A Tribute to a Drag Racing Legend - Presented by...
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A Tribute to a Drag Racing Legend - Presented by... |
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"Yes, 32 dragster drivers could not be wrong. They knew that the practicality of running a AA/Fuel Altered is really an exercise in the-"square-peg-in-a-round-hole" theorem, with a co-efficent of the "bigger hammer" principle. In other words, when you shoehorn a nitro-guzzling supercharged Chrysler motor betwixt a few pieces of exhaust tubing masquerading as a chassis, especially one with a real short wheelbase, you are asking for trouble. There are some basic laws of torque and Newtonian physic that must at least be acknowledged--regardless of the mounting of a giant airfoil in hopes of piledriving enough downforce to make this monstrosity go straight. Due to the short wheelbase, there is a whole lot of horsepower with no place to go--except approximately 45 degrees stage right. Then you add a stiff-necked Borsch to the equation, which is definitely tantamount to throwing gasoline into the fire. In fact, the popular platitude murmured in the cheap seats (in those days they were all cheap seats) to describe a one of his stereotypical, non-linear excursions down the 1320 was this: "Willie has to drive half a mile in order to go a quarter.".......Words and Story by: Cole Coonce.
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" Marcellus tells of Borsch's affliction with narcolepsy. Because of which, people mistook his drowsiness for laconic abstinences. On more than one occasion, moments before a typical "over-under-sideways-down" pass "Wild Willy" would nod out while strapped into the altered in the staging lanes. Marcellus would
nudge the race car with the push truck, rousing Willy from his slumber. And the time the "Winged Express" qualified for Top Fuel Eliminator at the '69 Winter Nationals, bumping "Big Daddy" Don Garlits out of the show. Before eliminations the remaining 31 dragster shoes called an impromptu drivers meeting, threatening to boycott the event
if they were to race next to Willie. Garlits was reinstated."
