I'll open this page with my favorite adult beverage, vodka. Darryl Greenamyer driving his new "Smirnoff" AA/FD at Las Vegas in 1967. In my opinion the Smirnoff car was/is one of the most beautiful diggers ever!  It was an SPE chassis, with body by Sorrell from a design by Steve Swaja. The great pearl paint was by "Reuben". On each of the 392's valve covers was a large "Z" (for guess who?)

New shots of the beautiful Smirnoff car in the mid to late summer of 1967, Darryl Greenamyer, Fred Williams of Pennzoil, Dave Zeuschel and in the seat, new driver Larry Dixon.

This is the first known photo of the Smirnoff car after its maiden outing in Vegas. Larry Dixon in the seat during the 1967 March Meet.

Like war vets, the ground fighters of drag racing are passing away at an alarming rate. We recently lost San Diego scrapper Ron Goodsell. Ron may not have been a national standout but he was well known and highly respected west of the Rockies. Of all the cars he owned/drove most will remember him for his innovative "calliope" car. Here are a few shots in Ron's memory.

Ron Goodsell's 1968 car. Now in the latter years of the front engine dragsters very few were really unique (aka trick) but this one was. It was a Woody chassis which had four corner suspension. It was, I believe, the first dragster to run a Crowerglide. I also believe that Ron was the first to use a "helmet cradle" in the roll cage (even before Pete Robinson). The injectors were one-of-a-kind "calliope" Crowers. The engine was out further than most and sat nearly level. There were other little "trick" innovations on the car and trust me, it drew a lot of attention when it ran.