Ford Drag Racing History

Ford performance enthusiasts  owe many thanks to names such as Brannan, Glidden, Holman & Moody for their contributions to Ford racing and the results it has had on street performance.

A Special thanks to Dick Brannan, for his gracious contribution to this web page.

Dick Brannan, the pioneer of the original Ford drag team, which was sponsored by Ford, beginning in 1962. Some of the original Drag Team drivers were Gas Ronda, Les Ritchey, Mickey Thompson, Phil Bonner (Warbucks), Ed Martin and Dick Brannan.

Dick Brannan on his way to win over team member Phil Bonner

The first SOHC 427 Mustang after repaint
Shown here driven by Dick Brannan1965

Dick Brannan and the first of two 1964 427 cubic inch Ford Falcons

              Dick Brannan in his Boss 429 Maverick                                   Phil Bonner (Warbucks) in a beautiful Mustang

   
Gas Ronda, looking picture perfect as always                       Les Ritchey posing before doing battle

Special Thanks to FordFlashBack.com 

The "FORD DRAG TEAM" was Ford's factory drag racing team for 1969 and 1970. The team was quite active, running super stock and match races, and giving performance seminars at Ford Dealers. The eastern Team Captain was, the "Georgia Shaker" himself, long-time Ford pilot Hubert Platt. Platt's teammate was Randy Payne. The western Team Captain was Ed Terry partnered with Dick Wood.

       
Special Thanks to FordFlashBack.com

Using two 1969 428 Cobra Jet Torinos and two 1969 428 Cobra Jet Mustangs in Super Stock, and two 1969 Mustang fastbacks equipped with the famous 427 SOHC for match racing, these cars were drag strip terrors. They were painted blue with white hoods and white '69 Boss 302 style stripes and also a flip-flop scheme of white with blue stripes. The match-race SOHC cars also featured a huge Boss 429 style hood scoop, and American Torq-Thrust wheels. Both SOHC Mustangs were converted to 1970-style front end and rear taillamps after the '69 season concluded.

Other Ford drag racing greats!

Dyno Don Nickelson in his Eliminator  I               Dyno Don's Pro Stock Mustang                                           Dyno Don's Comet

 Dyno Don Nicholson passed away January 24, 2006.  He was 78.
Nicholson earned his “Dyno” nickname as one of the first to use  a chassis dyno on his drag car.

Glidden's first race car - '65 427 Galaxie     Glidden's Pinto 351 Cleveland            Glidden in his UNDEFEATED Ford Fairmont!

                                                                                          Glidden in his Ford Probe                                                                       

The 1989 season was Glidden's best. He retired after the first two races in 1997 and came back in 1998 for one race at the U.S. Nationals. Bob won 10 Pro Stock Championships. Glidden gave us Ford race fans something to cheer about for many years.

Wayne Gapp & Jack Rouch (yes - it has four-doors)

Wayne Gapp and Jack Rouch's four door Pro Stock. After they won the world championship, NHRA changed the rules to not allow four door cars. Since the two rear doors were welded closed, it can only be assumed that NHRA was once again trying to stack the deck against the mighty Ford Pro Stocks. Soon after that, Jack Rouch moved to NASCAR, and has been a huge success.

     
Aldon Miller's 1968 Mustang.  Miller was Stock Eliminator National Record Holder in 1989 and 1990. The rolling chassis was purchased from Sonny Hall in 1988. Miller's FE engine building skills, wasted no time obtaining the National Record. (This webmaster owes a great deal of thanks to Aldon Miller for his generous tips in helping me get my 428 assembled to run the way one should run, in my 1968 Torino ).

Yester-year pictures of Jim Waldo's National record holding 1967 427  Fairlane. Waldo piloted the first Stock Eliminator in history into the 10's with a 10.95 @124.82 MPH in 1978 at S.I.R. Waldo has claimed more than 30 National records, and was World Champion in 1987, as pictured above. Not only did Waldo give Ford fans in Washington State a lot to cheer about, but Ford lovers across the nation followed his success.  It would not surprise me if opponents often hoped that Waldo would call-in sick for a race event. :-)

   Of course, we cannot forget about the great Carroll Shelby!  He helped Ford  win again in racing as well as building some of the coolest factory muscle cars ever to be built! From the Shelby Mustang to the Shelby Cobra, Carroll Shelby built performance. God Bless Carroll Shelby!

Here is Shelby, with some Shelby's

A stripped down Mach 1 Mustang being transformed at Kar Kraft into a Boss 429

To compete with the Chrysler Hemi in 1964, Ford secretly developed an overhead cam version of the high-performance FE block, the legendary 427 SOHC. Built by hand and designed for racing, it became known as the Cammer. Hemispherical chambers and overhead cams transformed the 427 into a serious powerplant. Factory ratings were 615 hp @ 7000 rpm with a single 4-barrel, and 657 hp @ 7500 with dual carburetors. The engine weighed 680 pounds.

Update - Jim Green of Jim Green's Speed Center in Lynnwood Washington is having new 427 SOHC heads cast. Combine that with a Shelby block, and you have some big horsepower!