2005 NHRA Motorsports Museum
3rd Annual Racing Memorabilia Auction
Hot Rod Reunion Honorees Names
February 11-12, 2005
Sent In By: Bill Groak

Bidding Fast on History

Third annual racing memorabilia auction at Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum tallies more than $20,000; Mickey Thompson’s rare mini dragster sold for $3,500

POMONA, Calif. (Feb. 11, 2005) - The action was fast and furious and the competition fierce to win.  No, it wasn't a drag race, but the racing memorabilia auction Thursday night at the Wally Parks Motorsports Museum, presented by the Automobile Club of Southern California, where the pedal was definitely to the metal!  A lively crowd bid on 110 items in just under three hours, bringing in more than $20,000 to help support the programs and exhibitions at the popular museum. 

“We really want to thank all the bidders at the auction,” said Sam Jackson, Executive Director of the Parks Museum. “Thanks also to our auctioneers and to those who have generously donated memorabilia, this annual auction allows the Museum to continue to preserve motorsports’ legacy.”
With Dave McClelland giving the history of each item and three super-energetic volunteer auctioneers from Ken Porter Auctions – Justin Holmberg, Mark Coulter and Charlie Yarrish – who could talk faster than a Funny Car burning down the strip, the crowd was whipped into a semi-frenzy, and the items hotly contested. The bidding atmosphere was fun to watch and/or participate in. 
The highlight was the Mickey Thompson mini dragster which sold for $3,500. A Lions Drag Strip jacket from the early 1960s, once owned by Jim Nelson, was authenticated by Bob Frye and John Ewald before being auctioned off for $1,525.  Other highlights included a framed display of more than 200 event pins donated by Cal-Rods’ Vic Cunningham that went for $375, a divisional “Wally” Award that sold for $400 and an event poster from the 1993 California Hot Rod Reunion, autographed by the Honorees from that year, that sold for $475.
Tons of autographed vintage race jackets, hats, posters and banners were up for grabs, as well as trophies, photographs, Hot Wheels cars and other hard-to-find collectibles. The auction was part of the events surrounding the CarQuest Auto Parts Winternationals at nearby Pomona Raceway.

A Photo Of Bill Groak And The Extra Cool 1965 Original Hurst Racing Jacket I Won At The Museum Auction		C. J. "Pappy" Hart's autographed jacket.
Framed set of photos of the original members of the NHRA Safety Safari, autorgraphed by the four members of the team and NHRA founder Wally Parks.		January, 1951 issue of Hot Rod Magazine
Original jacket from Lion's Drag Strip		Lion's Drag Strip program from the U.S. Professional Dragster Championship in 1968
Set of six glasses from the 1969 U.S. Nationals at Indianapolis Raceway Park		Commemorative issue of National Dragster from Wally Parks' 90th birthday - autographed by Wally Parks

2005 California Hot Rod Reunion Honorees Named at Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum

POMONA, Calif. (Feb.12, 2005) - Drag racing legends Leon Fitzgerald, Dave Wallace and Dale Armstrong were amoung those on hand Friday night as the Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum, presented by the Automobile Club of Southern California, announced the Honorees for the 14th Annual NHRA California Hot Rod Reunion.  Armstrong was named Grand Marshal for the event.  Fitzgerald, Wallace, Dick Landy, Shirley Shahan, Bill Simpson and Dave Uyehara will be those honored at the event.  Tie votes by the selection panel meant that six persons will be honored rather than the normal five. 

The Night of Champions brings together racing fans with some of the drivers competing at the nearby Pomona Raceway in the CarQuest Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals (Feb. 10-13) and past champions of the event. It’s just one more example of the Museum’s “living history” project, said Sam Jackson, executive director of the Parks Museum, which is presented by the Automobile Club of Southern California.

Grand Marshal Dale Armstrong won twelve NHRA National events with a series of alcohol-burning dragsters, altereds and funny cars during the 1970s.  But the 1975 Winston Pro Comp champ and former Funny Car National Record Holder is perhaps best known for his mechanical prowess. As crew chief for Kenny Bernstein, he tuned the Budweiser King to four NHRA Funny Car Championships in the 1980s as well as Kenny’s first 300-mph pass in 1992 at Gainesville. His driving career dates back to the early 1960s in his native Canada and he was named Number Ten on NHRA’s all-time Top 50 Drivers list during NHRA’s 50^th Anniversary season in 2000.  Best known as the driver of the famous Pure Heavan Fuel Altered, one of the first racers to successfully use the big block Chevrolet, Leon Fitzgerald was part of the National Fuel Altered Tour in the latee 1960s and early 70s that included Leroy Chadderton in the Magnificent 7, the Marcellus and Borsch Winged Express, Henry Harrison in Nolan and Pritchard’s Beaver Hunter and Don Green’s Rat Trap and introduced the exciting Fuel Altereds to fans all across the country.

Although he started his drag racing career in Fords, from the early ‘60s through the mid-‘70s, Dick Landy’s name was synonymous with Mopar. He was a pioneer in the days of altered wheelbase factory experimentals that led directly to the current Funny Cars. When Landy reached 196 mph on fuel, Chrysler Product Planning decided they’d seen enough and set up a series of Performance Clinics at showrooms throughout the country. Landy was selected as the Dodge representative.  In 1967 alone, Landy conducted more than 70 clinics for 50,000 people in 29 states. Landy made a great many friends for Mopar and raced as many as seven different cars in a single season. In the early ‘70s, he helped pioneer the Pro Stock category.

When Shirley Shahan won Stock Eliminator at the ’66 Winternationals, she became the first woman to win an Eliminator title at an NHRA National event.  This pioneering effort made it possible for her to become one of the sport’s first female professional racers.  She began her career racing a ’58 Chevy and won the Super Stock class at the first Bakersfield March Meet in 1959.  In 1965, with some backing from Chrysler, she and then-husband H. L. Shahan bought a Plymouth Super Stocker.  A Plymouth public relations man came up with the Drag-On-Lady title that stuck throughout her career.  She toured the country for four years, running both Super Stock and injected match races.  In 1969 she was offered a factory AMC Super Stock and eventually a Pro Stock when the class was created.

Bill Simpson began his drag racing career with an injected fuel dragster and began manufacturing drag chutes in his garage in Redondo Beach as a second job to supplement his job at the movie studios.  The demand for his products became so great that he expanded his business to include fire suits, seat belts and other safety equipment. By the 1970s he was able to live a lifelong dream racing Indy cars. It was at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway that he performed his famous publicity stunt by setting himself on fire while wearing one of his own suits. He eventually became the largest manufacturer of safety equipment in the industry before selling his company and forming a new one called Impact Racing.  Over the last four decades, Simpson’s products have literally saved hundreds of racers in all forms of the sport from serious injury or worse.

Dave Uyehara has been a drag racer in Northern California for over forty years. Teamed with Frank Martinez, he began his career in a Jr. Fuel dragster in the mid-‘60s.  Since then he has driven and built countless dragster and funny car chassis and in the late ‘80s he was one of the most prominent chassis builders in the sport with a long list of customers including Eddie Hill. Today, his Nostalgia Top Fuel cars are the standard of the sport.

In the 1950s, Dave Wallace Sr. took a second job at San Fernando Drag Strip to help raise his growing family and supplement his income as a postal worker. His love of the sport led to his becoming a track reporter for Drag News as well as honing his photography skills.  A photo he took in the early ‘60s survived to win an award in the Leslie Lovett Memorial Photo Contest at the 2002 California Hot Rod Reunion. His son, Dave Jr., has continued the tradition started by his father, reporting on drag racing himself for nearly four decades.

The 14^th annual NHRA California Hot Rod Reunion, presented by the Automobile Club of Southern California, annually attracts thousands of hot rod enthusiasts to Kern County to honor the pioneers of the sport. The honorees speak at a Friday night reception and receive the “Wally Award” at ceremonies on historic Famoso Raceway.

Named for the founder of the National Hot Rod Association, the Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum presented by the Automobile Club of Southern California houses the very roots of hot rodding. Scores of famous vehicles spanning American motorsports history are on display, including winning cars representing 50 years of drag racing, dry lakes and salt-flat racers, oval track challengers and exhibits describing their colorful backgrounds.

Two potential bidders check out the memorabilia before the auction starts		During the night of champions, Mousie Marcellus waves to acknowledge his introduction.
Not everything was auctioned. The crowd at the gift counter purchased meerchandise to help support the Museum.		Legendary crew chief and driver Dale Armstrong was all smiles after being named Grand Marshal for the 2005 NHRA California Hot Rod Reunion during ceremonies on Friday's Night of Champions.
Larry Dixon Jr. and his family were interested attendees at the Museum's Memorabilia Auction.		Leon Fitzgerald, Dave Wallace Sr., and Dale Armstrong were in attendance during ceremonies naming them as Honorees for the 2005 14th Annual NHRA California Hot Rod Reunion presented by the Automobile Club of Southern California.
Museum Board Member Steve Gibbs (l), racing legend Mousie Marcellus and motorsports artist Kenny Youngblood during the Night of Champions.		Museum Board Member Steve Gibbs (l) and motorsports artist Kenny Youngblood during the Night of Champions.
"TV" Tom Ivo signs a replica of his car for a fan who purchased it from the Museum's gift shop on the Night of Champions.		Just some of the memorabilia auctioned on Thursday at the Museum.
A rare 1971 "Eliminator" Jacket		Auctioneers from Ken Porter Auctions exhort the crowd to bid on memorabilia
This Edelbrock bar stool was signed by attendees at January's Panel Discussion, including Wally Parks, Vic Edelbrock Jr., Ed Pink, Alex Xydias and Ed Iskenderian. It was auctioned on Thursday night.		The statue of the NHRA Champion's Trophy has been moved back to give more room in the Hall of Champions at the Museum
Leon Fitzgerald is interviewed by Bob Frey during the Night of Champions		A Close Up of Leon Fitzgerald and Bob Frey.
Drag racing photographer Dave Wallace Sr. is interviewed by NHRA Announcer Bob Frey on the occasion of being named as an Honoree for the California Hot Rod Reunion.		This collection of more than 200 event pins was auctioned on Thursday night.
NHRA Announcer Bob Frey interviews Dale Armstrong, Grand Marshal of the 2005 NHRA California Hot Rod Reunion presented by the Automobile Club of Southern California

We would like to thank Bill Groak for sending us the information and pictures from the Pacific Communications Group for the Reunion Honorees and Third Annual Racing Memorabilia Auction that took place at Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum located at Fairplex Gate 1 In Pomona, CA