St. Vital's own Doug Curtis and traditional 4 speed, inline 6 powered Anglia gasser

Donnie Chapman re-thinks the decision NOT to run wheelie bars

prior to his Super Stockers, Reg Wood ran this fine Bantam inline altered

and got there in style

we admit defeat on particulars of the early T bird Ken Murray's Willys Thrushmobile is the blur in the far lane

the very pretty and very competitive injected digger of Brian Hansell, Don Sherwin and Bill Balicky
how competitive you ask?
that competitive
Bill Balicky, Don Sherwin and Brian Hansell receiving accolades from NHRA Division 5 Director, Darrel Zimmerman

Brian Hansell and a typical wheels up launch

mainstays in Midwestern fuel competition the well respected Bill Schifsky (left) and "Doc" Halladay while being of, uh... unique personality was not a necessity to play with fuel cars it certainly didn't hurt witness the chrome roll cage and outrageous plummage on Doc's helmet
there once was a time when images such as this defined the term fuel dragster
still do, for some of us

speaking of midwestern fuel cars... ladies and gentlemen Tom Hooovaahhh ! that has every appearance of Schifsky / Halladay in the far lane another great Richard Wood image

June 19, 1968 issue of local publication, Youthbeat, was of particular interest to drag racers
not only did it contain a series of excellent articles pertaining to the upcoming Nationals but this front page inset showed a better image of Doc Halladay's headwear

the issue also ran several ads from local racing related businesses
Russ and Norm Martin of City Radiator being a good example a later version shown below Martin Bros and Wilson's '59 Chev was an excellent example of a scienced Jr. Stocker



Penner Dodge Chrysler's Youthbeat ad featuring Gary Davlut

Gary Davlut's Canadian Nationals pure stock eliminator winning Dodge Dart in near lane

Wheelspin clipping courtesy of Jim L'Esperance

another Youthbeat ad with Selkirk Motor's Al Delaine

many thanks to Rick Delaine for opening up the family album

photo courtesy of Rick Delaine

a common sight ...    Al Delaine (foreground) taking on John Dubois

John Dubois and Towne Pontiac scored this full page ad

Queen of the Canadian Nationals, Nancy MacDonald shows the boys how it's done with L/SA Ranchero clipping courtesy of Jim L'Esperance

helping out when help was needed

1969 Can-Am Nationals E/PS class winner, Allan Toews

Denis Cheslock's N/Stock Ranchero at the 1969 Canadian Nationals photo courtesy of Jim L'Esperance

Jim L'Esperance, himself, with 428 Cobra Jet G/Stock Ranchero at the same event

a novel approach, the following images from Jim L'Esperance originated as slides projected on a wall, video taped, then photographed off TV screen with the resulting prints being scanned


Eastern Canada's Scott Wilson with locals Dave Williams' Javelin and Johnny K's Frustration Falcon, respectively

John Kulshiski was another popular local competitor with his high rpm small block Ford

Woody's Performance Centre offered support in the pits

early laptop?

meanwhile, back at the shop, even the Chevelles were frustrating Woody's Performance Centre photos courtesy of Tom Tallman

got patch?

Bill Wakeman pulled the levers on this rather unique '62 Plymouth car had all the trappings of a traditional 60's gasser with tube front axle and engine setback and yes, to answer the popular question... it had a Hemi in it photo courtesy of Bill Wakeman

Bob Buckingham's "Just Beautiful" E/Modified Production '55 Willys triple carbed 292" inline 6 with a 4 speed ran 3 tenths off record on first pass photo courtesy of Rick Delaine

not your average '65 Comet Jim Melsted's 427 Hi-Riser powered fiberglass bodied B/FXer photo courtesy of Rick Delaine

Dennis Chyborak's Mopar stocker

a rare color offering from Richard Wood of Towne Pontiac's relatively short lived '69 Firebird

Towne Pontiac also supplied the track with 2 similar Beaumonts for promotional purposes media types, contest winners, and the like, were usually at the controls cars were mild small blocks with dress up items and custom paint work photo doesn't show it well, but there was a lot of lace work and fogging involved it wouldn't surprise us if Bob Swanky was the painter of record