Match Race Mayhem: Drag Racing's Grudges, Rivalries and Big-Money Showdowns

By Doug Boyce

Relive or discover the exciting history of match racing through the cars, drivers, rivalries, events, and everything that was fun about match racing in drag racing's golden era.

This volume by veteran drag race author Doug Boyce is enhanced with wonderful vintage photography provided by fans and professionals in attendance.

Drag racing is a very regulated sport. In the history of the NHRA, IHRA, and other sanctioning bodies, many classes exist in an effort to make sure the cars racing against each other are as equal as possible. It is a noble, if not futile, pursuit. Two cars face off that have very similar statistics in terms of weight, transmission type, fuel type, estimated horsepower, and all other sorts of measurables. The byproduct is that often the races that were 'fair' were not the races that the fans wanted to see.

During the golden age of drag racing, fans didn't care as much about class racing as much as they wanted to see scores settled, rivalries battled, and interesting matchups. There were the manufacturer rivalries, Ford versus Chevy, Chevy versus Mopar, Mopar versus Ford, as well as numerous driver rivalries. Match races were also a great way to feature wildly popular cars that no longer had a class in which to compete, yet the fans still wanted to see them. So popular and intense were these races that many track promoters didn't bother to promote class racing at all. Instead, they used the match races as headliners, similar to the marquee at your local arena or a billboard in Las Vegas, all resulting in putting more fans in the stands. And the drivers loved it too. Although the prize money for national events was fairly average for the day, the extra appearance fees and prize money to lure the most popular match racers to events increased the driver's take exponentially. Many of the most popular pro drivers quit class racing altogether just to go match racing.

If you are a fan of any class of drag racing from any era, Match Race Mayhem: Drag Racing's Grudges, Rivalries and Big-Money Showdowns is a fun addition to your racing library.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Car Tech
• Release date: Aug 14, 2020
• ISBN: 9781613256213

Doug Boyce

Doug Boyce has had a life-long addiction to drag racing. He turned his first wrench at age 8 and attended his first race at age 10. The essence of burning rubber and screaming open pipes filled his head and by his early teens, he was elbow deep in building classic cars. He continued to fuel the fire while working 9 to 5 in the automotive field. Doug has filled what little spare time he has had writing numerous club and magazine articles related to drag racing's golden years. He has an ongoing love of drag racing and the way it used to be.  He is the author of <i>Grumpy's Toys, Junior Stock</i>, <i>Drag Racing’s Quarter-Mile Warriors: Then & Now, 1001 Drag Racing Facts</i>, <i>Match Race Mayhem</i>, and <i>Dyno Don: The Cars and Career of Dyno Don Nicholson</i> all best-selling CarTech titles.

Book preview

Introduction

Match racing, run whatcha brung and hope you brought enough style drag racing, was all the rage through the 1960s before petering out in the 1980s. The rules of the game were simple: Bring more to the line than the guy next to you and beat him to the finish. Do that two or three times in a day and you went home with your pockets full of cash. The fans loved these mano-a-mano battles, the factories supported the racing with limited-production cars and parts, and the track owners were more than happy to see the bleachers full.

Match racing, or grudge racing as it was often called, first took hold in the late 1950s and snowballed from there. By the time the mid-1960s rolled around, match action had gripped the nation’s strips. Week in and week out, racers everywhere were tearing a strip off the M&H’s in head-to-head battle royales.

A countless number of guys, and a few gals, were making lasting impressions and earning a pretty decent living by match racing; Big Daddy, TV Tommy, Fast Eddie, The Drag-On-Lady, and Jungle Jim, just to name a few. These people were making money doing what they loved, pulling in three to four times the average annual income, which in the mid-1960s was right around 8 grand. These people were living every gear head’s dream.

And this is the way it went for more than 20 years. It was plain old economics that saw match racing all but disappear by the time the 1980s rolled around.

This book pays homage to the celebrated door slammers, although at one time or another, every style of drag car was match racing, from Top Fuelers to Wheelie cars. Because it’s impossible to include every match and every combatant in this book, I’ve strived to find a good balance of key battles and participants.

CHAPTER ONE

Match Racing USA

You’d have to go back more than a century to find the origins of match racing. No doubt the big day of the first match came when America’s second automobile rolled up beside the first. Now to take a look at modern match racing, you’d have to set the time machine to the late 1950s. Back when altered-wheelbase Funny Cars, Pro Stocks, and fully enclosed, luxurious trailers were still just a figment of someone’s imagination.

Back when Florida’s Don Big Daddy Garlits had to load his Swamp Rat I dragster onto a single-axle trailer for a long haul to Bakersfield. Back when life on the road consisted of greasy spoons, trackside dogs, or brown bag lunches. A bed was where you found it, which was often in the backseat of the tow car. Yeah, you questioned your sanity at times but wouldn’t have traded it for the world.

Ask Fuel and Funny Car champ TV Tommy Ivo about life on the road. Match racing became a national pastime when Ivo picked up the phone and pre-arranged dates on the other side of the country. In 1960, Tommy and sidekick Don Prudhomme left the comforts of home in sunny Southern California and took to the road, heading for the East Coast, where they hit 10 tracks in three months. Towing his dragster on a single-axle trailer behind his weighed-down Caddy, Tommy hit up tracks along the way for additional matches or exhibition runs.

As a number of tracks were little more than old air strips, four-across match racing, such as seen here at Puyallup, wasn’t unusual. Looks like the Mopars got the jump, or handicap start. (Photo Courtesy Russ Griffith)

Typical for three exhibition runs for a touring pro in those days approached $1,000. Occasionally, you’d get one of these pros matched against a local. Ivo’s traveling road show was a smash hit and led directly to him building his four-engine exhibition Showboat. The National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) hated the car but the fans loved it, and Tommy made a killing racing everything from Jets to Stockers with it. It was definitely the birth of the traveling exhibitionist.

A lot of the early match races, especially in the Southwest, were battles to retain position on the Drag News Mr. Eliminator Top 10 List. The list was started in 1960 with Art Malone and Don Garlits perched on top. The way the list worked was that anyone could challenge those in positions 2 through 10, but to challenge number 1, you had to be in the top 10 already. Once challenged, the spot holder could venue shop and take the challenge to any dragstrip he chose for the two-out-of-three match. Obviously money mattered and the racers went to whichever track paid the most. When it came to dragster match racing, it was a pretty humble affair; that is, until the door cars in the Southeast caught on.

Dyno Don Nicholson, the epitome of a gentleman racer, should be recognized as the first of the Stock-class racers to begin touring. In 1961, Don was living in Pasadena and reading all about the Hot Stocks back East, with drivers such as the Platts, Phil Bonner, and Dave Strickler. He was eager to see how his 409 Impala measured up.

That spring his first East Coast match came at North Carolina’s Easy Street Dragstrip, where he drove through a 16-car field that included 12 Fords, 1 Chevy, and 1 Pontiac. Ronnie Sox was there but broke and was unable to compete. It finally came down to Don and a local Ford. Don recalled in a previous interview, "There were no guardrails and the asphalt ended before the track did. The crowd had gotten so bad they were all over the track. I almost hit some people a couple of times. I told the strip operator that I wasn’t going to run again unless he cleared the people off the track. It had gotten so you couldn’t even see the track for all the people.

Tommy Ivo claims to be the first to cross the nation match racing, heading to the East Coast in 1960 with Don Prudhomme after picking up the phone and arranging dates. Here, Ivo’s loaded Caddy, hauling his twin-engine rail on a single-axle trailer, is delayed in Utah by a herd of roaming sheep. By the mid-1960s, Ivo was making $50,000 a year match racing. (Photo Courtesy Tommy Ivo)

Would you believe that as early as 1962 Garlits had fans following him from track to track up and down the East Coast? Garlits and his Swamp Rat III are seen here at New York’s Dover Drag Strip, where he was paid to make solo exhibition runs. This wasn’t uncommon practice in the early days when match racing was just catching hold. Garlits managed a best of 8.11 at 196 mph on this day. The decade was good to Don, winning world championships and match races like crazy. (Photo Courtesy doverdragstrip.com)

Doug Peterson snapped this shot of the Leffler/Loukas A/Coupe at Famoso back in March 1960. With drag racing in the veins, the team traveled from their homes in Ohio to California for a winner-take-all match against Coburn/Glaze. The pair was definitely one of the first to hit the road for a match race. (Photo Courtesy Doug Peterson)

Buried in that cloud of four-wheel smoke is Tommy Ivo’s Showboat, a four-wheel-drive exhibition dragster powered by four nailhead Buick engines. As Tommy professed, if two was good, four was better. The fans ate it up. (Photo Courtesy Tommy Ivo)

Dragster match races were the mainstay prior to the AWB/Funny Car evolution. This is a two-out-of-three between the winner and runner-up for Top Eliminator at the 1961 AHRA Nationals, Art Malone versus CKC Racing’s Buddy Cortines, at San Antonio Raceway. (Photo Courtesy Forrest Bond)

"So, the operator gets on the PA and tells Dallas Parkinson, the guy with the Ford, to go out there and clear the track off. He comes out of the pits sideways, kicking up sand. I don’t know how he didn’t kill anyone. On his way back up the track, people were mad and throwing rocks and bottles at his car, breaking the windows out. He gets back to the pits and here come about a 1,000 people gunning for him.

The track operator went out to the middle of the track and started shooting his shotgun in the air to stop them. They finally got them cleared out, and then I almost got ‘home towned.’ The guy jumped the flag and almost beat me. I fumbled second gear but still managed to catch him. To make it a big deal, the winnings, all $600 of it, was all in one-dollar bills in a wheel barrel. A wheel barrel full of cash.

Flat-towing his Impala to Detroit afterward, the tow car got away from the driver on the rain-soaked Virginia turnpike, the Impala broke loose from the tow car and rolled over into a ditch. The incident tore up the suspension, popped out the rear window, and bent up the roof and most of the panels. A wrecker was called and hauled the Chevy into Beckley, the nearest town, where the suspension was repaired at a Chevy dealer.

Brand loyalty was huge in the 1960s and track and promoters played it up. Week in and week out, seats were filled and everyone had a favorite. Payouts varied and depended on how big the names were. (Photo Courtesy Author Collection)

Dave Strickler in Old Reliable II is caught in action against John Thornton, who is running Strickler’s previous Old Reliable. Old Reliable II was built with all the match race tricks. The body was moved back on the chassis, springs removed from the rear seat, metal was cut out of the cowl area, and the frame tops were drilled full of holes. Dave broke the 10s with the 409 Chevy. (Photo Courtesy Mike Strickler)

The popularity of the Funny Car on the West Coast saw 8-, 16-, 32-, and finally 64-car Funny Car shows. Spectators thoroughly enjoyed the pre-race ritual of lining up the cars along the track, which was started at the Orange County International Raceway (OCIR) by Mike Jones. (Photo Courtesy Author Collection)

Promote the heck out of it and they will come. It was all about making money, and by 1967, Frank Maratta and his radio spots were helping to make everyone a little richer. (Photo Courtesy Author Collection)

Yellow River was the first track to pay large sums to match race Super Stocks. At one time Richard Petty was a pretty hot shoe whose natural talent carried over from the round tracks. (Photo Courtesy Author Collection)

Don called Detroit and tried to beg out of the match but the owner wouldn’t hear of it. He had had Garlits and Ivo lined up, but Garlits bailed after being burned in a fire, so the operator insisted that Don show up. Without him, there was no show. However, he did arrange to have a body shop straighten the car when it arrived. The roof had been collapsed on the driver’s side so Don had to use the passenger-side door to get in and out. The car looked like crap but he managed to win the match, defeating the Royal Pontiac in a convincing fashion.

Don was so impressed by the caliber of matches and the money that he said goodbye to California and moved to Atlanta in 1962.

Phil Bonner, who was North Carolina born and Georgia adopted, built a career running match races with his fine line of Fords. Phil stated in a long-ago interview that by the middle of the 1960s, 80 percent of his races were matches. He was a regular at Georgia’s Yellow River Drag Strip, which (as he recalled) was the first track to pay decent cash prizes to Super Stockers, doing so as early as 1960. Racers up North, all wanting a piece of the pie, shucked their trophies and made a beeline for the South to make their fortune. Things exploded from there as the nation’s dragstrips had little choice but to follow suit and promote big-money matches.

The Joe Whipple/Ed McCulloch Duster won Seattle’s inaugural Seafair Funny Car Championship in 1970. This was the predecessor of the 64 Funny Car shows, which ran through 1987. A beautiful car featuring a Dick Fletcher chassis, the Duster and enclosed trailer were lost in a highway fire en route to the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) Nationals. For a time the car held both ends of the NHRA record at 7.19 and 211.76 mph. (Photo Courtesy James Handy)

Wayne Tex Darnaby last ran Temptation in 1966 as a heavily altered match racer, hitting low-9-second times. Tex believes he was the first to run nitro through an exhibition stock Hemi. Initially the factory didn’t allow their teams to run fuel, but we were independent. It was just my wife and me doing it all. In competition, I ran as a B/Fuel Dragster, and C/Fuel Comp. A/FX didn’t allow fuel so I match raced. I did this every week for a year, traveling the states, earning from $500 to $1,000 a week. This car was initially destined for Richard Petty. (Photo Courtesy Wayne Darnaby)

Match racing caught on like wildfire, and feeding the flames were the over-the-top advertisements and radio spots. Drag News and National Dragster, among other papers, carried antagonizing ads written by promoters, aftermarket manufacturers, and even racers themselves that insulted, slandered, and called out the competition. It was all very entertaining and did its job drawing fans to the track.

Any drag race aficionado over the age of 50 must be familiar with the Sunday, Sunday, Sunday! callout. Boisterous Jan Gabriel introduced the familiar refrain in 1967 to Gary, Indiana, WLTH radio listeners. It was a refrain copied by many tracks. But think about it: With guys such as Ivo, Jungle Jim, and Sox & Martin touring, how much coaxing did anyone with a passion for the sport need?

The South is where big-money match racing began. Legendary Kansas Badman Ted DeTar was an early star. Not only did he run his own line of match race Stockers, he also was responsible for some of the South’s quickest-running cars, including Gene Snow’s early Rambunctious line of Chryslers. Tragically, an on-track incident in 1968 took Ted’s life. (Photo Courtesy Jim Marlett)

Those on the West Coast will recall the bellowing 64 FUNNY CARS! radio spots of the 1970s, inviting everyone and anyone to Seattle (or Orange County, or Irwindale, or …) for the largest gathering of funnies in one location. The 1979 Funny Car show, Under the Lights in Seattle drew an incredible 26,000 fans. Those West Coast promoters, Bill Doner (once considered one of the 10 most important men in drag racing) and Jim Rockstad, knew how to put on a show. And so did Broadway Bob Metzler, Bill Holz, and booking agents Ron Colson, Ben Brown, and Ben Christ, who formed the Gold Agency in 1966. For the most part, they were honest (although a little exaggeration went a long way) and knew how to fill the bleachers.

Maryville Dragway in Tennessee during the summer of 1967 saw this match between the Dixie Devil Camaro of Joe Lunati and the Comet of Jack Chrisman. Maryville was one of many early tracks that failed to meet the strict safety requirements of the sanctioning bodies. Note the narrow track and wooden fence erected for spectator protection. Yikes! An inability to secure insurance was the death knell for many of these tracks. Today Maryville operates as an airstrip. (Photo Courtesy Gary Anderson)

The Gasser Wars raged in publications such as National Dragster and Drag News. This 1966 ad is an extension of the Cam War ads of the early 1960s. Cam manufacturers used to hammer each other, bragging up their user and challenging competition to races, anywhere, anytime. It was all very entertaining and led to some great matches. (Photo Courtesy Author Collection)

By the time the early 1960s rolled around, California was holding Gasser-only meets. Floyd and Ralph Grist Willys were always in the thick of competition. (Photo Courtesy Author Collection)

Of course, not all promoters or agents were cut from the same cloth. However, many racers looked at them as a necessary evil, lumping them into the same category as unscrupulous lawyers and used-car salesmen.

Fred Goeske made a valid point on the underhandedness that could be expected. While driving his Hemi-Cuda II Funny Car in 1968, Fred stated that when he was booked into an event and paid a percentage of the gate, his first run was usually the slowest of the day. When asked why, he stated that it was because he was counting the spectators as he went down the track and didn’t want to miss any.

Wayne Tex Darnaby, who made the rounds with his 1964 Plymouth Temptation Exhibition Stocker during the mid-1960s, recalls that life on the road wasn’t always a bed of roses. Tex remembers an incident at Detroit while match racing Arnie the Farmer Beswick, "I beat him the first two rounds on big hole shots. Before the third race, track promoter Gil Cohn approached me in the pits.

"Gil took me by the arm and led me away from the group of guys I was with. Gil squats down in the dirt and with a stick he writes, ‘You Lose.’ I said, ‘What are you telling me, to lose the race?’

"He said, ‘Yes, that’s what I mean.’

"I said, ‘No way am I throwing any race.’

"So Gil explained in simple language, that if I wanted to continue racing at some 40 different tracks all over the country, I would throw the match.

"I told him that was a little strong armed.

"He said, ‘Listen to me. If you want to continue on the race circuit, lose.’"

Tex, not ready to retire yet, swallowed the bitter pill and took the dive. Trust that Tex wasn’t the only one this happened to.

Tex has plenty of horror stories of life on the road. Especially in the Deep South. We’d go to get our money after the race and the operator would be sitting behind the desk with his hand on a gun, telling me there was no money, but thanks for coming. This happened more than once.

Mike Runyan of Blue Hell Funny Car fame remembers more than one instance when firearms were involved. Cash payouts for match racing were the norm. You were handed a bag of cash either upon entering the gates or, more likely, when the match was over. Mike recalled one instance of being chased down the highway by a shotgun-wielding group of guys in a Nash Rambler. When he produced a firearm of his own, it finally scared off the would-be thieves.

And you want to talk about a lack of respect; comedian Rodney Dangerfield got plenty when compared to these guys. Mike recalled an eight-car round-robin bash on July 4, 1969, at Nashville’s Riverside Raceway. "The track manager, Curtis Goodwin, told us that the first round was scheduled for 5:30. We readied the cars and then Goodwin says if we didn’t mind he was going to run Super Stock, then us.

"We said okay, but that would mean we would have to change the jetting and watch the air density. He told us it would be about 6:30.

"Well, we kept getting put off and the fans were getting increasingly drunk and high. The bleachers were segregated then with blacks on one side, whites on the other. We were all getting upset and I voiced it, spouting something about these damn hillbillies should get their, ah, ‘stuff’ together. Well, that did not go over well at all because now the fans wanted to fight.

"We finally ran the first round of Funny Car at midnight and the crowd, who were either drunk, stoned, or both, were betting for or against you and, either way, wanted to fight.

"All of the cars had to turn around after their run and tow back up the track because of the dangers in the pits. We finally made our last runs at 5:30 in the morning and vowed never to return.

Truth be told, when the manager called us again the next month we did return, and we kept going back because we always won there. The crowd all loved us. Go figure.

And, of course, being the 1960s, racism had to rear its ugly head. The mixed race team of Stone, Woods & Cook faced it, Malcolm Durham faced it, as well as countless others. Especially in the South where they were threatened, abused, refused rooming, and had their cars vandalized.

The track manager told us that the track was 1,320 feet, but we were only going to run 1,000 feet because there was a cliffat the end of the track.

Peter Poland, who traveled with Steve Bovan and his blown Chevy II through 1966, recalls an incident in Fulton, Mississippi. "It was a beautiful track, surrounded by meadows. When we got there, the place was packed with cars, but there was hardly a soul in sight. It was like a scene out of The Twilight Zone. All of a sudden we hear a roar and rush of people stampeding from the bushes. Turns out they were all clansmen and had just set a cross ablaze. The track manager told us that the track was 1,320 feet, but we were only going to run 1,000 feet because there was a cliff at the end of the track."

Trackside betting wasn’t unusual and in some

Reviews for Match Race Mayhem

[rblmm69 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

my husband loves this book great information and pictures easy to read and understand

[robtcm · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

What a Great Book! Covering an exciting period of Drag Racing History, this volume provides the reader with tons of info and fantastic photos. It made me feel like I was right there at Trackside. The folks at CarTech along with Author Doug Boyce have done an awesome job! This book is sure to appeal to all forms of Car Buffs, Racing Enthusiasts and in particular Drag Racing Fans. Well done, I highly recommend this book!!!

[lauryng-976472 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Wonderful book! Not hardcover but thick paper back. Durable, easy to look at! Awesome pictures, great to read all the stats, and info!

[outdoorsman-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

One of the best racing books yet! I saw a lot of these cars back in my day like The Wickersham Ford '65 Mustang that use to race at the Golden Triangle Drag Strip down in Nederland TX and also Gene Snow's Rambunctious over at the Opelousas La. Drag Strip. Saw Hemi Under Glass, Little Red Truck and Golden Commando. What some great cars!Spent many a weekend at all those tracks and loved em! That was back when it was real drag racing.

[stacypilot · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The quality of CarTech books is exemplary and Match Race Mayhem is no exception. Comprehensively covering drag racing from the 1960-1970s author Doug Boyce has a narrative writing style so you do not feel overwhelmed by the statistics and numbers given. About each page has numerous color and black and white photos with excellent captions. Occasional inclusion of posters and ads add to the visual interest. The Index is comprehensive so you can easily find information on a specific driver. If you want to relive the match racing era, this book is for you. I received a copy for review through LibraryThing's Early Reviewer program.

[1randal-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

What an excellent book! An incredible history of match racing in the USA. From the early 1960's, when Don Garlits, Tommy Ivo, and Don Prudhomme would cross the country racing, thru the 1970's, when the oil crisis and inflation made it so expensive to race. All the greats are in this book! And the photography is spectacular! For any fan who came of age during this time, this is the book for you!

[hardboiled-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Match Race Mayhem is all it claims to be and more. Through vintage photography and historical background Doug Boyce presents a comprehensive look at the golden age of match racing. The beauty of this volume rests with the historical fabric it creates through the cars, drivers and rivalries of the time. You get a backstage pass to the match-ups and personalities that made these races what they were. I am continually amazed at the quality and comprehensive depth of Car Tech publications. They've definitely hit another home run.

[mstrust · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Really cool! Printed on heavy stock and full of photos. I also really like the inside design with the pages meant to look yellowed and aged around the edges. The narrative is full of interesting information and stories.

[sdaisy-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is a nonfiction book about the history and evolution of match racing in America. It is laid out chronologically through the 1960's and into the 1970's. It has close to 300 examples of excellent photography spread throughout the book, a couple of which are full page or nearly so, and all of which have detailed captions describing the stories behind the pictures. Included are not only pictures of the cars, but also vintage track advertisements, as well as some of the famed vintage "Wanted" posters that racers challenged one another with. By just glancing at the title, you may be led to believe that this book is just about funny cars, or west coast fuel dragsters. However, this book shows the wider picture, and covers all the bases, from the Super Stocks to the Gassers to the Funny Cars, etc. This book contains detailed accounts of many of the best or most game-changing match races in the history of the sport, including names, names of cars, engine builders, fuel configurations, ETs, MPH, tracks raced at, events, and dates. That is a lot of information, but the author seems to actually know what he is writing about, and he gets his information uncommonly accurate. This, in my mind, sets him leaps and bounds above many other automotive authors. The author also keeps the book from getting boring by adding interesting trivia and stories about the different cars and drivers, and he scatters his sense of humor throughout, saying things like narcoleptic Wild Willie Borsch was "caught napping" as his opponent pulled out ahead of him. Overall, having thoroughly read this book, I think that it is one of the best books on the subject of drag racing. Definitely worth the five stars I gave it.