Allen “Lefty” Mudersbach
Lefty Mudersbach’s first drag racing experience came at Santa Ana in 1954 driving an 85 mile-per-hour ’41 Ford. His name first became known to drag racing fans when the car he constructed in his native Phoenix, “The Money Oldsmobile Special”, took Buddy Sampson to the Top Eliminator win at the 1957 NHRA Nationals in Oklahoma City. Soon thereafter, he moved to the Los Angeles area and from chassis of the Money Olds built a dragster of his own, powered by twin Chevy power plants mounted nose to tail in line. The cars unique torsion bar front suspension helped the car gain traction and predictable consistency. At the height of the “fuel ban”, the Herbert and Mudersbach twin was a powerful factor on Southern California drag racing scene. At the 1961 US Fuel and Gas Championships in Bakersfield, Lefty took the Top Gas Eliminator honors at 8.50 seconds and 179 mph, then went on to defeat Ewell and Stecker unblown fueler for overall Top Eliminator honors. Later that year at the AHRA Nationals in Green Valley, Texas, lefty set top speed on gas and finished runner-up to Ed Garlits for Top Gas Eliminator. In 1962, turning to fuel, Lefty held both ends of the AHRA AA/Fuel record at 8.54 seconds and 185.18 mph. His car wored so well and was so consistent that he began manufacturing drag racing chassis by popular demand. Outstanding cars such as Manuel Gonzalez’s Californian I and II machines, and the Warden and Cole fuel roadster used Lefty’s Speed Shop Equipment. After retiring twin and splitting from Herbert, Lefty drove a lightweight single Chevy fueler. He loved to race so much that the 1964 Bakersfield March Meet program identified him as the driver “who has probably taken more rides down the quarter-mile than anyone else in the sport”. Lefty lost his life in a crash at the AHRA Winternationals at Irwindale Raceway in 1966.