|
Legends of the Quarter-Mile |
||
|
Presented by The Drag Racing Heritage Foundation |
||
|
Jim Murphy |
||
|
HOLY SMOKES!! By Jim Murphy; edited by Steven Justice
“””I’ve always considered myself a contractor that loved to race……….” The love affair began very early growing up in San Francisco and hanging around older guys who owned cars and hot rods. Back then the Bay Area was a magnet for drag racing, legal and otherwise. The place to go was Half Moon Bay. I was probably 12 years old when I got my first sniff of nitro, and the car that delivered it was the Speed Sport Spl. roadster. I was totally smitten with the sheer fury and power of this vehicle, not to mention its unique sound. I knew right then that drag racing was something I had to try some day. A little later this dream got sidetracked when the family moved to Wisconsin during my senior year of high school. While not the hot bed of drag racing like northern California, at least I was now old enough to drive the cars I esteemed. I owned a succession of cars from a ’34 Ford coupe with a Red Ram Dodge engine, to a Studebaker, followed by a ’55 Thunderbird with a 421 Tri-Power Pontiac motor under the hood. And, the drag strip close by was not just any old drag strip. This track was the storied Union Grove where many of the big names such as Don Garlits, Chris Karamesines, Art Malone, The Guzler, The Big Wheel would appear. However, the Midwest wasn’t really my cup of tea, and at first chance, I returned to Northern California and started a drywall business. This preoccupied almost all my time for nearly a decade, and with the exception of doing some drag boat racing, I did not seriously return to the drag strip until 1972. There is a somewhat humorous story here. I was going to build a dragster with Arnold Birky and even ordered a SPE car to get the project rolling. I took my wife Judy to the drags and she said no way, “these things are way too dangerous”! Now, that’s not something I expected to hear given the danger and great risk inherent with blown fuel flat bottom boats. That was fine; I was already busy building and racing drag boats and working long hours with the business.
Funny Car Fever As with many boat racers, I witnessed a scenario that would play out again and again: friends and fellow racers losing their life in this extremely dangerous sport. When a really close friend, Ted Holden, lost his life in a blown fuel hydro, I said, “This is crazy”, and quit. I still wanted to race, but not in a sport that was just a different form of Russian roulette. Coincidentally, I got a call from Ed Wills, a well known drag racer (Mr. Ed top fuel dragsters and funny cars) as well as boat racing enthusiast who I knew from the drag boat scene. He and another team (Whipple-McCullough) were planning to take their funny cars to the big New Year’s Day race at Fremont and said I should check it out. I spent that weekend hanging out in their pit and familiarizing myself with funny car racing. After talking with Art Whipple and Ed McCullough, I ended up leaving the track as the new owner of their recently retired ’72 Barracuda-bodied nitro burning funny car. The 1972 NHRA Winternationals were just four weeks away and I had to work feverously to get my new racer ready as I had no license, no truck, and no trailer--not even an engine. I purchased a Keith Black engine and had Don Kirby (one of the sport’s premier lacquer men) re-paint the ‘Cuda (Kenny Youngblood provided the lettering and headlights). I made the date, and amazingly, the show with relief driver Butch Maas behind the wheel. We qualified number two and went to the second round losing to Ed McCullough of all people. Watching Butch wheel the ‘Cuda at Pomona really got me anxious to drive, so I entered the March Meet to make some passes and complete my licensing. During eliminations, Ed McCullough (a man of many hats) substituted in my place, and to my surprise, ended up winning the event. The following weekend was the Northern Nationals (Fremont) and the first opportunity for me to strut my stuff. We qualified well, maybe even 2nd, and in the first round got paired with Henry Harrison driving Mickey Thompson’s Mustang. Such being rookie nerves, I put on both bulbs, and waited and waited for Henry to stage. I’m thinking, “what’s he doing”, leaned forward, looked over, and watched him take off. That was my humbling initiation to funny car racing.
My
first funny: a Woody chassis underneath a ’72 ‘Cuda mold; KB power; burning
out at Thompson, Ohio.
The
‘Cuda at Union Grove; summer ’72 (Coca-Cola’s traveling circus) Let’s back up a little and preface the next experience with a little drag racing history. Starting in 1969 a circuit called the Coca-Cola Cavalcade of Stars was formed. All the major car manufacturers were represented and included some big names like Jack Chrisman, Fred Goeske, Gary Dyer (Mr. Norm’s Super Charger), Kelly Chadwick, and Kenny Safford. It was in its fourth year when I got involved, and by the time it folded at the end of 1976, over 40 drivers had worn the Coke shirt and white pants. It was the Chicago-style format where each car got two runs after which the quickest two would return for the final. The qualifying runs were important because, in addition to the $1000.00 guarantee, there was a pro-rated pay out based on one’s overall standing. A typical purse might be $1200.00 for the last four, $1400.00 for the next two, and $2000.00 and $2500.00 for the finalists. It was run by the Gold Agency and their booking agent Ira Lichey. Whatever tracks wanted us, got us. We raced all over the States and at some really marginal tracks. This experience taught me a lot about driving race cars in general, and funny cars in particular, if just because so many of the tracks were narrow, short, and slick. As in all forms of motor sports, there were a lot of other activities going on besides the racing on the track. One night at U.S. 30, we made it to the final, but broke a rear end when the light went green and had to shut off. We were just about ready to load the car into the trailer when eight really big guys showed up and they were not looking for autographs. One asked me what happened on that run. I answered that the rear end broke; his response was, “show me”. I retorted, “I’m not going to show you” and that’s when I got a good look at a revolver. I pulled out the third member, and fortunately, the teeth were broken. “That’s cool man. I had $10,000 on you and just wanted to make sure you didn’t throw it”. Phew!
The ’73 Roadrunner at OCIR; Kendall GT-1 hand out from 1974.
ENGINE IN FRONT; ENGINE IN BACK Although I stayed with the Coke circuit for only one year (1972), I ended up selling my business in California and bought a home on a lake in southern Michigan to pursue a career as a funny car match racer. I met a lot of new racing friends as a result of the Coke tour and one of them was Tim Beebe. In 1973, we decided to partner on a top fuel dragster to go along with the funny car. Larry Huff offered us a great deal on a Woody car, so we bought it and put one of the funny car motors into it. We didn’t race it for long, and shortly thereafter, purchased a brand spanking new Don Long chassis. We originally planned to use the late model Chrysler 426 cid engine, but switched to the Donovan block when Ed offered us a lot of parts gratuitously. We debuted at OCIR in memorable fashion; unbeknownst to Tim, the Donovan had a gremlin in the oiling system and on the very first run, broke a rod. In the ensuing carnage, my nice Marc Denakas supercharger took a ride into space, and I almost got beaned when gravity brought it back to Earth. But, in no time, Tim got the Donovan singing, and at Indy in 1975, our 245 mph would rate as the fastest speed at that date with a Donovan block.
Ontario
Motor Speedway World Finals; 1974
The following sequence of first round action at the 1975 Nationals (Indy) was caught by Clayton Taylor. That’s me on the left and an unfortunate Dick Lahaie on the right. The 245 mph I ran that week end was the fastest speed to date with a Donovan.
I had no idea all this was going on behind me. I thought my chute had gotten caught on the guardrail and had a very difficult time stopping the dragster.
My problems paled in comparison to what Dick was going through.
As a driver, this shot is particularly disturbing; upside down riding the guardrail.
Initially I was upset that the Safety Safari wasn’t Johnny-on-the-spot making sure I was OK. But, when I looked back up the track, I saw them all heading to Dick’s car. It was then that I knew he was involved in a bad crash.
This was LaHaie’s second bad crash in 1975 (first at Gainesville); Dick broke his arm at Gainesville and lost a toe in this terrifying crash. He was back on the track a month later with a new fueler. From 1973 through 1976, Tim and I raced the funny car and the fuel dragster. When one was on the track, the other one was parked. A combination of factors lured me back to the West Coast in 1977, not the least of which was the cold winters of the Midwest. I started a construction business building high-end homes in the Santa Rosa area < www.j-m-a.com.> Though my commitment to racing was somewhat diminished from 1977 through 1985, I still found time to satisfy the nitro fix racing a top fuel dragster with fellow Santa Rosan Arnold Birky. It wasn’t a particularly ambitious deal and we generally frequented west coast venues like Sears Point, Sacramento, OCIR, and Pomona.
The Birky-Murphy-Trapp car at OCIR; that’s Arnold Birky with his hands over his ears.
No
throttle stops on the injectors in those days; Pomona Winternationals
Sacramento Raceway; in the days when the divisional races had top fuel dragsters.
This is Daniel Wilikson’s twin-turbo 427cid Chevy pro comp car that I drove in 1978; it was a total monster and would have dominated the class. When we ran 232 mph (25 mph over the record!!), NHRA did not know what to do with us, so they banned the car. It is still complete and resting in Daniel’s shop in Cloverdale.
HERE WE GO AGAIN! Even though I was comfortable with my part-time racing status, if trouble wants to find you it will. In 1986, a gentleman named Norm Hudson decided to go funny car racing. He purchased a complete operation from Roland Leong, but needed not only a driver, but someone who could do basically everything. My name popped up as someone who could fill that role and Norm called to see if I was interested. Once that little voice whispered in my ear, “hmmm, that sounds like fun”, I was snagged. Just like that I was back driving a funny car, but it wasn’t the same game. Everything from fuel and clutch management to body aerodynamics had gotten a lot more sophisticated (and expensive). After a little more than one year, I bought Norm’s whole operation and continued to race selected NHRA events up to 1993. It was at this juncture in my racing career that I had to step back and take a serious look at the direction the sport was going. Basically, I had to decide whether I was going to be a contractor or a professional drag racer. On one hand I loved drag racing more than anything; countering that was my dislike for all the travel and time away from home. My contracting business, Jim Murphy and Associates (J-M-A), was doing well, so I sold the entire racing operation and took up golfing (!!!). Don’t fret, it didn’t last long. By 1996, I was cajoled out of retirement once more.
Norm Hudson’s spiffy Dodge Daytona; Fremont Raceway.
Racing
Jim Head at the World Finals; Pomona, November 1986
Same
venue against “the Vipe”
Getting a little help from my Safety Safari friends; Denver 1988.
The Chevy Beretta with the laundry out; Pomona 1988.
The same funny car a year later at the Winternationals with some subtle, cosmetic changes (blue lettering).
My last funny car; a Dodge-bodied Steve Plueger car (1991-1993).
CONTINUE TO NEXT PAGE
|
