NHRA reacted quickly to the accident, immediately mandating the installation of titanium plating to fully enclose the upper portion of the rollcage. In addition the deflector plate-an aluminum, steel, or titanium plate mounted on the back of the rollcage uprights to protect the driver in the event of a supercharger drive system failure-will be dramatically enlarged to provide more driver security. The teams were given two weeks to make the changes, which had to be in place prior to the Mopar Parts Mile-High Nationals in Denver in mid-July.
Russell, who's survived by his wife, Julie, and parents, Burnell and Gwen, was a young man with diverse interests including being an accomplished guitarist. He appeared to have an unlimited future in motorsports, and was clearly the kind of quality, well-spoken young man that drag racing needs more of. When drag racing referred to its young guns, Russell's name was at the top of the list.-Jon Asher
Carbonated Chevelle
In the scheme of things, the '74 Chevy Chevelle Laguna was not a landmark body style. But for legendary NASCAR driver Bobby Allison, the '74 model year will be remembered as one of his quickest Grand National cars of all time. Having driven the Chevelle to the checkered flag a year earlier as a '73 model at the Riverside Raceway event, Bobby entered the '74 season with great expectations. While Allison was not to win a single race in 1974, finishing Second several times, the car was extremely fast in qualifying but engine problems plagued it throughout the season.
As with many race cars, at the end of the year the car was sold and passed through plenty of hands before Bill Tower located it in Gastonia, North Carolina, in very poor condition. The engine was gone and the back rear sail panel of the car was damaged beyond repair, but the rest of the original body remained. Bill, a NASCAR car collector and former Chevrolet engineer, set about returning the car to its original glory and enlisted the help of Steve Mirabelli to restore the body and apply the paint. Tower, a resourceful man with great understanding of all things Chevy, owned an original prototype 427ci NASCAR engine from his days with Chevrolet, and since '74 was the last year of the 427ci engine displacement, the two seemed destined for each other. Working with original photos of the car in race-ready condition and his own personal memories, he revitalized the car to better than original.
Tower's effort to restore the Allison car is not his first. Currently his stable includes not only this classic Coca-Cola car but three mid-'80s Monte Carlo-bodied Winston Cup cars including a Harry Gant Skoal Bandit, a Tim Richmond Folgers machine, and the crown jewel of the collection, the real Dale Earnhardt Wrangler high bank "Pass in the Grass" race car. A member of the development team that created the original Aero-coupe Monte Carlos, Tower's fondness for that vintage of NASCAR machinery is apparent as you walk among his cars in his Florida-based shop. Wanna race?
High-Speed Art
Scott Teeters is a time machine artist. His drawings take you back to a time when front-engined Top Fuelers blazed their way down the dragstrip and when men like Bill "Grumpy" Jenkins, Butch Leal "The California Flash," and "Jungle" Jim Liberman created drag racing legends. Images are what keep these men and their exploits alive, and Scott Teeters' Detroit Iron Motorhead Shop captures these moments with over 235 prints, videos, T-shirts, and more. You can find all this memorabilia at www.precision-illustration.com. This particular 11x17-inch pen-and-ink drawing is called "Slingshot Shutdown" depicting a Hemi-powered front-engined dragster with its chute out coming down from another 1,320-foot blast.