History of the Krohn, Parmenter & Rue Team

On December 15 2007 the team of Jim Krohn, Ed Krohn, Byron Parmenter, Gary Parmenter, The late Quinten Rue, and The late Dean Rue were inducted into the NHRA Division 6 Hall of Fame. The induction ceremony took place at the Double Tree Hotel (Airport) in Seattle. The evening event was the NHRA annual awards banquet for division 6 and was attended by over 350 people

Left to right. Ed Krohn, Harriet Rue (widow of Quinten Rue), Byron Parmenter, Jim Krohn, Jonathan Adams (NHRA division 6 Director).

Gary Parmenter was unable to attend because of a vacation in Mexico and both of the Rue Brothers are deceased. Dean Rue was killed in a towing accident in 1969 returning from a race in Edmonton Alberta. Quinten passed away 2 years ago unexpectedly.

1958- Ed Krohn "NOT FUEL" Bayview drag strip 1940 Ford Chevy powered C/gas this started the group toward the ultimate.
Lots of NITRO.

The Krohn Parmenter team started in 1960 running a tube frame chassis much like today’s funny car chassis however with a 27 T roadster body and raced at the opening day of Pacific Raceways in 1960. The car set NHRA national marks for its class in 60 and 61 and tried some fuel at the end of the season in 61 with borrowed parts for the Hilborn injectors . As I remember about 50% was the number and it did make the car run good at both Puyallup and Pacific raceways till the 283 Chevy split a cylinder wall..
The Nitro was so much fun that we decided to build a lightweight high gear only dragster in our little 2 car shop at my mother’s home in Kent. Jim Krohn always the machinist and dreamer with the help of myself (Ed Krohn) Gary Parmenter and his brother Byron built this car from the ground up.

1961 or 1962 Richter and Masters, Bob Haines driving in the far lane at Pacific Raceways. The camera was focused on Richter and Masters and the blur in the foreground was Gary Parmenter in the first Krohn chassis 92" wheel base 301" Chevy Giant Killer

To hear some of the current drag racers talk about struggling makes me laugh. We built virtually everything including a front axle, chassis hand made steel bell housing and a live axle spool rear end that weighed only 65 lbs. and mounted in the chassis on ball bearings with caps much like main bearing caps on an engine.The drive shaft ran from a twin disc clutch straight to the rear end through a torque tube without any u-joints. Brakes were 1 Piper aircraft spot on a homemade disc on the right side of the car only and a large ring slot parachute..The power was a 301” small block chev built from a 327 with a short crank( 283) and had Isky’s rev kit. The only gauge on the car was an oil pressure mounted on the block. Everything was sacrificed for weight. The frame tubing was .040 chromemoly And even the front suspension was homemade torsion bars and friction shocks.

1961- Puyallup WA. Jim Krohn, Byron Parmenter, and Ed Krohn get Gary ready to make a pass

At first it didn’t do what it was supposed to do but as soon as we figured out that we not only needed 92% and lots more volume to make it run we were on our way. This car set a 1320 record in 1962 of 8.92 169 mph. It eventually ran 172 mph. (Old record for class was 9.29 159 mph). This car was one of the first Giant Killers and proceeded to dominate top fuel and top eliminator in the northwest in 62.

1962 - Gary Parmenter is awarded the Mr. Eliminator trophy by Miss Democrat at Pacific Raceways. The trophy was for the most Top Fuel and Top Eliminator wins at Pacific Raceways in 1962. The car was a Krohn chassis with torsion bar front suspension live rear axle (Spool) and held the 1320 Record at 8.91 et and 169 mph ultimately ran 8.88 and 172 mph. Power was 301 cu. In. small block Chevy and all the nitro we could find. The car was quick and the driver was quick . The car weighed in at 840 lbs. Wet.

Crew lt. to rt.- Tom Coughlin, Byron Parmenter, Jim Krohn, Quentin Rue. And Gary Parmenter in the car. Ed Krohn was away serving in the Navy for the last part of the 1962 season.

The team added the Rue brothers (Quentin and Dean) in 63 and built from scratch in our own 2 car shop 3 more front engine dragsters in 62 to 66. We were never fortunate enough to own a chassis built by a chassis builder other than ourselves.

1963 - This car was built as a 92” wheel base by Krohn with a spool rear end. It would pick the front wheels and turn right. All the pit hot shots said it needed a differential. We cut the car at the front of the engine and made it into a 130” wheel base and the car ran straight as an arrow with a spool rear end.

1963 - Same chassis as above but lengthened to 130" wheel base. Krohn chassis. The track could be Arlington WA.

1963- At Pacific Raceways they lined the fence to see this Krohn, Parmenter & Rue fueler run. Car has been push started headed toward the starting line to make a qualifying run. Lots of nitro (the can, the lid, & the label) an injected 376’ small block Chevy in a Krohn chassis. Most of the parts were homemade.

In 63 Garlits, Ivo & Champion Speed with a side by side twin Chevy came to Pacific Raceways and the little injected Giant Killer car got beat by Ivo in the semi’s and Garlits got beat by Ivo for the money. Tommy was driving a brand new Chrysler powered car that wasn’t even painted yet. Don was traveling with his family in an old Dodge crew cab pickup and an open trailer and Swingle was with him. I remember how fascinated they were when the saw this little 92” wheel base small block injected Chevy running against all those nitro burning blown hemi’s.

1964 - Gary Parmenter on the return road at Arlington WA. Krohn Chassis 130 " wheel base

1964 or 65 - Gary Parmenter on a single at Pacific Raceways in the Coin Collector. Note the butterfly’s trying to get it to stick. This Krohn chassis ran in the mid 7’s and over 200 on lots of nitro.

1964 Gary Parmenter Pacific Raceways Jim Krohn chassis Ed Krohn body
This car was originally 92” long in 1963 and early in the season extended to 130” wheelbase to keep the front end on the ground. This car ran Injected only in 1963 and blown in 1964 many different engine combinations but all Chevy. This car was 8 flat best and 190 mph.

1964 - Gary Parmenter pedals the 354” Chrysler on a qualifying pass.
This car had a rare coin collector for a sponsor and was named the Coin Collector.

1964 - Krohn chassis at Puyallup Quentin Rue in the background and driver unknown. We were trying to find another driver for the two car team so Parmenter would not have to drive both cars.

We ran injected Nitro and lots of it all through 61, 62, 63. We added the Chrysler in 64 with our 150’chassis and a blower to the Chevy car. I believe this was the first multi-car team ever in the northwest We ran small block engines as big as 376ci and a lot of 327ci in the Chevy. Times were in the high 7’s and speeds in the mid 190’s for the Chevy.

1963 - Pacific Raceways 376" Chevy, Krohn 130" chassis with Gary Parmenter driving this car ran 8.40 et. and 185 mph Hilborn injectors, home made scoop. Note the catch can for oil & water overflow. Engine crankcase breathers were on the catch can.

We built a new 150’ chassis for the Chevy designed for Dean Rue to drive but he did not like the confines of the fuel dragster.

1965 - Quentin Rue built this chassis for his brother Dean to drive but Dean did not like the fuel dragster. This car ran a 327 Chevy blown nitro. It ran in the high 7’s and mid 190 mph. It never broke 200. The engine would not take large percentages of nitro and the blower at the same time. This was probably the cheapest most consistent car we ever ran because it was like a backup car. We always loaded the Chrysler to run the big number and just ran consistently with the Chevy to finish the day and usually in the money.

Gary Parmenter drove all of the cars in both qualifying and eliminations until we had to run ourselves and then we scrambled for a driver for the chev car. Some of the drivers were Red Gobel, Frank Rupert, Gaines Markley, Danny Higgins, Ivan Eng. Gary Parmenter was one of the quickest drivers out there in his day but at the end of the 1965 season his wife convinced him to quit because of so many of the engines becoming hand grenades and blowers coming off at speed. The Chrysler car was invited to Mickey Thompson’s first 200 mph meet and made the second round and broke.

In 1965 we put over 50,000 miles on a new Dodge van that towed all over WA. OR. and CA.
In 1966 Gaines Markley drove the chrysler car and the Rue Bros. (Dean and Quentin) and Foster Bros. (Gus and Glen) ran the chev car. In the fall of 1966 my brother Jim Krohn sold the Chrysler car and the new owner wrecked it the first time out at Puyallup. He walked away from a 200 mph crash and that is the end of one of the homemade Krohn Parmenter & Rue cars. Dean Rue and the Foster Bros. raced for a few more years until Dean was killed in an accident while towing back from Edmonton Canada. Quinten Rue and Paul Blaylock ran the PDQ dragster for some years after 65.

In the latter 60’s Paul Blaylock Dean Rue and Quinten Rue ran the last Chassis built in our shop and converted it to a Chrysler. Quinten and I had built this car for Dean and and even though Dean loved drag racing he would not drive a Fuel Dragster. Paul Blaylock drove until Quinten started worrying about our home built chassis and bought an old chassis (Fuller I believe ) from Jerry Ruth and continued to run as PDQ (Paul Dean Quinten) for a while longer.

In the late 60’s I was working for Bowen Scarff Ford a dealer in Kent WA. And we supplied some 427 Ford Cammers to Jim Crooke for the Assassin AA/FD for a period. Jim had limited success with the Ford so switched to a Chrysler and then sold the car. Bowen Scarff supplied Ford pickups as tow trucks for Jerry Ruth for a number of years .

I moved to Alaska in 1973 during the startup of construction of the Trans Alaska Pipeline to run the parts and service operations for a large Ford dealership. Two years later I started my own company repairing automobiles on the Kenai Peninsula in Alaska and the rest is history.

Drag Racing as we knew it in the 60’s, before the big corporations took over, was a great sport and will always leave me with fond memories.