Arkansas Speed
September/22/2011 01:33
Look at what showed up in my inbox. This mean looking 1960's slingshot dragster was raced by Arkansan O.D. Brazil, and it seems a replica may well be in the works.
But information on recreating this car will have to wait till a bit later. As it is, I received this photo via e-mail and just had to share it now because it just looks too cool for words with it's black paint, chute pack tail and four hole injector scoop on top of a 392 Chrysler Hemi. A premium example of mid 1960's dragster technology.
O.D. Brazil was the strip manager at Carlise Drag-O-Way in Arkansas from it's earliest days until Bill & Lee Taylor became involved. He also raced various altereds and later, this top fuel car. The ex-SAC airstrip at Carlise that became a drag strip was located in the middle of a rice field just off what is now Interstate 40. It opened in 1955, making it one of the older places to race anywhere in the mid-south. By the time I attended the Arkansas State Championships there in the early part of the 1970's, it was a verifiable time warp. No grandstands, no guard rails, and all timing and announcing equipment was temporary. They just packed everything up and went home when the racing was done. Today, I look back at that time and place as the last gasp of what organized drag racing was. Before the sponsor suites and 18-wheel trailers changed everything.
Also note the trailer in the background of this photo. An altered chassis, and two identical sets of dragster pipes were hauled out to Carlise on that particular day by the late John Albright, a noted Memphis chassis builder and Memphis Rodders member from the beginning. Looks like an ideal way to get serious about drag racing some 45 years ago.
I'll try to get some more info on the car and why it's making the rounds via e-mail with a future update. Meanwhile, look at this one for a long while. There's a lot more to see here than meets the eye.
LK