from the phr magazine 9/69 -the following details as follows-pat foster m/t mustang and the "ratty cat " cougar were the 1st pair on sun . foster lost control and crossed in front of schwartz still running full throttle. both cars totally destroyed . gerry died instantly. quoting the article-"was one of the brutally spectacular crashes in drag racing history" . 1969 was not a good year - at the us nationals john "zookeeper" mulligan lost his life driving his top fuel dragster.

I'm pretty sure it was Dodger Glenn in 1978 @ Maple Grove.

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Actually it was Doger Glenn in a nitro car. Al Depazzio (sp?) eventually died in the 1990's as a result of a crash in an alcohol funny car. But given how fast these cars go the safety record until now has been better than one would ever excpect. Dragsters are another story.

I read that somewhere as well.

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Rich Al Dapozzo(sp?) was severely Burned at a div. 3 race in Bowling Green. around 93-94? Not sure if he crashed per say.

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my post was a follow -up of the nitromater article 3/28 of jfr not racing in houston . that is the source of futher reseach

I think they are referring to a NHRA national event, IIRC Dodger was at a match race? Help us out East coasters.
Al had a huge fire for an Alcohol car, still remember the good times we had together.

We all know that racing involves a degree of danger and risk. While it's always gutwrenching and tragic when a driver is injured or killed, I think the NHRA safety record is actually remarkedly good when compared to other forms of racing. For instance, since the mid-80's I believe there have been four deaths in the NHRA pro ranks (Lee Shepard, Blaine Johnson, Darrell Russell, Eric Medlen). By way of contrast, during this same period of time there have been at least ten deaths in the NASCAR pro ranks (6 in the Cup Series, 2 in the Busch Series, 2 in the Truck Series). Making comparisons between the sportsman ranks in NASCAR and the NHRA is more difficult simply because the data is harder find. Even so, I suspect that the record is similar and would favor drag racing just as one finds in the pro ranks. I am not trying to imply, much less actually say, that stock car racing is by nature more dangerous than drag racing, or that NASCAR is somehow lax when it comes to safety issues. Rather, what I am trying to say is that drag racing drivers and fans can and should be proud of the NHRA safety record even during during those times when the sport we love experiences a tragic loss.

NHRA was still running the fuel cars at the points meets during this period. And the Grove is a division 1 track.

Late..............Mitch

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Wasn't Mulligan's death due to burns not a crash? My father-in-law owned the Fighting Irish car back in the mid 70's for a while. He was good friends with Jungle Jim growing up and Jim talked him into buying the car. He loves to talk about Jim and that car.

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The numbers are not that easy. You have to remember there are at least twice as many drivers in nascar and they race a lot more often.

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There is a discussion over on the classicfunnycar boards. Seems there were at least four after Schwartz.

Jay

Johnny did die from the burns, but he did crash and was thrown from the car after his safety belts had burned through. I remember seeing it on Wide World of Sports...the crash after the fire was horrible. As most here know, he was my hero and he always will be. My avatar is Johnny from early 69...the year he died. I cried for hours when I had learned he had died. I knew of the crash immediately after it happened from a buddy who's Dad had taken him to the Nationals, but I didn't know he had died until the Wide World of Sports aired the Nationals in either late October or November.
Some people whine about TV coverage nowadays...let me tell you it was pretty much non exisitant back then...any kind of racing. bOb

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Pics from the starting line of the Schwartz, Foster incident in Dallas '69.

Don't know if the link works, ya might have to copy and paste.

Hope it's ok to post this; if not,moderator please delete .


http://www.dearbornflashback.com/dims_schwartz.jpg


edited to include pic of Ratty Cat predecessor in pits

60s Funny Cars - Drag Racing Photos and History

Yeah, tore me up bigtime....But then, we had the Garden Grove Evening News, great drag racing coverage... but the Chops and John were both local boys.... we had updates in the sports section... I "threw" that paper daily.... 99 homes in my my neighborhood... not bad for three bucks a month...

We also had drag results weekly, previews of what was happening each weekend... even test and tune stuff and I picked up DRAG NEWS every week at OCIR or Lions... and Drag News keep in in touch while I was overseas '73-'74... also N/D... but it only had NHRA stuff.... miss all the match racing updates and AHRA news....

Spring and Summer of '69.... was the best of times, was the worst of times...

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