2010

Lucas Oil Products logo with flags.

Event Sponsor Lucas Oil Products Held on Thursday March 11, 2010 Hilton University of Florida
Conference Center, Gainesville, Florida.

Smiling man with glasses and mustache.

Greg Sharp
Founder’s Award

Greg Sharp has been described by several magazines as the “go to guy for data on the history of street riding and drag racing”. When it comes to knowing the history of our sport and having written documentation and photos to back up his knowledge, Greg is the man. Greg’s love affair with hot rodding began when he was a highly curious “car crazy” 12-year-old who devoured the pocket-size enthusiast magazines of the 1950s. Absorbing their contents like a sponge, he has since become an expert on the history of hot rodding and virtually all forms of motorsports.

Beginning in the early 1970s, Greg used his storehouse of knowledge to write hundreds of magazine articles ranging from the history of “America’s Most Beautiful Roadsters” to pieces on historic Indy cars, and personality profiles from AJ Foyt to George Barris. Over the years, Greg developed the ability to identify people, places, and cars in vintage photographs and even negatives. He possesses an extensive collection of historic hot rod and custom car photography and has thereby assisted in the restoration of numerous historical hot rods and racecars.

Greg isn’t just another historian either, he is a participant. In 1969 Greg joined the LA Roadsters driving a 1929 roadster pickup he had all owned for over three decades. In 1971 fellow Roadsters member Dick’s Scritchfield invited him to go to Bonneville. He was lucky enough to drive the roadster on his first visit to the salt and qualified it with record runs at 166.97 MPH. He had the privilege of being asked to announce the Bonneville Nationals in 1972 and 1973; and was there for the 25th anniversary meet, getting to know many of his idols. He was inducted into the Dry Lakes Racing Hall of Fame as Historian of the Year in 2006.

Greg displayed his roadster at the Grand National (Oakland) Roadster Show in 1971, and after showing four years was asked to become a judge. He became and ISCA Official and Judging Supervisor for over 10 years, and help select America’s Most Beautiful Roadster at Oakland. In 1989, Greg began acting as emcee and historian for the Grand National Roadster Show and was inducted into its Hall of Fame in 1993.

After serving for 28 years as a motorcycle officer with the LAPD, Greg retired in 1995 and became director of the NHRA Historical Services. There, he played a key role in the formation of the Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum and has served as curator since it opened to the public in April, 1998. Working hand-in-hand with International Drag Racing Hall of Fame members, he helped to locate vehicles and produce the wealth of background information that makes visiting the museum and educational and enjoyable. Many of his personal photos and artifacts are on display including rare race programs dating before the 1920s.

He has served as event director of the California Hot Rod Reunion since the mid-1990s and is credited with the term “cackle fast” after Steve Gibbs created the concept that has become such a major part of historic drag racing activity. Greg particularly enjoys honoring racers who think they were forgotten as soon as they walked away from competing in the motorsport’s world. This is one of the reasons Greg was willing to become a selector for the International Drag Racing Hall of Fame when asked by Don Garlits to do so. Greg says, “It’s so easy to say nice things about someone after they’re gone, but they don’t get to hear it. At the Hall of Fame induction ceremonies and the reunions, most of them do get to hear it and realize how much of an impact they had on so many people. We’ve seen some pretty tough, old racers get emotional when they are reminded of their earlier contributions”. He’s also very proud of the fact that the museum and the reunions have led directly to the unearthing and restoration of so many historic vehicles, as well as reuniting drivers and crews connecting with them. When asked about the best part of his job, he simply says, “It’s great to be friends with your heroes”.

Man standing among several trophies.

Bobby Warren

In the mid-1950s Bobby Warren was busy working on his tobacco farm in North Carolina and competing at some of the local race tracks that were beginning to pop up around his hometown. Bobby usually went out with his friend Earl Smith who did the driving Friday and Saturday nights them Bobby would take over the driver seat on Sunday. In those days they were competing in what was termed Junior Stock with Bobby later changing over to a Camaro as he pursued the national championship. However, by the late 1960s he decided that competing on the local tracks for trophies really wasn’t enough and he began pursuing his passion by following the NHRA’s Division II circuit in a quest for the regional championship. He also began attending select national events where he started appearing more and more in the winner’s circle. At his racing involvement grew, Bobby converted an old tobacco barn on the farm into a completely self-sufficient machine shop.

In the 1970s Bobby’s dream of greater things came true when he became NHRA’s Stock World Champion by winning the World Finals in Dallas Texas. In 1974 Bobby annexed his second national championship by winning the Super Stock Championship at the World Finals that was followed in 1978 by third Super Stock Championship crown. Bobby’s win record from the mid-1960s through the late 1970s was literally unbelievable. Probably his most successful season was in 1978 when he drove the “Krunchy Chicken” Camaro to victory at the Summernationals, Sportsnationals, Mile High Nationals, World Finals, and one the $15,000 Grace Sportsman Cup that signified the most successful sportsmen racer in the nation. As of 1983, Bobby had been in 13 NHRA final rounds and had won 12 of them. Odds are he would have taken the 13th one as well but he lost the final round at the US Nationals in Indy where it was later discovered someone had poured syrup in his gas tank prior to the final round.

By that time Bobby had given up on farming completely to open and operate a very successful race engine shop and parts store. After the syrup incident in Indy, Bobby decided it was time for an extended vacation so he turned the engine shop over to his sons, bought a motorhome and set out to see North America. Seeing North America through the windshield of a motorhome can only be fun for so long and after an enjoyable hiatus from the super stock wars, Bobby returned. Much to the sorrow of his competitors, Bobby’s winning ways were still intact and in 2004 he showed the “kids” how it is done by winning the NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals in Bristol Tennessee. That day his grandson, Joel, got to see two memorable things, it was his first time to see grandpa when a national event and the win that day made Bobby at 69 years old, the oldest competitor ever to win a national event.

Man using a machine tool in a workshop.

Robert (Bob) Stange

Robert Stange learned welding in high school and went to work as a professional welder upon graduating. While working as a welder Bob began working with the company machinist and soon mastered the trade as well. At the same time, Bob began competing at nearby Union Grove Raceway in a 1950 Ford coupe gradually modifying it as time and money permitted. While he loved competing at the races it wasn’t long before the friends, he made at the racetrack had him working on their cars. While still working days at his welding job, Bob turned his home garage into a small welding/machine/repair shop. This was okay for short time but business was good so he soon moved into his first “official” business, Stange Machine and Engineering, located in a 2000 square-foot building close to home.

In the beginning, word of mouth was enough to keep him busy but he also realized that in order to grow he would have to expand his advertising efforts into the more traditional forms so he decided to put together a series of print ads. Thinking Stange Machine and Engineering was a spelling mistake; a copy editor at the printers changed the name to Strange Machine and Engineering (later shortened to Strange Engineering) which has stayed with the company throughout the years.

By the late 1960s Bob had pioneered such products as custom-built axles capable of delivering the power level of that day to the wheels without breaking. He also introduced the C-Clip Eliminator that eliminated the c-clips used to hold the axles of GM products in place. These were the beginning of a steady flow of new, unique, and superior products from Strange Engineering over the years. At the 1973 NHRA Winternationals, 14 of the 16 funny car qualifiers were equipped with Strange parts.

By the late 1970s, the power being produced by the fuel-burning cars were destroying the rear and assemblies of most of the cars so Bob developed his Top Loader Live Axle rear end assembly, which is the standard of the industry today. Bob has not confined his expertise to just fuel-burning race cars and drag racing but supplies equipment for sportsmen racers, circle track racers, LSR cars, off-road racers, and street vehicles.

Bob has also been very generous to the racers over the years providing free parts to some racers, sponsorship money to others, and contingency money for various classes over the years. He has also maintained a hospitality area at many of the races were competitors and others have the opportunity to grab a bite to eat or something to drink and relax for a while.

Bob and his company have also been recognized over the years by the news media for both its abilities and innovations and the outstanding products the company produces. The company has been selected as Manufacturer of the Year several times by various publications, Bob was the recipient of the Car Craft Magazine Ollie Award, given to the person who has contributed significantly to the sport of drag racing throughout their career, and was selected as Car Craft Magazine Hi-Riser in 1973. Bob is still very actively involved with his company and the sport, producing new parts and pieces, appearing at the races and shows with his hospitality bus and one of the contributors helping The Golden Greek, Chris Karamesines continue racing completely at 80+ years old.

Man in sunglasses wearing a leather jacket.

Bill Simpson

Bill is a native Southern Californian, growing up in the heart of the hot Rod world at that time. By 1955 at the age of 15, Bill was earning his way working in an upholstery factory looking for his next move. It was about this time that Bill’s good friend, Dennis Aphes, took him to his first drag race and he was hooked. Bill bought a 1940 Ford coupe and went street racing. From street racing in his coupe, Bill soon graduated into driving a dragster at the local drag strips. At that time the driver uniform of the day was jeans, leather jacket, and any kind of a helmet that fit; so safety wasn’t a priority. In 1958 the brake handle on Bill’s dragster broke off after a hard pass and he wound up crashing at the end of the strip breaking both arms. While he was healing Bill decided it was time to come up with a better way to stop these cars and started researching how to do this best. His uncle owned a war surplus store and knew some people he thought might be of help so he put Bill in touch with a parachute expert who suggested this might be the answer to the stopping problem. At that time, the chutes being sold at the surplus stores were bulky and unreliable for use on the race car so Bill proceeded to rent a sewing machine, learn how to use it correctly, and after studying a rigging manual he set about assembling his first cross formed drag chute. The chutes quickly became popular with the drivers and shortly after his humble beginning Bill started receiving so much business, he officially opened the doors of Simpson Drag Chutes. The success of the parachute business prompted Bill to set out to provide the drivers with the greatest amount of safety equipment possible. The next step was to design and produce driving gloves than seatbelts and shoes. By this time Bill had outgrown his two-car garage and moved into larger quarters where he began designing and producing fire suits from NASA’s latest temperature resistant material, Nomex. To prove the value of the Nomex material, in an unprecedented marketing move Bill proceeded set his Nomex covered arm on fire on the starting line of Indianapolis Motor Speedway in front of the gathering of news media people. His promotion worked and by opening day of the 1967 Indy 500, the majority of the starting field drivers were suited up in Bill’s Nomex fire suits. Nomex has proven to be the right material for the job. Even with the success he enjoyed over the years Bill has never lost his dream of producing even better driver safety equipment, including helmets, undergarments, etc.

As most people know, Bill has never limited his safety equipment to anyone form of racing. Drivers in every form of the sport, from NASCAR, drag racing, boat racing, off-road racing, Formula One, etc. are protected by bills equipment.

The same diversity has applied to Bill’s racing career. He has been very involved in the competition side of racing having owned and driven dragsters, owned and driven SCCA Road Race cars, and owned and driven Indy cars including a 13-place finish in the 1974 Indy 500. So, he truly has a firsthand knowledge of what the drivers needs are, safety, and just as important comfort. Bill retired from racing in the cars in the mid-1970s to focus his efforts on expanding his business and develop more new products. People worldwide acknowledges success as an owner/driver but it will always be his designing and production of safety equipment that will highlight his career.

Unfortunately, the 1980s saw a ration of frivolous lawsuits that took their toll on Bill and cost him a lot of time, money, and generated a lot of emotional stress. A few years later after rebuilding the business back into an even greater success he sold it and concentrated on developing real estate. Retirement from the safety equipment arena didn’t satisfy Bill’s desire to continue developing newer and better equipment so he started his newest effort, Impact Racing, and is busy finding ways to keep the drivers and crews even safer. What’s next, impact absorbing helmets and vests or more heat resistant materials? No one can answer that question but it sure the bet that Bill was going to find the answer before long and make racing even safer for its competitors.

Man with glasses standing in front of vehicle.

Jim Read

Early on Jim decided to become a plumber but he was also fascinated with racing, especially drag racing, and in 1966 he completed building a car to compete at Castlereagh Dragway in Sydney in the modified sedan class. Jim won the first race he entered and was hooked by the feeling that came with that win. Like most racers, it didn’t take long for Jim to want to go quicker and faster so he moved up from the modified sedan ranks into a junior fuel dragster followed by a top fuel dragster and a fuel funny car.

By 1974 Jim was competing as a full-time professional drag racer; that year he became the Aussie Top Fuel Champion. That same year Jim had the privilege of successfully competing against his hero from the states, Don Garlits. In the coming years Jim would continue to successfully compete against most of the touring USA racers including Gary Beck, Jeb Allen, Jon force, Marvin Graham to name a few along with New Zealand champion Garth Hogan.

At the Australian Nationals in 1976, Jim was the first drag racer to not only compete in both top fuel dragster and funny car classes, but to win them both at the event. Since then Jim has gone on to win over 300 titles including 17 Australian Championships. In 1974 Jim was able to put together a sponsorship package with Rothman’s of Pall Mall Tobacco Company under the Chesterfield banner (later changed to Winfield) that sponsorship lasted for 21 years until the Australian government passed legislation in 1995 banning tobacco sponsorships for automobile racing.

In 1979 Jim purchased the Good, Bad & Ugly top fuel dragster and began traveling to the USA more and more. These trips allowed him to build many long-lasting friendships, learn more about what the racers here were doing and benefit from a lot of the experience they were compiling. 1982 saw Jim fulfill a long-time dream, he entered the NHRA Winternationals in Pomona. Competing in a borrowed car and on a very limited budget he became the first Australian to qualify at an NHRA event in a top fuel dragster with a 5.69 ET. Jim won his final top fuel event as a driver at the June 2004 Australian Winternationals retiring from driving shortly after that.

In 1981 he was honored as the only motorsport competitor to receive an Advanced Australia Ambassador Award and in 2000 Jim was awarded an Order of Australia from the Australian Prime Minister for his dedication to his field of motor sport and received the Australian Sports Metal from her Majesty Queen Elisabeth II. Jim is currently awaiting his second entry into the Guinness Book of Records for the longest sponsorship firstly with Rothman’s of Pall Mall (Chesterfield and Winfield) and Wynn’s Australia for over 43 years of continuous sponsorship.

Jim’s love and involvement with the sport expanded even further when in 2004 he was able to return championship drag racing back to Sydney, after seven years, by negotiating with the New South Wales government to construct a purpose built drag racing venue in Sydney, Western Sydney International Dragway where he is still the chairman of the board. He is also still very active on the racing side as the owner of his family owned and operated Jim Read Racing Top Fuel 2 car team with his son Phil driving one car. Jim’s other son, Bruce, is the crew chief of the team. So far, this new team has produced three Australian Top Fuel Championships 2006, 2007, and 2008 missing out in 2009.

Man with short hair smiling outdoors.

Dickie Harrell 1932-1971

Dickie Harrell was one of the early professional drag racers in the 1960s and early 1970s, who had enjoyed a lot of success as a mechanic, crew chief, and driver of Chevrolet race cars. Dick was born in Phoenix Arizona but his family moved to Carlsbad New Mexico when he was five years old and that was home until 1965. Cars were very big part of Dick’s world even in his early years and by the time he was 14 he was deeply involved with sprint cars. It was here he learned to work on cars and develop his tuning skills and by the age of 17 he was driving stock cars on the dirt circuit.

At age 18, Dick joined the U.S. Army for a three-year stint where he worked on aircraft engines and airframes for light aircraft. Dick was deployed to Korea for much of his service time and it was there he was awarded the National Defense Service Medal, Good Conduct Medal, United Nations Service Medal, and the Korean Service Medal. Upon receiving his discharge, Dick returned to his love of cars and racing and was soon competing on the local drag strips. Like most racers of the time, Dick worked at one job during the week and on the weekends campaigned his 1956 Chevy as far away as Texas.

In 1961, Dick began to travel across the Southwest, racing a factory backed Chevrolet, winning most of the events he entered in. This was his final amateur year as he won every regional race in a three-state area of the Southwest. In 1962, Dick began his first tour as a pro, competing against most of the “name drivers” at the national events and in match races. These were not only some of the best drivers, but many had backing of the Detroit automobile manufacturers. In 1962, still driving his Chevrolet, Dick Harrell became the NHRA point champion in the Super Stock Class.

Driving a 409-ZII super stock Chevrolet in 1963, Dick won the Super Stock Eliminator class at the AHRA Winternationals. Later that year he set the AHRA Sportsman Class speed record at 118.57 MPH. This was the first of many speed records Dick would set during his career. This was also the year the factories would begin introducing their exotic cars, using aluminum bodies, supra engines, and large amounts of factory backing. By this time, Dick success as a driver in both NHRA and AHRA drag racing events, his devotion to Chevrolet, even without factory backing, earned him the nickname “Mr. Chevrolet”.

In 1964, Ford was really bearing down on competition with the 427 Ford Fairlane “Thunderbolt”. And Chrysler introduced the 426 Hemi in the lightweight Savoy. To combat these cars, Dick installed a 427 Z-II Chevrolet engine in a Chevelle body and was soon back in the winner’s circle. By 1965, Ford and Chrysler were really into the super stock wars and about this same time, Chevrolet withdrew all factory backing for racing and Dick was one of the very few drivers to continue campaigning his Chevrolet.

By 1966, Dick was being hailed as one of the sport’s top attractions, and considered to be among the top stock-car drivers of that day. His driving style also earned him many nicknames such as “Quick Dick”, “Mr. Reflexes”, but “Mr. Chevrolet” was the one that stayed with him. Besides his actual racing, he began designing engines and cars for Nickey Chevrolet in Chicago. Dick was instrumental in designing and overseeing the production of a line of Nickey Chevrolet modified street cars including the installation of the first 427 engine into a Camaro to be sold as a dealer option. Later Dick would perform the same duties for the Yenko Chevrolet, becoming one of the pioneers in developing “special dealer option vehicles”.

Also, by this time the new funny car era was beginning to escalate with large engines being installed in small, but heavenly modified cars. These cars often had altered wheelbases to get better weight transfer, the use of injection and nitromethane for more power, and eventually the addition of superchargers. This fit Dick’s idea of always looking for greater performance and he soon was campaigning his own Camaro funny car. By 1960 Dick had moved his own shop to Kansas City where he would modify Camaros and Chevelle’s by installing modified big block engines and special suspension packages for both street and strip use. These vehicles were sold through authorized Chevrolet dealers across the nation. All of this activity took a toll on the time he could spend with his family; Dick was a true competitor and continued to pursue his love of racing and winning ways. Dick was named the AHRA Driver of the Year in 1969 tuning and driving a fuel funny car and later was named Driver of the Decade. In September 1971 Dick lost his life in a racing accident in Canada and while he may be physically gone, he will never be forgotten.

Smiling man in racing suit, black and white.

Leroy Goldstein

Leroy was typical of the early drag racer. He loved cars and speed so while still in his teens he bought his first car and started modifying and showing up at the local street races. Also typical of the times, Leroy soon moved his racing participation off the street onto the local drag strips. By the mid-1960s he was part of a San Diego California based two-car top fuel dragster team whose other driver was Jim Nicoll. At that time, it seemed that all of the drivers had to have a nickname and Leroy was soon dubbed the “Israeli Rocket”. Between his nickname and his driving ability, Leroy was soon getting a lot of national attention in the racing newspapers and magazines.

In 1969 Leroy got his really big break when the Michigan-based Ramchargers organization signed him to drive their top fuel dragster. The team was an immediate success winning the AHRA Winternationals and Springnationals followed by runner-up slot at the AHRA US Open and World Points Final that year. That same year Leroy posted a best time of 220.04 MPH and a 6.55 second ET while on his way to winning the prestigious Smokers Meet at New York National Speedway. The respect his fellow racers showed him was also reflected when he was initiated into the elite fraternity of fuel racers known as the “Greek Fleet” that was headed up by Chris Karamesines. Unfortunately, at the end of the season the Ramchargers chose to suspend their participation with top fuel dragsters and go funny car racing. Once again Leroy showed his driving talents by becoming one of the prime targets for the rest of the funny car competitors. Leroy and the Ramchargers were featured in all of the major open events and when time allowed followed the match race circuit. In 1970 Leroy recorded his first six second pass in a funny car with a 6.95 ET at New York National Speedway. By the end of his driving stint in the Ramchargers funny car he recorded several 6.80 ETs and drop the record at the time to a low of 6.71 ET. Leroy has also been given credit by many in the sport as being the first funny car driver to exceed the 220 MPH mark. The Ramchargers and Leroy parted company in 1972 and Leroy wound up driving for one of the other top-ranked teams at the time, Candies and Hughes.

His stint with Candies and Hughes really fit Leroy’s ideal of the perfect driving job since he drove both the team’s funny car and its top fuel dragster. Although they seldom ran both cars in competition at the same race, they did so at the IHRA Longhorn Nationals where Leroy drove the dragster to the winner’s circle and then rushed back to the starting line and drove the funny car to the runner-up position. Leroy continued to drive for Candies and Hughes through the 1972 season. 1972 was also successful for the team on the AHRA circuit where they one that years AHRA Championship crown. In 1973 they did a lot of match racing and competed successfully on the NHRA circuit with one of the more memorable races being the Summernationals in Englishtown, New Jersey. Besides winning the race what made it such a memorable event was the fact that it rained all day with the first round of eliminations starting at midnight and the final round just as the sun was coming up. After he left Candies and Hughes he drove as a fill-in driver for a couple of teams; but by the mid-1970s Leroy was experiencing some health issues and after driving the Mr. Ed/Whipple funny car a couple times he decided to retire completely.

Elderly man smiling in formal attire.

Jack Engle

Jon Harrison Engle, better known as Jack, was born in Canada but his family moved to Southern California very shortly after his birth so he could be considered a native Californian by most people. From a very early age Jack had an intense curiosity for all things mechanical leading him to build everything from go carts to motorized bicycles. For Christmas one year he received a drill press which suited him perfectly and a gift that was the basis for his future career in the performance business.

Jack purchased his first car while still in high school and was soon modifying it for greater performance. Growing up in the Santa Monica, California area, Jack was soon hanging out with people who would become real pioneers of the sport. His friends included such notables as Stuart Hilborn, Frank Coon, and Jim Travers. Around this time Jack joined a local car club, the Low Flyers, and began competing against his rivals at the various dry lake meets in the area. His first camshaft came from Edwin Winfield’s shop which was installed in a centrifugally supercharged, four-cylinder “B” Ford engine that was further enhanced with a Cragar had and shoehorned into a Model A Ford highboy roadster. This combination powered Jack’s roadster to a top speed of 113 MPH. Unfortunately, one week after this impressive run, World War II was launched.

Shortly after the beginning of the war, Jack got a job at North American Aviation where he worked in the prototype machine shop and where he learned to use blueprints and a mill to produce finished aircraft parts. While he enjoyed his job and what he was learning, like most young men at the time Jack wanted to be a part of the war effort so he joined the Navy. Before long, his mechanical skills were recognized and Jack was sent to the Packard Marine Engine tech school. After graduating from Packard, Jack became an engine man on a PT boat repair ship where he further honed his mechanical skills.

After the war Jack open and engine machine shop in the back of his dad’s service station where he rebuilt and modified engines for the locals. Before long he built his first cam grinding machine and began experimenting with the various combinations for greater performance. After the war and throughout the 1950s and 1960s the hot rod craze continued to grow as did Jack’s business and before long he moved into a larger facility with more equipment greater growth potential.

During the time of the infamous “cam wars” when all the cam grinders were promoting their latest victory in weekly ads, Jack’s clients were finding victory circle on a regular basis but a lot of the racers were being paid by other cam manufacturers to display their decal on their cars; so there was also a lot of confusion regarding whose cam was actually being used.

Jack Engle could have easily been the model for the “quiet man”. He did not waive his own flag, didn’t want to turn his business over someone to run and didn’t want his photo and every weekly newspaper. What he really wanted and accomplished was to produce quality parts that actually worked and be left alone to do this. The list of racers who won using his camshafts ranged from the Snake and the Mongoose to Don Moody, Tommy Ivo, Beebe and Mulligan, and most of the other legends of that time. Engle cams also provided the boost that triggered the VW powered entry into so many areas of racing from off-road to drag racing and from midgets to airplanes. Jack was a true pioneer of the sport in a major contributor to its growth by providing the necessary parts to make the cars run faster and more consistently.

Man sitting outdoors with long hair.

John Buttera

Jon Buttera grew up in Kenosha Wisconsin which wasn’t exactly a hot bed for hot rodding but at a very early age he started pouring through Hot Rod Magazine and Speed to learn what the rest of the world was building and driving. In high school John was probably best known to his fellow students for his hand-built Model A sedan. Even then Jon was becoming a self-taught craftsman, designing and building parts and pieces on a very limited budget. John worked his way through school as a bartender including the period while he was attending and graduating from KTI in 1963 with a degree in Mechanical Design and did a short stint at Outboard Marine and later Snap On Tools. Although they recognized his enormous talent, John didn’t have the patience for bureaucracy and couldn’t see himself spending his life in that type of situation and needed to move on.

John had first met Dennis Rollain in 1956 while Dennis was busy building street rods and racecars in his home garage. Dennis was aware of the Model A John had built and was impressed with the craftsmanship that had gone into it. During this time the pair completed a 1937 Ford fuel coupe in time to compete at the Kansas City Nationals where they finished as runner-up their first time out. While the pair was truly the “odd couple” Dennis being gentle and laid-back and John the innovator and fire starter, they continue to successfully raise the 1937. In 1963 John began building his first dragster in his mother’s garage at night but about halfway through the project he realized he needed help so he called Dennis and shortly thereafter R&B Automotive was born. During this time, they both continue to work at their regular day jobs but at night they were fabricating roll cages, traction bars, and various other parts. September 1964 was when they took a deposit for the first complete chassis and started their trip into drag racing history.

By 1965 they had completed a junior fuel dragster an AA/FD and to see how competitive their creations where they took the junior fuel car to California where the car proved to be very competitive. During the latter part of the 1965 in 1966 they work mainly on Angelina Gasser’s, T Bucket roadsters, and altered’s but by the close of 1966 they had teamed up with Ron Pellegrini of Fiberglass LTD. Who was supplying a lot of the bodies for funny cars and secured enough business to quit their day jobs and devote full time to the chassis shop. The pair-built cars for such notables as Don Schumacher, Mr. Norm, and Arnie Beswick their reputation continued to grow. They were also turning out AA/FD cars for the likes of Tom Hoover and Marvin Schwartz to round out their business.

Throughout this time John was also handling some of the driving chores but in 1966 he took the ride of his life when his funny car went airborne and was totaled. After healing from the experience John stayed with designing and building everything from wheels to “trick parts” to compete cars. During the summer of 1965 John worked on a Formula One crew for John Cannon. Cannon began referring to him as Little John so everyone would know which John was being referred to and the Little John handle became part of his name from that point on

After the success R&B was having during these years it was inevitable that John would move on to bigger things and in 1969, he met with one of his heroes, Mickey Thompson. Mickey offered John a job working on his land speed car and shortly after John left for California with his top fuel car hanging out of the back of his Chevy panel truck. At Mickey’s, John teamed up with Pat Foster to help complete and the land speed car, build several funny cars, and design and build several innovative new parts for better performance.

1970 was the year John decided to open the doors to a new chassis shop and, with John’s attention to detail, he first tried to name it “Little John’s Place” but didn’t think that looked right so it became “Li’l John’s Place” and after that he was always known and referred to by all as Lil Jon. As soon as the doors open, John began to immediately produce AA/FD dragsters and funny cars for such teams as Brasket & Burgin, Don Schumacher, Don Prudhomme, Tom McEwen, and Barry Setzer. During this time John also won the coveted Car Craft Magazine All-Star Drag Racing Team Funny Car Chassis Builder Award four years in a row and the All-Star Drag Racing All-Star Team Top Fuel Chassis Builder Award. Even during the time when John was building some of the top race cars, he never turned his back on building some of the top street rods and street machines to grace the pages of the enthusiast magazines. One of John’s best friends was the street rod guru at Hot Rod Magazine, Gary Baskerville, the two of them could talk about street rods forever. The results of many of their conversations found their way onto the magazine pages after John would take one of their ideas and make it into a real car.

In 1983 John realized his number one dream. With a lot of help and support from his many hot rod/drag racing friends, John built his own Chevy powered Indy car and with Dennis Firestone at the wheel they finished the race in 27th place. John returned to the Brickyard again in 1984 and took one last shot at it in 1987. They didn’t see the winner’s circle at the end of the 1987 race but did qualify 8th and John took the Clint Bronner Mechanics Award home with him. Competing at Indy was truly among John’s most treasured memories.

When John decided to retire from the chassis building business, he turned his talents to designing and prototyping various products for many of the industry’s top companies. He moved into Boyd Coddington’s facility for a while where he designed several new wheels and billet street rod parts. After that he worked on special projects for several speed equipment manufacturers and worked with Harley-Davidson to design and develop a new look within the motorcycle arena. John was so completely dedicated to his work and ideals that most people never really understood him but everyone who knew him agreed on three things: you always knew what he thought about any subject, he was totally honest, and he was the consummate craftsman. A little-known fact about John was that he didn’t just build cars, he built a few motorcycles and in between building cars, bikes and creating new parts. In 1978 he received his pilot’s license. Like everything else in his life, John learned everything possible about how an airplane worked, how it was built, and at one point was even considering attempting to build one. Lil John Buttera was a “one-of-a-kind” person even in our sport.