Читать книгу Dyno Don: The Cars and Career of Dyno Don Nicholson - Doug Boyce - Страница 7

Look up the word legendary in the Oxford English Dictionary and you will read, “Remarkable enough to be famous; very well known.” When it comes to Don Nicholson, the man and the impact he had on the sport of drag racing, he definitely fits the bill. What made him remarkable? To begin with, his number of drag racing firsts is unmatched. As a small sample, he had the first Funny Car in the 7s, the first Pro Stock in the 7s, and reportedly the first unblown door car faster than 150 mph. A diverse racer, Don is just one of two people to have made a final-round appearance in six different drag race categories. He’s been there in Funny Car, Pro Stock, Super Eliminator, Street Eliminator, Comp Eliminator, and Stock. And unlike most racers who have a difficult enough time winning with one brand of automobile, Don did it in Chevrolets, Fords, and Mercurys. The man was always a threat regardless of the category he chose to run or the car he chose to race.

If those stats aren’t remarkable enough for you, during drag racing’s golden era, his track record and overall popularity saw sanctioning bodies and numerous publications vote him Funny Car Driver of the Year in 1965, 1966, 1967, and 1968. Don was the first racer to have a nationwide fan club, a club created during the early days of Funny Car. He was so popular that drag racing promoters voted him their number one draw.

With the birth of Pro Stock in 1970, Don led the charge for Ford, winning AHRA, IHRA, and NHRA World Championships in 1972, 1975, and 1977. These feats made Don just one of three Pro Stock competitors to have ever won world championships in all three sanctioning bodies; the other two are Ronnie Sox and Lee Shepherd. Even though Don’s number of national event wins is quite impressive, he always seemed to gravitate toward match racing, where, throughout his career, he maintained a slightly greater than 90-percent win record. Not an easy feat considering that in the early days he faced guys including Arnie Beswick, “Jungle” Jim, and Gary Dyer. I grew up with the Dyno Don of the 1970s; he’s the one who gave fits to guys such as Bill “Grumpy” Jenkins, Sox & Martin, and Dick Landy.

Don’s track record, from the dry lakes of the 1940s through the quarter-mile in the 2000s, was as remarkable as the man himself. A real champion to the underdog, he was genuine and generous to a fault. As you read this book, it will be easy to see that the sport of drag racing just wouldn’t have been the same without the prowess and personality of the legendary man they called “Dyno” Don.