July 2001 featured DTA member.

(note:  this series of eleven stories originally ran in the Denver Timing Association newsletter.  Thank you to the all for this great contribution to hot rodding history.)

Vern joined the Denver Timing Association in the latter part of 1949... the year it was originally formed.  Although he didn’t serve as an officer during the early days, he’s always worked hard behind the scenes.  He’s taken quality pictures and performed many of the tasks required to make the club function and grow.  When the DTA was reactivated in 1999, Vern was elected President.  He has served in that capacity in 1999 and 2000.  In 2001 he is serving as Vice President.  He has spent considerable time and effort to make the DTA the success it enjoys today.

Going back in time:  Vern purchased a new black Olds “98” 2 door sedan in 1949.  He entered this in many hot rod related events during the following years.  At first there were only top speed runs held behind Buckley Air Field which was located east of Denver .  The Colorado State Patrol (CSP as it was known at the time) worked with members of the DTA and actually shut down a section of state highway to time cars!  (Like try getting that done today!)  This type of cooperation was paramount in reducing the increasing number of confrontations between hot rods and the police throughout the city and state by providing a place to race hot rods and see how fast they would go..... legally.  The CSP would stop all traffic on the Buckley Field road to allow several entrants to race one at a time against hand held clocks.  After several cars had run, the CSP would stop the hot rods and re-open the highway. This would permit the accumulated normal traffic to use the highway.  After the backed-up line of traffic had cleared, they would close it down for the next group of racers.  Two way runs were done to help discount any up or down hill sections as well as head or tail winds.  Vern’s Olds turned speeds in the 99-100 mph range consistently.  The fastest it ever ran was 104 mph.  Remember, this was when factory cars seldom exceeded 90 mph at our well-known thin air.  Even though the Olds 98 was heavy by the standards even in those days, it would run faster than many cars with modified engines thanks to the newly introduced overhead valve V8 engine.  Somewhere about 1951 drag racing replaced top end runs for many reasons.  They required less room to race and more races could be run in a single day.  Additionally it was safer due to the reduced speeds.  The CSP also worked with the DTA, and various other Denver clubs, to provide drag strips on portions of the partially completed Valley Highway (now I-25)....  which were not yet opened to the public.  Two areas come t o mind..... one was just south of our infamous “Mouse Trap” and was featured in the two major Denver newspapers at the time.  Another was from Evans to Yale on I-25.  The CSP sanctioned these drag racing events.  Can you even begin to imagine a state closing a freeway inside a busy city just so hot rods to run on a Sunday morning?  Like that could ever happen today!  Vern was in the thick of these with his hard running Olds 98.  Many a hopped up flathead V8 bowed to the superior overhead valve V8 engine that had recently been introduced by General Motors.

He and DTA member Jim McKindley became partners in a dragster in 1960.  It featured Chrysler hemi power with 8 Stromberg 97 carbs and ran on gas.  Vern remembers his very first run in it at Continental Divide Raceways (CDR) which was south of Castle Rock, CO.  It was also his first time in an open race car.  When he shut it down after crossing the finish line, he was sure he’d run about 150 mph.  Needless to say, he was more than just a little deflated when his timing slip showed a blistering-hot 85 mph!  Like many of us found out, timing slips burst a lot of bubbles. He and Jim took turns driving and both went about the same speed.  Like many young racers, Vern dropped out of racing in the early 60's due to business and family.

Then, in 1965 a friend gave him a complete 671 super charger (blower).  Some friend!  Thanks to his generosity, it started Vern racing again!  This time on a much more serious scale.  For many of us we still remember how mean a 671 blower was at that period in time.  It was without doubt the biggest and baddest piece of add-on horsepower there was.  This boosted his speeds instantly to the 160-170 mph range using gas.  Vern was getting a reputation with other racers in his class as being the one to beat on race day.  Vern turned over the driving responsibilities to his son Brian when Brian turned 17.  Vern readily admits to Brian being the superior driver and credits Brian’s driving with the team’s success in the ensuing years.  This addition made for a very competitive racing team.  Vern stuck to his specialty.... building and maintaining the digger.  And Brian did all the driving from that time on until they finally stopped drag racing.

In 1970 Vern changed to alcohol (alky or methanol as it’s called).  I asked Vern about nitro and whether he’d ever run it.  He said he never got into it.... said alky was tough enough for him to figure out.  He never returned to running gas once he tried alky.  In 1974 he had Mark Williams, his good friend, build a chassis.  He was still competitive at the time even though he was still running a short wheel base dragster.  The newly completed Mark Williams chassis provided improved traction and handling and elevated the car quickly into the ranks of the ones to beat come race day.

With the new chassis he won the 1978 American Hot Rod Association Championship in the Pro-Comp class.  The blower sizes increased as hot rodders got caught up with the performance that could be had with larger and larger sized blowers.  The last year Vern ran he was running a 1471 blower!  [[[For those who don’t know what the numbers mean:  The 71 stands for 71 cubic inches of engine displacement.  The number(s) preceding it denote how many 71 cubic inches the blower is designed for.  Thus a 671 blower is designed to be run on an engine displacing (6)(71)=426 cubic inches.  The 1471 Vern was running was designed to be run on an engine displacing (14)(71)=994 cubic inches!!!!!   Talk about building lots of boost and making incredible horsepower!]]] Pennzoil was his sponsor for many years beginning in 1970 and was still his main sponsor when Vern gave up drag racing in 1989.... a span of 12 years.

I asked him about one of his most memorable experiences.  He didn’t have to think long.......   It happened at the Spring Nationals in Columbus Ohio .  Things turned bad in a hurry during the eliminations that day.  Brian, his son, had just completed a 210 mph elimination run when the dragster’s parachute failed to open.  Brian quickly used up the entire shut-down area but was still going very fast.  There was an aircraft landing barrier net at the end of the shut down area for safety reasons.  Brian hit this, and, thankfully, it did stop him.  Brian was unhurt, but hitting the net at speed Brian cost the digger both front wheels, the radius rods, the steering box, and various other front end pieces.  When it was towed back to the pits, fellow racers and competitors gathered around to view the damage.  Instantly, competitors began offering parts and/or labor to get the digger ready for the next round of racing!!  Three who stood out were from Kansas (parts), Oklahoma (parts), and Canada (wheels).  The digger was swarmed with other racers to make the repairs! They were able to have it ready for the next round of eliminations!!!  They went on to win the class... beating some of the guys who had loaned him repair parts and labor!!!!  Talk about good friends and sportsmanship... but that’s how this hobby and sport got its start.

In each of the years from 1980 through 1985 (that’s six straight years) Vern won his National Hot Rod Association Division Championship!  No one has ever equaled or bettered this record six year string to this day!  Vern says the high point in his racing career came in 1981.  This was the year he won the WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP FOR TOP ALCHOL DRAGSTERS!  Some feat when you consider Vern does all his engines and all running gear work himself.  In 1985 he went 221.55 mph... a re cord that stood for a year and a half!

Vern states his activities and the many of his long lasting friendships have come about through car oriented activities.  These attitudes which were picked up through car activities carried over to other fields and helped him attain whatever success he’s had in business.

Vern says the DTA started out with all types of cars, motorcycles, and trucks.... just about anything that had an engine.  It was primarily started to promote safety and racing.  Today it’s changed with the times and is primarily street rods with street activities and a social club.

After he quit drag racing he got into street rods like many of us old timers have

done.  What goes around does come around, I guess.  He currently has a couple of projects he’s working on after completing a junk 1471 blower he has made into a wild mail box!  The postman went nuts!  Check it out at his home!  Another project he’s finishing up is a ‘59 Chev El Camino.  It’s got a 500 cubic inch Cad under the hood with a Cad automatic trans.  Funny coincidence.... the El Camino is black...... just like his ‘49 Olds was way back when...... maybe he’s just returning to his roots?