(Photos by Greg Rourke and Bob Chiluk) – As any drag racer or gearhead knows, all the cool stuff happens in the pits. The racing is just a byproduct of the work being done by the owners and crews away from the track. It is the way that they measure themselves and their cars against all other comers. From the wrenching to the vehicles hanging out down there, the pits at the Meltdown Drags were the place to be…and we were there. This is the first of a couple of pit based galleries that we’ll show you from the race and you’ll love them because they combine elements of a car show, a history lesson, and a study in the old time feel and attitude of this event. There were guys helping to get stuff fixed on cars they had never seen before, just because that’s what racers and hot rodders do.
In this first look behind the scenes at Byron you’ll see stuff like the streamlined dragster that is featured above. We’re not sure that it ever ran but it sure is an incredible looking piece that seems as though it launched itself right off the pages of a 1960s magazine right up into our facehole. While there are some rough and ratty looking cars here we wouldn’t say that there were “rat rods” per se. At least not of the awful, cartoonish type. Lots of fantastic stuff here.
Click the button below to see our gallery from the pits at the 2014 Meltdown Drags at Byron Dragway in Illinois –
button” text=”CLICK HERE to see our photos from the pits at the 2014 Meltdown Drags at Byron Dragway”]
I know this car very well. You should consider doing a story on it. This car was designed and built (many parts made by hand) by Stan Johnson. He ran the car at Union Grove Wisconsin. Not only would he usually win but he set some class records in 1966. . Stan also put the car on the newly created car show circuit. The Silver Bullet won there too!
Stan sold the car to a Canadian business man who painted it and put it back out on the circuit. The car was destroyed in an accident and disappeared.
Forty years later a guy buys a trailer and when he opens it he sees parts of the Silver Bullet. Because of the distinctive design he knew the car. He contacted Stan. Stan bought the pieces. Stan then found the rest of the car in another trailer. The engine is the original 273 cubic inch workhorse.
Stan rebuilt the hand crafted parts that were missing. Fifty years after he built the car, he rebuilt the car to identical specs. What you see is a rebuilt car with original parts. There are a couple of videos coming out about Stan, his innovative designs, engineering genius, the car he built twice.
Silver Bullet:..whoever wrote this story has it 1/2 right..But the real story is I bought a chassis and body from a guy at a flea market in 1999. Once I got it home,I posted a photo to a friend in NJ who collected magazine. He remembered seeing the car in nearly EVERY 1966-67 magazine.I then began back tracking the history & owners of the car ,eventually finding Stan & Tom Johnson.I kept in touch with them over the yrs,as I continued to chase the missing parts. Motor was found in one place complete,body panels and headers,wheel covers etc,were found in a junk yard 100 miles from the motor.Stan finally suggested he would like to have the car back,and we were happy to sell it back to him,as we knew it would be restored correctly in every detail.and IT HAS BEEN..that’s the real story..I have seen the car in Bowling Green and Byron Illinois..Great Job my friend..