One of the great competitors in the history of sportsman drag racing has died. Ken Montgomery who purchased his 1965 Plymouth Belvedere A990 Hemi race car new from a dealer in 1965 and went on to race it in Super Stock for almost 50 years passed away yesterday. Montgomery was a three time national event winner, a multiple time divisional winner, and a race winner at specialty events in the SS/B machine. Originally an automatic transmission car, Chrysler racing brass insisted that Montgomery swap the car over to a four speed in the early 1970s to remain competitive in his class. Apparently they were helping to sponsor his efforts, so Montgomery made the change and never looked back. The car has been a four gear for about 40 years! Amazingly, Montgomery still had the originally installed factory Hemi tucked away safely. The engine that he last campaigned in the car was a combo of an early 1970s block and late 1960s heads.

Looking back in our big archive here at BS Eastern World HQ, we found that Montgomery won the 1971 Summernationals, the 1973 Gatornationals, and the 1998 Keystone Nationals which are run at Maple Grove. As a dude who hailed from PA, this must have been neat for Montgomery. We’ve run video of Montgomery making laps and ripping the four speed handle nearly through the floor of the Plymouth and we’ll include that below again as a fond reminder of just how cool he was when doing his thing on the strip.

Montgomery and his ’65 were as perfect a match as any man/machine combo in drag racing history. We can’t think of another car that was owned longer and raced harder by an original  owner than the famed “Triple Nickle”. Think about it, this car has had more laps put on it than we can even imagine and they were all put there by one guy! Lots of cars get bought, raced for a year or two, then change hands a hundred times and end up sitting in a field. Not this one! Adding to the awesome is the fact that the car has all the factory lightweight panels installed from the factory and was never stripped, crashed, or otherwise defiled. We hope that the car continues to do what it was built to do, which is to terrorize strips and the competition as it has been since Montgomery plunked down like $3,000 to buy it new in 1965.

Ken Montgomery may be gone but his memory will last for a long time. Some men who have achieved fame in drag racing were defined by their attitude. Others were defined by their successes. Ken Montgomery was defined by the fact that he was one heck of a guy who found his mechanical love very early on and never left its side (or seat).

RIP Ken Montgomery – the video below is how we’ll remember you. Wind it up and JAM THOSE GEARS!