Altered (drag racing)
Altered is a former National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) drag racing class and a current drag racing chassis configuration that forms the basis of many classes of NHRA Competition Eliminator.
The altered is "[s]ometimes called the poor man's [d]ragster".[1] While the emblematic altered is a short-wheelbase roadster with exposed engine and front frame rails, very similar to the earliest rail dragsters, altereds can be bodied cars also.[2][3]
By definition, altereds were essentially stock
History
The Altered category originated "for cars with moderate changes", according to the rulebook.
Of the early altereds, the #554 A Fuel Coupé (A/FC), a '34
In 1957, NHRA banned nitro in all categories; the American Hot Rod Association (AHRA) still allowed it, and Fuel Dragsters (FD), Hot Roadsters (HR), and Fuel Coupés (FC), in the days before Funny Car, went there instead: it would be Drag News and their Standard 1320 record which christened them Fuel Altereds.[8] AHRA grouped coupés and roasters together, unlike NHRA, under Hot Car Eliminator (HCE). Independent drag strips, not NHRA sanctioned, offered venues for the fuel racers.[8] Smokers Car Club hosted the first U.S. Fuel and Gas Championship at Famoso Raceway in March 1959.[8] Bob Hansen won Top Fuel Eliminator (TFE) in his A/HR, with a speed of 136 mph (219 km/h).[11]
Early in the 1960s, as supercharging proliferated, NHRA added AA/A, BB/A, and CC/A. In 1956, the A/A class record holder, "Jazzy Jim" Nelson's '47 Topolino, was so quick, it would face dragsters in Top Eliminator at the end of meet.[8]
Supercharged A fuel altereds, or AA/FAs, are exemplified by the famous Pure Heaven, Pure Hell, and Rat Trap.[12]
Lynn and Dave Hough, with driver
Moore also drove the AA/FA The Mob, teamed with Phil Miller.[2] The duo created several versions of the supercharged A fuel car, "and were a significant part of the West Coast Fuel Altered scene" in the early 1970s.[2]
This led to an exclusive Fuel Altereds Nationals in Tucson, Arizona, in 1976, attended by the likes of Dave "Nasty" Benjamin and Jimmy West.[2]
Dennis Geisler campaigned the Instant T fuellie, then moved up to Funny Car, driving for a number of owners before fielding his own car in 1978.[2]
Based in Phoenix, Arizona, West ran the Chevrolet-powered Wild Wild West AA/FA; his brother, Johnny, ran a similar car in the middle 1970s.[2]
Leon Fitzgerald and Jack Eskelson collaborated on a '48 Topolino altered, powered by an injected Chevrolet; they would later add a supercharger, leading to a best time of 9.55 at 154.90 mph (249.29 km/h).[12]
Fitzgerald and Eskelson would be joined by R. T. Reed and Richard Rockman, at Fitzgeralds's
There was crossover between classes. For instance, Dan Parker turned a Logghe ex-Funny Car chassis, with a fiberglass reproduction Bantam body, into a B/Econo Altered for racing in Competition Eliminator.[17]
In an effort to tame notoriously bad handling, with cars frequently wheelstanding or sideways,[18] engine-mounted wings were state of the art in the 1960s,[19] appearing on, among others, Yellow Submarine, run by Hunter-Lewis-Perry; driven by Tim Perry, it turned in a best pass of 7.19 at 203 mph (327 km/h).[20]
Altereds were highly popular in the 1960s and 1970s. Despite the popularity of Altereds, NHRA eliminated the Altered Eliminator category in 1972,
A number of altereds drivers retired when NHRA eliminated the class, while others, like Geisler, moved to Funny Car. Some continued to run nostalgia, exhibition, or Competition Eliminator cars, such as Benjamin, who is now an owner.[2]
Named cars
- Beaver Hunter, AA/FA, driven by Henry Harrison[23]
- Climax, AA/FA, driven by Ray Higley[2]
- High Heaven, AA/FA, driven by Cal Jackson[2]
- Instant T, FA, driven by Dennis Geisler[2]
- Lo Blow II, FA, driven by Tom Ferraro[24]
- Magnificent 7, AA/FA, driven by Leroy Chadderton[23]
- The Mob, AA/FA, driven by Ed Moore[2]
- Nanook, AA/FA, driven by Ed Moore[14]
- Pure Heaven, AA/FA, driven by Leon Fitzgerald[12]
- Pure Hell, AA/FA, driven by Dale Emery[12]
- Rat Trap, AA/FA, driven by Butch Pipins[21]
- The Savage, AA/FA, driven by Lee Lebaron[12]
- Walt's Puffer II, A/FA, driven by Walt Knoch, Jr.[7]
- Wild Cherry, A/Econo Altered, driven by Daniel Cyr[2]
- Wild Wild West, AA/FA, driven by Jimmy West[2]
- Winged Express, AA/FA, driven by "Wild Willie" Borsch[2]
- Yellow Submarine, AA/FA, driven by Tim Perry[20]
Notes
- ^ a b c d McClurg, Bob. Diggers, Funnies, Gassers and Altereds: Drag Racing's Golden Age. (CarTech Inc, 2013), p. 44.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Kommel, Dave. "Gallery: The Best of 1970s Drag Racing", written 25 April 2017, at Hot Rod Network (retrieved 22 May 2017)
- ^ McClurg, Diggers, passim.
- ^ Davis, Larry. Gasser Wars (Cartech, 2003), p. 170.
- ^ quoted in McClurg, Diggers, p. 44.
- ^ McClurg, Diggers, p. 44 caption.
- ^ a b Genat, Robert. "1939 Fiat Coupe Altered", written 21 April 2010, at Hot Rod Magazine online (retrieved 22 May 2017)
- ^ a b c d e f McClurg, Diggers, p. 46.
- ^ a b c McClurg, Diggers, p. 46 caption.
- ^ McClurg, Diggers, p. 45 caption.
- ^ McClurg, Diggers, p. 46. McClurg does not mention his e.t.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k McClurg, Bob. "Pure Heaven: The Life and Fast Times of Fuel Altered Pioneer Leon Fitzgerald", written 14 March 2017, at Hot Rod Network (retrieved 22 May 2017)
- ^ a b c White, Danny. "Fuel Altered Files Part 2", written 14 May 2009 at Draglist.com (retrieved 10 June 2017)
- ^ a b c d McClurg, Diggers, p. 52.
- ^ a b c McClurg, Diggers, p. 67 caption.
- ^ Graves, Chris. "The Story of the Hall Brother's Fuel Altered Racer", written 25 June 2016, at Hot Rod Network (retrieved 14 June 2017)
- ^ Hill, Jim. "How the Logghe Family Changed the Face of the Funny Car Class in Drag Racing", written 21 April 2017 at Hot Rod Network (retrieved 14 June 2017)
- ^ McClurg, Diggers, p. 50.
- ^ McClurg, Diggers, p. 58 caption.
- ^ a b McClurg, Diggers, p. 58.
- ^ a b Thacker, Tony. "Rat Trap – 50 Years of Craziness", written 2 December 2016, at Goodguys.com [permanent dead link] (retrieved 19 June 2017)
- ^ "Fuel Altered Dragster Runs 4-Second, 300-MPH Quarter-Mile, Sets World Records". 31 March 2021.
- ^ a b McClurg, Diggers, p. 49 caption & p. 50.
- ^ McClurg, Diggers, p. 56 caption.
Sources
- McClurg, Bob. Diggers, Funnies, Gassers and Altereds: Drag Racing's Golden Age. North Branch, MN: CarTech Inc, 2013.
Further reading
- Montgomery, Don. Those Wild Fuel Altereds: Drag Racing in the Sixties. Don Montgomery Publishing, 1997.