Racing

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Looking Back!

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Willis Ragsdale

"RAUNCHY"

Willis Ragsdale

"RAUNCHY"

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MICKEY MILLS Pro Stock Maverick

Got an e-mail recently from Mickey Mills asking if I had any pictures of his Pro Stock Maverick that ran as a "Gasser" at Eastex Dragway's monthly Combo
Modified/Competition Eliminator events. The four images below are the only ones I've converted to digital and if you click on the thumbnails you'll notice
the color ones haven't been edited. I've mentioned before that I lost my program and haven't had the time to correct the problem. Anyway Mickey if you're
looking, hope you like the images and hope to hear from you again.

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Cross & Reher Maverick...REBORN!

MICKEY MILLS Pro Stock Maverick

The photo below left of the Cross & Reher Maverick at speed was taken at Eastex Dragway. Because the car was nationally known and the crew
eventually went on to become the Reher and Morrison racing team and of course because it was taken at Eastex which is no longer with us and it was my
"weekend hangout", the photo is one of my favorites. Obviously it's also a favorite of an avid drag racer from Tennessee. He had seen the photo
before and requested a repost. As it turns out he wrenched on the car for the guys who purchased the Maverick from Cross & Reher. Last time he saw the
car was in 1977 when the car was resold. After searching for a number of years, he recently found it in Arkansas where it's been sitting for the past 11
years and he plans to restore it. Looking at the picture he sent me (below right), it looks like he doesn't have much restoring to do. By comparing the
pictures, all I see missing is the wheelie bar setup, the front splash pan and front bumper. The wheels and hood scoop look exactly the same. The car also
came with the original title which was in the name of Bobby Cross' father with Lee Shepherd's name and address on the back as the buyer. It's great that
the car is being "reborn" and I'm glad that I can help in applying the final details.

Doing a little research, I found out that the Reher & Morrison Maverick with Lee
Shepherd at the wheel won the 1974 NHRA Winternationals. They transplanted
the Maverick's powertrain into a "borrowed" Corvette which had a shorter
wheelbase and rearward engine location. The new combination gave them a victory
at the 1975 NHRA Springnationals. A Pro Stock Monza soon followed and the rest
is history (NHRA Pro Stock Champions 1982-1985). The part of the Reher &
Morrison history that I wanted more information on was who did they borrow the
Corvette from? I couldn't find anything online but I remember when I worked as a

Hey Mickey! Found one more just before I updated.

I had promised a piece concerning Texas sportsman drag racing legend Willis Ragsdale and his "Raunchy" roadster. This isn't it but hopefully it's a
preview. I had posted the two action pictures above of Ragsdale before and mentioned that after his retirement from racing, he went street rodding.
I also mentioned that I wanted to bench race with him when I got the chance but that hasn't happened yet. The middle picture above of Ragsdale and
his current "street" roadster was taken recently at a car show in Montgomery that my brother covered. I happened to be spending a "family" day up in
Lake Livingston that weekend so I missed him this time around. I've already done research on his racing career and accomplishments so hopefully
everything will come together soon. There's still a few car shows left this year so we'll see what happens.

clerk for the post office at the main location in downtown Houston, I would occasionally talk to a female co-worker about drag racing. She asked me if
I had ever heard of the Reher & Morrison racing team and that they were currently using her husband's Corvette to go racing. I distinctively remember
asking her if she ever drove the car and she said that the clutch was to hard to press down. That was over 30 years ago and I can't seem to remember her
last name. The only name that comes to mind is Holcombe, as in Hokie Holcombe. Holcombe was a well known Texas sportsman drag racer who passed away
a couple of years ago. Not sure why his name pops up but I would like to find out for sure who's Corvette it was. Anybody?

(Has a familiar ring to it doesn't it?)

I gotta tell you the truth. I'm really having fun right about now. And it's all because of stuff like
you'll see below. Sharing my old pictures is rewarding enough but when I get positive feedback or
e-mail requests, it makes it that much more pleasurable. I know this isn't the racing "hotbeds" out
on the West Coast or up in the Northeast; this is Texas and we also have our sportsman racing
legends. I'm enjoying my old pictures now just as much as I did back when I first took them and
like I said, I really enjoy sharing them. Hope you're enjoying them too!

nhra Top 50

(Texas Edition)

Although I decided to start posting
more Texas based sportsman racers, I
didn't want to forget Texas pro racers
completely. Now deciding which ones to
post came easy. I let the NHRA do it
for me! Back in 2001, the NHRA was
celebrating their 50th anniversary and
they posted the "Top 50 Drag Racers

of All Time". Here are the Texas racers that made the cut. In numerical order they are Kenny Bernstein (#6), Lee Shepherd (#12), Eddie Hill (#14),
Raymond Beadle (#20), Gene Snow (#26) and Billy Meyer (#47). Incidentally, Texas sportsman racer Edmund Richardson made the cut at #37.

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"Buccaneer"

ESQUIVEL, HODGES and CARPENTER

I recently received an e-mail from a former crew member of the "Buccaneer" funny car out of Galveston. He was requesting color pictures of the
Mustang back when it was once painted yellow. Although I haven't looked through all my old pictures, I don't remember ever seeing it painted yellow.
The pictures above are all I have currently scanned or converted to digital but I'll keep looking.

As I was going though some of my racing scans and conversions, I came across the dragsters below that I inadvertently forgot about when I posted
the above images covering Texas Sportsman Racing. NHRA's Competition Eliminator had several sportsman dragster classes and Eastex
Dragway's monthly Modified / Competition Combo events brought in some very competitive dragsters. Check out some of those below.

TEXAS

Sportsman

Racing

TEXAS

Sportsman

Racing