it was now the third national event on the NHRA schedule. The track, which was to become known as “Thunder Valley” was set between two mountains and with the new surface afforded superior traction to make for some great racing. On Saturday of the event the Prussian took on the best of the best and continued to beat the odds by coming out on top in the first four rounds. On the forth round Maynard pushed it just a bit too much against Connie Kalitta and burned a piston. With only a short time between rounds Roy pulled the push rods and closed the spark plug gap on the bad cylinder and Maynard lined up for the final round of the day against Chris Karamesines. With only seven firing cylinders, Maynard gave it his best and being the great driver that he was put a hole-shot on Chris who in turn pushed too hard himself, blowing the engine. Realizing this Maynard had the chute out before the traps and clocked a winning 7.99 @ 142.40 while covered with oil.
Since winning on Saturday the Logghe car got to sit out until the run for Top Eliminator against their friend Connie Kalitta with his new Ford cammer for power. With a fresh Chrysler between the rails, Maynard lined up against Connie, who was most likely thinking about his past red lights. Maynard, in turn pulled his so bad off the line that he could not make up the difference leaving Roy and company as Top Eliminator at the inaugural Spring Nationals. After the race, Connie came to Roy telling him that the Ford factory guys were all over him wondering how a 354 Chrysler could out run his new 427 SOHC Ford. Roy told him some of the details of the cam and gear that produced the unheard of rpm but I am sure this did nothing to relieve the minds of the Ford brass By the fall of 1956 with a number of match race wins and both the regional and Divisional Championships under their belt, the team headed for Tulsa. The 1965 World Finals, was held at Southwest Raceways. Of course all the other divisional champs there to try for the National Championship honor, the event had the largest turnout of spectators on record at the time with in excess of 37,000 on hand to watch the more than 300 entries go for the top honors. After qualifying in the 7th spot the Prussian lined up with Jerry Ruth from the northwest. Ruth was indeed a worthy opponent but drew a red light giving the win over to Rupp and the Prussian. In round two the Rupp and Steffey team drew Don Westerlake driving the famed “Ramchargers” car. Both cars left the line cleanly and put on a really great race with Rupp wining with a 7.93 to Westerlake’s losing 7.94.
When the semi’s rolled around it was Rupp up against Danny Ongais in the “Mangler” entry. Both cars staged carefully but once again Maynard put the hole shot to Ongais with a winning 7.68. The finals then came down to the Steffey built and tuned “Prussian” to line up with “Rapid Red” Lang in the “Dead End Kids”. However Lang failed to fire and Rupp singled with an 8.01 @ 189 to take home the World Championship trophy as the NBC cameras caught it all for the TV viewers.
Having been approached by the factory guys from the Lincoln-Mercury Division of Ford Motor Co. and having won the top honors a Top Fuel car could win, Roy decided to join up with Mercury to build and campaign a Mercury Comet in the fast growing Funny Car ranks. The Prussian went back to Logghe’s shop in Michigan and Roy opened the doors of Roy Steffey Enterprises. Though building and running a early Chrysler powered dragster had become “old-hat” to Roy, the funny car with the 427 SOHC for power opened up a whole new set of problems and challenges for him. Let’s take a look at the Funny Car Years for Roy and crew.
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