Dick LaHaie
Dick LaHaie was another drag racer who got an early start in the sport. In 1955 at the age of 13, Dick landed a job that allowed him to start saving for his dream. Just three years later Dick’s dream came true when he became the proud owner of his first car, a 1948 Mercury coupe. The car equipped with a standard flathead engine, but within three months it was replaced with an Old’s V8.
Dick wasn’t a person who had someone else doing his work for him, either. He built his own A-frames and did his own wiring and other modifications to make the car quicker and faster. At age 16, Dick was well on his way to learning how to make his cars more competitive and by doing his own work at a more affordable cost. After about a year, the Mercury was replaced with a 1950 Ford coupe that he was soon racing on the street. Wanting to go quicker and faster, he replaced the engine in the 1950 with a GrandCor 296 cubic inch flathead. Next came a 1953 Ford coupe into which he dropped a 270 HP Corvette engine and a four-speed gearbox. The car was very quick and fast and is the vehicle that took him from street racing to organize drag racing. In 1959, Central Michigan Dragway opened its doors, and in his first effort, the 17-year-old notched his first win in E/Gas class at a speed of 110 MPH and an ET of 14.35 seconds.
In 1960 Dick bought a 1955 Olds and promptly set a new national record in I/SA. Dick was what is considered by anyone’s standards a very active racer. He raced the Olds at Detroit Dragway on Tuesday, and Friday nights, US 131 on Saturdays, and on Sundays at Anondaga Dragway. During one stretch, Dick one at those tracks 14 weeks straight. His next ride was an Olds-powered 1951 Henry J that he competed with in 1961 in 1962. At about this time, LaHaie hooked up with two racers who would significantly change his life, Noah Canfield and Charlie Johnson. Canfield and Johnson campaigned the Glass Chariot AA/Modified fuel roadster throughout the Midwest, and when Johnson couldn’t be at the races, LaHaie filled in as the driver. When the Canfield and Johnson team moved up to top fuel in 1964, Dick was well aware of the car’s popularity, so he took over the operation on his own and had his first full time blown and injected nitro powered ride. It was with this car that LaHaie made his first bid for national recognition when he challenged Gabby Bleeker and his roadster for a spot on the Drag News Junior Eliminator list. Bleeker failed show for the race, so Dick owned the spot. Next, he challenged the holder of the number one spot, the Heidelberg team. This ended with mixed emotions for Dick; he easily beat them on the first round but broke the engine and was unable to make the other two required rounds. However later that same year Dick took the number one spot away from them and retain the title until the class was discontinued a year later.
In 1966 Dick again join forces with Canfield and Johnson, this time with a newly built top fuel dragster. The group had an outstanding season, winning 11 weeks in a row at different tracks, but at the end of the season Johnson elected to retire, leaving LaHaie on his own again. One of Dick’s first moves was to join the UDRA so he would be able to compete on the Midwest circuit against the best names in the sport. The move was a good one for Dick as he won circuit titles in 1970, 1973, in 1976. During this period Dick himself built all of the cars he raceed, starting with front motor dragsters, and in 1971 building his first rear engine car. In fact, Dick built all of his own cars up to and including his 1984 car. One of the reasons Dick built his own cars was simple matter of economics; he was a racer with a very small budget, and this was another way to make it go farther, plus his designs were very competitive.
Drag racing has not always been kind to Dick. In 1975 while debuting a new car at the Gatornationals in Gainesville Florida the throttle stuck open, and despite all his efforts to stop the car safely, he wound up crashing into some trees. Dick’s left hand torn off his right arm broken in two places but fortune did smile on him in the form of a group of medically trained Vietnam veterans who were in Gainesville teaching limb replacement, and they were able to surgically reattach his hand. Dick hired John Thomas to drive for him while he recovered, but he was back in the car at US 13 Dragstrip just a week before the US Nationals in Indy. On his third qualifying run at Indy, a combination of a front wing that was built wrong and the front wheels hitting the wheel bearings caused the car to crash just past finish line. This time Dick lost a toe and broke his right arm again. Just a month later, Dick decided he wanted to continue racing, and Marv Rifchin of M&H Tires cut him a check for the new car. By April 1976, the new car was completed, and Dick was again competing.
In 1980 at the Summernationals, Dick won his first national event by beating Jeb Allen in the final round, and the following year he was the NHRA Eastern Region Top Fuel Champion. In 1982 three significant things happened: he debuted a new car at the Winternationals and won, daughter Kim debuted as his crew chief at the US Nationals, and he sold his business to become a full-time professional racer.
Dick’s performance never let up. In 1985 he won the Gatornationals, and in 1986 he reached six finals, winning two of them. In 1987 Dick landed a sponsorship with Miller Brewing Company and teamed up with Larry Minor to win his first Winston top fuel crown, winning a total five national events along the way. In 1991 Dick retired from driving, and while he never believed he could become a crew chief, in 1993 Connie Kalitta changed that thought when he hired Dick to wrench son Scott’s car. The team became nearly unstoppable, finishing second to Eddie Hill for the Winston crown in 1993 and winning it in 1994 in 1995. Since then Dick has been instrumental in furthering the careers of Doug Kalitta, and Larry Dixon. 2002 Dick LaHaye won the Winston top fuel crown for the fourth time as either a driver-crew chief.