The First Match Racers …64-65

[masoParticipant]

Larry Nutson thought it might be Richard Rickman, but I doubt it. Especially with a FORD emblem in his shit. Jim something.

[bossguy]

Ron wishes he could wear a Ford emblem 😆 If it was a Red Ram we’d know it was Rick.

[babycakesParticipant]

I’m pulling straws also,could it be John Healy (Tasca Ford) who tuned the engines for Billy Lawton?

[bossguy]

Sounds like a job for Drake

[masoParticipant]

If Larry and Ronnie can’t ID this guy then we’re out of luck. Maybe Mark Jacobs will know.

He must have been close to the team or you wouldn’t see him up that close with an open hood and leaning on those valuable and delicate aluminum fenders… eh…?!

That is not Dover… who can ID the location by the background…?

[john-sachs-srParticipant]

Not John Healy……
John

[dinoKeymaster]

Maso …caption on photo gives it away
Broderick At Valley

[masoParticipant]

quote dinotheweirdo:

Maso …caption on photo gives it away
Broderick At Valley

Lebanon Valley… I see.

They went there a lot. I have never been to Lebanon Valley and wouldn’t recognize anything there.

But… who’s that guy…???

[gramdog1Participant]

After seeing the close-up I believe that was John Healy from Tasca Ford.We ran them all year in S/S eliminator and were tied at the end of the regular season. Maybe john was spying on us and got caught. 😆 😆

Bossguy,I did actually own 3 Fords. A ’50 2-door sedan,a ’67 Country Squire and a ’64 1/2 Mustang (260 V8).
Never had a Ford shirt. 😉

[dinoKeymaster]

Couldn’t find a decent ‘period’ photo of Healy But did find this little piece of Tasca history …with qoute by Bod Tasca,Good stuff . AND will be back at it posting new Photos for this topic soon.

Said Tasca, “Everybody was running Chevrolets back then, and there was this hotshot kid named Bill Lawton who always hung around our dealership and bragged about how his Chevy could beat our Fords. One day, I told him that he had just won his last race in a Chevy, and to prove my point, I had my top mechanics, John Healey and Dean Gregson, specially prepare one of our new 406-cid ‘62 Galaxies. The fastest Bill’s Chevy had ever run was a 13.66, and John shocked him with a 13.33 [in the Ford]. All of a sudden, Bill’s attitude about Fords began to change, and he asked me if he could drive our car. His first run was a 12.96, which didn’t surprise me because I knew he was a natural driver. After that, Bill came onboard with us to race Fords until his retirement in 1971.”

One of Tasca’s first innovations was campaigning a ‘62 Fairlane with a 406-cid engine for A/FX competition. The car, called the Challenger, was built by Andy Hotten’s Detroit Steel and Tubing firm and required many modifications to shoehorn the large engine into the midsize engine compartment. A second version, Zimmy I, was built in 1963 with a 427-cid high-riser engine, and Lawton drove it to a new A/FX national record of 12.21 later that season.

Ford was so impressed with the package that it authorized Detroit Steel and Tubing to construct 100 427-cid Fairlanes for NHRA Super Stock competition in 1964, and Lawton drove his ‘64 Zimmy II entry to new S/S national records of 11.69 and 122.22 at the Division 1 race at Maryland’s Cecil County Dragway.

The Tasca Ford Zimmy III, an A/FX ‘65 Mustang equipped with Ford’s new single overhead cam (SOHC) 427-cid engine, was the most potent of the series, and Lawton drove it to wins at that year’s NHRA Winternationals, NASCAR Nationals, and inaugural Super Stock Nationals.

[clicata]

here is 2 cents more I’m 99% sure that is Rick Rickman’s head next to the hood and leaning on the car. His hair doo is unmistakable

[john-sachs-srParticipant]

John Healey had sandy colored hair, worn in a flat top. 😯
IIRC, that could be Dean.
John 😉

[bossguy]

Here is a pic of Dean Gregson, Tascas Perf Mgr taken in 1967 for a magazine article. I had to crop the heck out of it to get it to fit. I don’t think its him, hair is parted on the left in 67 photo, right in early photo. Also receding hairline in early pic.

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[larry-nParticipant]

I stand corrected; it’s not Rick Rickman and I don’t recall ever being at Lebanon together with Tasca. Perhaps it’s the guy connected with the Black Ford in the background of the photo?

I think we were cutting a deal on Stock Eliminator run-offs……

Larry

[bossguy]

OK so apparently Drake knows who this guy is but is letting me twist in the wind on this, says hes not a Big household Name but I know him or know of him. Considering I was 14 in 1964 and could only get to the track if somebody would drive me I can’t think of who. Drake said he worked in a NY area Ford dealer. If John Sachs doesn’t recognize him that rules out Larsen Ford. What other Ford dealers raced in the 60’s? Does Vinny Lyons have any ideas?

[Author]

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