Al Eckstrand
Hired by Chrysler Corporation soon after his graduation from law school in 1955, Al Eckstrand quickly gravitated to a young group of performance-oriented engineers who drag raced every weekend. The group later became known as the RamChargers. His interest in promoting Chrysler products led to the personal endorsement of BJ Nichols, Chrysler VP of Corporate Sales,who sponsored Al’s racing efforts from 1960 to 1962. After several class wins at the NHRA Nationals, Eckstrand drove the RamChargers’ Dodge to a Top Stock win at the 1963 Winternationals, the first major eliminator victory by a Chrysler doorslamer in NHRA competition and the first one for Chrysler’s MaxWedge and Torqueflite package. After finishing runner-up with his own “Loman”, ’63 Dodge at the 1963 Nationalsto the car he drove at Pomona, Eckstrand raced Plymouths in Super Stock and A/FX in 1964. The following year he joined forces with Plymouth’s Golden Commandos team as co-driver of its injected altered wheelbase A/FX machine. After becoming aware that American servicemen returning home had little comprehension of the latest developments in high performance, he lobbied to perform exhibition runs for military personnel overseas. He took street Hemis to Europe and performed exhibitions, which the military billed as save driving promotions. Enlisting the assistance of Ford Motor Company in 1969, Al toured US Armed Forces basis around the world with a pair of supercharged Mustangs. Following his final tour in 1972, Eckstrand received numerous meritorious awards from the US Marines, Department of Defense, and US Department of Transportation for the promotion of safe driving to more than 250,000 US military personnel overseas.