| |
In 1971, Larry Christopherson, who had previously run a Chevy Nova, joined forces with Dick Harrell on a fabulous new Vega Flopper. In addition to the driving duties, Christopherson was the chief wrench on Harrell’s Camaro Funny Car. Christopherson and Harrell were a potent combination with their two-car team and they shared many of the same philosophies on car setup and safety. Larry ended his driving career in 1974 in the seat of his “Arizona Wildcat” Vega. He and his partner Mike Hamby hired Dale Pulde for the 1975 season and Christopherson would retire from racing soon after.
Dickie Harrell earned the name of “Mr. Chevrolet” for his loyalty to the “bow tie” brigade. While most Chevrolet racers came and went, Dickie could always be counted on to run a very fast and very competitive Chevy. Even Bill Jenkins drifted away for a few years and ran Mopars, but not Mr. Harrell. Not Mr. Chevrolet. From the early 409’s that he ran, his stock and Super Stock cars were among the best in the country, but his real fame came when he joined the ranks of the Funny Car class in the late 1960’s. From his fuel injected rides to the supercharged ones, Dickie Harrell could always be counted on to be among the best in the business. And speaking of business, Dickie’s performance center in Kansas City certainly got a boost from the way his cars ran on the track. If you needed a really neat Chevrolet all you had to do was call Dickie Harrell. He was known to be one of the 1st to offer a race version big block Camaro right from the dealer.
For many years Dickie Harrell ran a lot of the AHRA races and very few NHRA national events. He did a tremendous amount of match racing and was among the most popular drivers in the country. Undoubtedly, one of the reasons for his success and popularity was the fact that he raced Chevrolets, real Chevrolets and the fans knew it. The title of “Mr. Chevrolet” was contested at booked in match races across the country but win or lose the fans always knew that Dickie Harrell was the real deal. One of the few times that Dickie did attend an NHRA national event was at the U.S. Nationals in 1971 where he qualified for a very tough field. A few weeks after that; while match racing in Canada, Dickie was killed in an accident. Although his drag racing career came to an untimely end, his legacy didn’t. Today, some of the most sought after items by drag racing memorabilia collectors is anything with Dickie Harrell’s name on it. After all, you can never have too many things to remind you of the one and only “Mr. Chevrolet.”
(07/13/2005)
|
|
