Darrell G. Zimmerman
When Darrell wasn’t chasing girls, he was terrorizing the streets in his ’36 Ford Coupe. In 1955 Darrell attended the first national event in Great Bend, Kansas, and has attended all 52 U.S. Nationals. His first venture into the racing world was in a 1951 Ford. His first dragster was the Al & Zim’s Special – a little D dragster that they built in their garage. The Hopper was another D dragster that he built with his dad in the garage on the family farm. His favorite endeavor would have been piloting the Dragmaster 1 Thing, an A dragster he purchased because of safety. In his 7-year racing career (1954-61) he won 178 trophies, including awards for class and top eliminator, as well as numerous car show honors. In Darrell’s yearbook his classmates’ prophecy was that he would set the racing world on fire by setting many records. He did – 27 track records. So, some predictions do come true. While still in high school, Darrelll organized the Ram Rodders, a club devoted to customizing vehicles. During the late ’40s he helped from various car clubs to get racing off the streets and onto the drag strips. His career with the National Hot Rod Association began in 1957 when Barbara Parks appointed him the regional advisor for the Plains. In ’58 he became the acting Division Director, and in ’60 he became a full-time employee for NHRA. Since he couldn’t be a racer and an official at the same time, his career as a drag racer ended in ’61. Darrell was always safety-conscious, so one of his first assignments at national events was to direct the emergency crew. During his career as the Division 5 Director for the Land of the High and Mighty, Darrell help design and build 27 drag strips. He also served on the NHRA Rules Committee (1957-1995), seeing many changes as drag racing changed with the times. He was part of the group who wrote the first Rule Book. Darrell retired from NHRA in December 1995 after 35 years and continues to work at the national events as a consultant. He’s the one in the tower with the headphones on and a cigar. And to use Darrell’s closing, “Yours for a bigger, better, and safer sport.”