Wally Booth
Like most other competitors in the sport, Wally got his start in his teenage years but his most visible years were when he headed up the entrance into the sport by American Motors (AMC). He was making a name for himself with his Booth-Arons Chevrolet Camaro pro-stock car but when he got the call from AMC he saw the opportunity it offered for both factory backing and a highly visible effort.
When Wally began the project there was nothing in the way of performance parts available for the AMC’s, they were very boxy and un-aerodynamically designed. Fortunately, AMC did produce some very special blocks for their NASCAR and Trans-Am participation so Wally paired up with cylinder head guru, Dick Maskin, to produce their own reliable heads. AMC gave them part numbers and they went racing. Wally started the AMC program in a Tom Smith built Gremlin X but soon discovered that, while still a box, the Hornet was quicker and faster and in 1973 he debuted an all-new Hornet race car. Along with Maskin and Rich Lamont, the group also had to design their own cams, pistons, rods, and get the various manufacturers to produce them.
The Gainesville, Florida, Gatornationals in 1974 gave Wally his first national event win and actually saved the AMC drag racing program. After that Wally became a part of history when he qualified the AMC number one at the 1975 NHRA US Nationals in Indianapolis, Indiana, and followed up by defeating fellow AMC pro-stock competitor Dave Kanners in the final round of the 1976 NHRA World Finals in Ontario, California. In addition to his 1974 Gatornationals her and the 1976 work final wins, Wally’s overall performance net him a total of five NHRA national event wins that also included: the 1976 Springnationals in Columbus Ohio, the 1976 US Nationals in Indianapolis, Indiana, and the 1976 Fallnationals in Seattle, Washington. Other prominent wins included: the 1976 AHRA Drag Nationals in Kansas City, Kansas, the 1975 Popular Hot Rod Nationals in Martin, Michigan, the IHRA 1975 US Open Nationals in Rockingham, North Carolina, and the 1975 IHRA Winston All-American in Bristol, Tennessee. While he fielded the only AMC race car to ever win in NHRA’s Pro Stock class. In 1976, Super Stock and Drag News wrote, “In the finest drag racing tradition, Wally Booth transformed the unheralded AMC into pro-stock’s most formidable machine”.
While he continued to successfully campaigned the AMCs through 1979; he chose to retire from driving and devote all of his time to his engine building business.