Don Moody
Don Moody began his colorful racing career at the age of 16 in his hometown of Tulsa, Oklahoma, in 1957, in a modified Chevrolet sedan. Later that year he took over the driving chores for Bob Creitz in Bob’s newly built unblown Chevy powered A/Modified fuel roadster. The new combination was an instant success with Moody clocking a 152 MPH and 9.90 ET for a new NHRA class record and running an unblown fuel car. They were allowed to compete in the local top gas events where they won their share of races. In 1959 Don bought an AA/Gas dragster and with Creitz doing the engine work and tuning, the duo set a new NHRA class ET record of 9.75 seconds and 159 MPH. With their local success, the duo decided to head west to compete at the Southern California race tracks. Liking what he saw, in 1960 Don moved to the Los Angeles area and after a brief stint working at a Chevrolet dealership in the area, he went to work at Engle Cams where he spent the rest of his working career.
His first dragster ride after the move to California was in an AA/Gas dragster built by Ron Scrima, owned by Don and Dave Davis, and powered by a Carroll Davis built blown 470 cubic inch Oldsmobile. The car was very competitive, winning top gas at Lions Dragstrip an impressive eight straight weeks but with nitro becoming more popular, the pair wanted to move up the ladder so they teamed with Doc Magan who had a successful record in drag boat racing and supplied the teams blown Keith Black Chrysler on nitro and in November 1962 they won top Eliminator at Pomona, California and set a new track ET record of 7.96 seconds at 187.50 MPH. 1972 was a dream year for the Walton-Cerny-Moody team. With Don handling the driving chores the team won more big meets than any other top name pro-racer/team that year, was the all-time money winner in the class at that time for one season, won the PRA race in Tulsa, Oklahoma, won the NHRA Supernationals in Ontario, California while setting an all-time low ET of 5.91 seconds.
In 1963 Don moved his driving skill to the seat of the Stellings, Graffio & Moody AA/F dragster and promptly won the first NHRA divisional race at Pomona, California they entered with an event low ET of 8.20 seconds. In July 1963, Don left Stellings and Graffio to become part of Zeuschel, Fuller & Moody. The team dominated the class at most of the Southern California race tracks the rest of the season and early 1964. On August 8, 1964 while on a strong run at Lions dragstrip, a heim joint in the steering on Don’s car broke sending him into the fence at the finish line and destroying the car. While Don wasn’t injured badly, with the team low on funds for a new ride, he took some time off from driving to enjoy other pastime hobbies and concentrate on his general managers position at Engle cams.
After an absence of six years, in 1970 Don once again climbed in the driver seat of the top fuel dragster, this time it was the front motor car of Wes Cerny. Don’s first weekend in the car he ran a top speed of 230 MPH with the low ET of 6.37 seconds. In addition to winning on a regular basis, the Cerny and Moody car also held the track speed and ET records at Lions Dragstrip, Orange County Raceway, Irwindale Raceway, and Carlsbad Raceway. Following the new trend, the team switched to a rear engine dragster in late 1971 and promptly turned in and unbelievable 6.35 ET. At the 1972 Winternationals in Pomona, California there was a horrific engine explosion that severely damaged the car and while they did put it back together, they decided to sell it and build a new car.
The new car was “all-new” including the switch to a late-model 426 Chrysler Hemi for power along with several other chassis improvements. The new combination proved to be as reliable as the old combination when they won the first PRA meet in Tulsa, Oklahoma with a 6.21 ET at a 229.00 MPH. Later that same year, Don became the third member of the Cragar Five Second Club when he recorded the low ET at the NHRA Supernationals in Ontario, California of 5.91 seconds while on his way to winning the event. In his own words Don said 1970 was a good year for him and drag racing, he went from 6.37 seconds ET using a 392 Chrysler at the years beginning to 5.91 seconds ET with a 426 Chrysler at the years end. One of the results of his success in 1972 was Don being named as a “Hi-Riser” by Car Craft Magazine in 1973. Don retired from driving for good at the end of 1972.