Dyno Don: The Cars and Career of Dyno Don Nicholson
Описание книги
Relive the roar of 'Dyno Don' Nicholson's iconic drag racing cars from Chevrolet, Mercury, and Ford and dive into at his legendary career with the detailed accounts in this book.Nicholson's first wins on a national level were actually in the early 1960s in Chevrolet products. He became extremely successful on the match-race circuit. Then, in 1964, he switched over to Mercury with the new Comet after General Motors enacted a factory ban on racing activities. He won 90 percent of his match races that year. He stuck with Ford and Mercury products and won throughout the 1960s and 1970s, even after Ford also pulled the plug on factory team sponsorship. He made it to the final rounds in nearly 50 national events during that period, in addition to winning championships, awards, and match races along the way. Drivers often became associated with a particular manufacturer, such as Chevy, Ford, or Chrysler through sponsorship, factory team rides, or sometimes simply their own preference. The more successful drivers became household names in the drag racing community. Chevy had Grumpy Jenkins, Pontiac had Arnie 'the Farmer' Beswick, Mopar had Sox & Martin and Dandy Dick Landy, and Ford's most successful driver of the era was the legendary 'Dyno Don' Nicholson.If you are a fan of a certain era of racing, a Ford fan, or certainly a 'Dyno Don' fan, this book will be a welcome addition to your library.
Оглавление
Doug Boyce. Dyno Don: The Cars and Career of Dyno Don Nicholson
Contents
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
INTRODUCTION
CHAPTER 1. BIRTH OF A LEGEND (1927–1961)
CHAPTER 2. A BEVY OF CHEVYS (1961–1963)
1961
1962
1963
CHAPTER 3. MERCURY RISING (1964–1965)
1964
1965
CHAPTER 4. DYNO SOARS (1966–1968)
1966
1967
1968
CHAPTER 5. HEADS UP (1969–1973)
1969 and 1970
1971
1972
1973
CHAPTER 6. MUSTANG COUNTRY (1974–1977)
1974 Mustang II (1974–1975)
1976 Mustang II (1976–1977)
1977
CHAPTER 7. FOXY BODIES (1978–1981)
1978 Fairmont
1979–1980
Into 1981 . .
CHAPTER 8. IT’S IN THE BLOOD (1983–2001)
1983–1984
1985
1988–2001
1998–1999
CHAPTER 9. THE LEGEND LIVES
Dyno’s Ongoing Popularity
Dyno’s Final Shows
Dyno Don, A Man to Remember
In Memoriam
Appendix
Index
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
R
S
T
U
V
W
Y
Отрывок из книги
Without a doubt, first and foremost on the list of acknowledgements is the Nicholson family. Specifically I’d like to give a big thanks to Don’s daughter Cindy, his granddaughter and probably his biggest fan Candace, his nephew Richard, and Richard’s son, Don. They each contributed in numerous ways and their input added immensely to the finished work. I was able to spend some quality time with the Nicholsons and I have to say, they truly are special people. They’re the type who invite you into their lives and immediately make you feel part of the family. They graciously shared their family history, which allows us all a glimpse of a side of Don that most of us never knew. I am eternally grateful to them for the hospitality shown while welcoming me into their lives.
A special thanks has to go out to Bob Frey. Bob spent 46 years announcing a countless number of NHRA-IHRA races, but facts be known, Bob is also quite the drag race historian. It seemed no matter what question I threw at him, and trust me there were a lot of them, he was there with a well-researched answer. Bob has been a tremendous help through a number of past projects of mine and I can’t thank him enough for his ongoing support. Equally, John Jodauga, long with the National Dragster has been an ongoing contributor to my work. When he heard I had a Dyno Don book in the works, he immediately stepped up and offered to assist in any way he could. Thanks once again, John.
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A nice shot of the Impala’s suspension at work as Don launches off the line at Detroit. Dyno set track records wherever he went. At Cecil County in June, he did the trick, turning an 11.83 while defeating Bud Faubel’s 1963 Plymouth in a best-of-five match race. His biggest win with the 1963 came at Daytona, where at the NASCAR Winternationals Don won overall Stock. (Photo Courtesy Robert Genat)
Don stated the best combination he ever had was the 1962 Bel Air with all the Z11 parts. “It was 421-ci with a .060-over bore and step seal rings. The car was quicker than the 1963 Impala. With the aluminum front end, it was probably close to the same weight.” After the Nationals in 1963, Don went back to the Bel Air. He had lent the Bel Air to a gentleman who worked for him, Richard Broome, later of NASCAR, who was racing the car in North Carolina. “It definitely ran better than the ‘63 and I ran it for the rest of the year.” The Impala was sold and, sadly, rolled sometime in 1964. The owner was running the car on a loose, unsanctioned track outside of Atlanta when the incident happened.
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