Eddie Hill
It could be said that Eddie Hill has had drag three racing careers. The first began in 1956 when he mounted a stock Oldsmobile engine on a Model T frame to compete in the Open Gas class at a little drag strip, in East Texas, reaching 106 mph. In 1957, he built his innovative Pontiac gas dragster, which he modestly called “the hottest unblown gasser on earth”! With a blower, the car ran a best of 8.84 ET and won Top Gas honors at the 1959 AHRA Nationals. Eddie then built an awesome twin Pontiac for slick dragster that literally melted holes in the starting line at the 1961 Indy Nationals. A series of fuel dragsters followed and a severe engine fire in 1966 ended career number one. Hill would race motorcycles through 1974, when he attended his first drag boat race; 30 days later he owned a race boat. He became the most famous drag boat racer in the country, winning several season championships. On September 5, 1982, Hill turned 229 mph, placing him in the Guinness Book of World Records as the driver of the fastest propeller driven boat. In October 1984, a 217 mph crash seriously injured Hill and brought career number two to a close. The next spring, Eddie and his wife Ercie, bought a used dragster and installed their salvaged boat engine and went back to pavement. By the 1986 Gatornationals, the last boat motor was used up, and Hill was ready to quit. Ercie took a burned piston to Gene Snow and explain their plight. Snow sold them and engine and offered a baseline tune-up. At the next race, they beat Snow with his own used engine and were on their way. Eddie and Ercie struggled as privateers slowly working their way toward the front of the pack. On April 9, 1988, with a Super Shops sponsorship, they made their mark in drag racing history at the IHRA Texas Nationals when Eddie clocked a sizzling 4.990 ET. Proving the first under five second run was no fluke, Hill made more four second runs, than any other driver, that year with a best of 4.93 ET and a win at the NHRA Supernationals. It all came together in 1993 when the Pennzoil backed “Nuclear Banana” one a record-tying six national events. In 1993 at the age of 57 Eddie Hill became the oldest NHRA Top Fuel Champion history.