Sid Waterman
Sid launched his racing career on opening day in 1959 at the Fremont Dragstrip in Northern California. He drove his 1955 MG powered by a small block Chevrolet. Shortly thereafter, Sid became a crewmember for the legendary Masters & Richter top fuel dragster. In 1960, Sid built and drove his own top fuel car. He quickly realized that he really preferred building and tuning the cars, and leaving the driving to others. After moving to Southern California in 1961, he turned the driving chores over to Ronnie Goodsell. Waterman and Goodsell considered themselves to be “West Coast” racers, and collected more than their fair share of wins. Sid’s next driver was Ronnie Martin who unfortunately crashed the car in 1964 and wound up with a broken leg. As soon as the car was rebuilt, Sid put Ronnie Hampshire in the driver seat, where he remained for the duration.
Sid was working with Mickey Thompson in 1967, and trying to campaign his dragster as often as possible. It was shortly after the 1967 Bakersfield Smokers March Meet that SId was offered, with Mickey’s blessing, the opportunity to buy out a complete engine shop that was sitting idle at the time. Sid jumped on the opportunity, immediately retiring from active competition, and Waterman Racing Engines opened its doors.
Over the next few years, Sid’s shop turned out engines and components for numerous champions such as Don Garlits, Shirley Muldowney, Bob Glidden, and a host of others. Sid ultimately developed his own brand of aluminum connecting rods, as well as his own line of superchargers for hard-core racers. It was during his engine building years that Sid realized the tremendous need the racing world had for really high-quality fuel pumps and fuel system components. In 1979, Sid in his always supportive wife, Judy, sold the engine building portion of the business, moved back to his native Northern California, and set up a new shop dedicated to development and production of state-of-the-art fuel pumps, and related fuel delivery systems products.
The first commercial fuel pumps design and built by Sid were delivered in September 1982; one to Billy Meyer and one to Gary back. Both cars set new elapsed time records at Baylands Raceway that very same weekend. Over the years, Sid has developed new port nozzle designs, fuel safety shutoff valves, improved fuel cells for NASCAR and a multitude of other products that have provided extra power and safety for racers. His efforts have not been confined to just drag racing either, as he earned a strong reputation in all forms of circle track racing including world of outlaw sprint cars, NASCAR stock cars, IRL Indy cars, USAC champ cars, sprint cars, midgets, and many other forms of racing. He’s readily acknowledged as being the leading fuel system manufacturer in the business.
Even while keeping a close eye on his fuel component business, for many years Sid found the time to work as a color commentator at NHRA national events, sharing many interesting insights with spectators and viewers. In 1975 Sid received the Car Craft Magazine All-Star Drag Racing Team Engine Builder of the Year Award, and in 1984 he received Car Craft Magazine’s first All-Star Drag Racing Team Special Manufacturers Award for fuel pump development. That was followed in 1986 with yet another special manufacturer’s award for his supercharger burst panel. In 2004 Sid was honored, this time by USAC, when he was presented with the prestigious CNA Jack O’Neill Award for his significant contributions to auto racing safety. Today Sid divides his work time between his shop in Gualala, California, and his satellite shops in Indianapolis, Indiana and Concorde, North Carolina. He continues develop products that provide racers increased power, while always keeping safety foremost in mind.