Celebrating Dodge//Mopar® Milestones in NHRA’s Past 75 Years – Part 1: The Swinging ’60s

The National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) was founded in 1951, and this year marks the drag racing organization’s 75th anniversary as the fastest form of motorsports. From its humble beginnings, the NHRA flourished over the decades and became the proving ground for Detroit’s automakers who sought to prove their quarter-mile dominance over the competition. As Chrysler developed the legendary 426 HEMI^® V8 engine, Dodge and Plymouth created street muscle machines and drag race-only “Package Cars”. Here’s a look back at the drivers and their fast machines that left their mark in the NHRA history books. In this multipart series, DodgeGarage will examine each decade, starting in the 1960s and going all the way up to 2025. We’ll look at key moments that defined Mopar_®’s quarter-mile dominance.

*1963 NHRA Winternationals – Don Garlits wins Top Fuel with his winged 392 HEMI Dragster*

During the 1963 NHRA Winternationals, “Big Daddy” Don Garlits burst onto the scene and claimed a decisive victory in a Chrysler-powered 392 HEMI Top Fuel dragster. Not only did he defeat fellow Florida racer Art Malone in the final with an 8.26 at 186.32 mph, but he also set low ET of the event at 8.11-seconds. Garlits’ “Swamp Rat V” dragster was somewhat controversial as it had the eyes of the NHRA Tech Department questioning the legality of the wing Garlits had mounted over the HEMI engine. By gravitating to the HEMI’s superior design over the other powerplants, Garlits would go on to claim 35 major NHRA national event victories and become one of the greatest drag racers of all time!

*1963 NHRA Winternationals – Mopar’s Mighty Max Wedge stomps the competition*

In the all-Mopar 426 Max Wedge final, the Ramchargers “Candymatic” Dodge defeated Plymouth of the Golden Commandos. Both teams hailed from Detroit and were composed of Chrysler engineers who put their skills to the test. With one of the toughest fields of Super Stockers, it all came down to a pair of Max Wedge Mopar cars. When it was over, with Al Eckstrand in the Ramchargers Dodge claimed the first major victory for in all-new 1963 426 Max Wedge.

*1964 NHRA U.S. Nationals – The 426 Race HEMI dominates*

With the introduction of the 426 HEMI engine, it already proved its dominance by claiming victory at the 1964 Daytona 500. It would be at the biggest drag strip race of the year, the NHRA Nationals held at Indianapolis Raceway Park on Labor Day weekend. In the highly coveted Super Stock/A Eliminator class, the proving grounds for Detroit’s automakers. While the Ramchargers won the class run-offs, it was a different story during the eliminations. While a pair of 1964 Super Stock HEMI Dodge “330” Coupes lined up for the final, the outcome would be different for the Ramcharger. They faced the tough “Color Me Gone” HEMI Dodge driven by Roger Lindamood. Despite Jim Thornton’s better reaction time in the Ramchargers’ Dodge, Lindamood took the win. Regardless, Dodge poked the eye of Ford’s multi-million dollar “Total Performance” racing program.

*1966 NHRA Winternationals – Shirley Shahan becomes the first woman to win a major event*

In an era when women were relegated to the kitchen, supermarket or the ladies’ bridge club, Shirley Shahan broke the barriers behind the wheel of her 1965 “A990” HEMI Plymouth Belvedere with “Drag-On-Lady” painted on the sides. Battling a tough group of men racers at the 1966 NHRA Winternationals, Shirley was given no slack. Round-by-round, Shirley’s stellar reaction times on the Christmas Tree were deadly, and her HEMI Plymouth performed flawlessly. She marched through the field of Top Stock competitors that also included other HEMI engine-powered Dodge and Plymouth cars. Shirley’s win was featured in ABC’s Wide World of Sports and made her an instant superstar.

*1966 – Chrysler’s 426 Street HEMI is launched, claims NHRA’s Top Stock World Championship*

In response to the wave of new muscle cars, NHRA focused on promoting the revised Top Stock Eliminator class. While all the OEMs were all in, the season became a jousting match between Mopar racer Jere Stahl in his 1966 Plymouth 426 Street HEMI Belvedere and Chevy stalwart Bill Jenkins’ 1966 327-powered Chevy II. Despite not having the thunder and fury of nitro-burning dragsters, Top Stock was a rallying cry for staunch Mopar and Chevy fans. Due to NHRA’s horsepower and weight factoring, both cars ran heads-up in the A/Stock class. In an era when NHRA conducted only four national events, Stahl achieved an unprecedented sweep of three of them in 1966, including the Springnationals, NHRA Nationals and World Championship Finals. While the race HEMI engine had proven itself in the 1964 and 1965 seasons, the Street HEMI’s reputation of being more than just a boulevard brawler and now drag strip brawler was solidified.

*1967 – Mopar Racer Ed Miller becomes NHRA’s first Super Stock World Champion*

Ed Miller was a relatively unknown racer in early 1967, but by the end of the season, he had claimed the NHRA Super Stock World Championship in his 1965 Plymouth Belvedere A990 HEMI Super Stock. For his efforts, he won an astounding $10,000, a lot of money for the era. It was the largest single cash payout in the history of the sport up to that time. In a winner-take-all format, the NHRA World Championships were determined by a one-race “shootout” during the final NHRA race. Throughout the season, drivers earned points at NHRA national and divisional events and then got invited to the “World Finals” at Tulsa based on their points totals. Ed Miller would later go on to campaign a 1968 Super Stock HEMI Barracuda and eventually race the Pro Stock with a HEMI engine-powered Plymouth Duster.

1968/1969 HEMI Darts and Barracudas devour the competition and claim NHRA Championships

With factory-backed racers like Don Grotheer, Arlen Vanke, Dick Landy and Ronnie Sox, Chrysler’s new-for-1968 Super Stock HEMI Darts and Barracudas ran roughshod over the Chevy and Ford race teams. At the 1968 NHRA Nationals, Vanke’s HEMI Barracuda chased down the 396 Camaro of Wally Booth. In 1969, Grotheer powered his HEMI ride past Ed Terry’s Cobra Jet Mustang at the NHRA Winternationals. But it was the team of Sox & Martin and their red, white and blue HEMI Barracuda that took down all would-be competitors at Indy and Dallas to claim the 1969 NHRA Super Stock World Championship. Sox & Martin would cherish their victories of the 1960s, but their work was far from over. With a new NHRA heads-up class coming for 1970 and the increasing schedule of their popular Plymouth Supercar Clinics, the team from North Carolina was just getting started as the new decade loomed on the horizon.