Jerry Baltes’ historic 1960’s vintage Top Fuel Dragster recently served as the centerpiece of the East Coast Drag Racing Hall Of Fame booth at the PRI Show, December 11-12-13, in Orlando, Florida.  Baltes and his wife Pat brought the car from their home in North Carolina and displayed it during the entire 2008 edition of the Performance Racing Industry (PRI) show in Orlando. 

Acting as hostess and representative of the East Coast Drag Racing Hall of Fame and its weekend’s activities was Nancy Wilson, the event’s President and Director of the Vance County Tourism Development Authority, headquartered in Henderson, North Carolina.

Jerry Baltes’ historic 1960’s vintage Top Fuel Dragster recently served as the centerpiece of the East Coast Drag Racing Hall Of Fame booth at the PRI Show, December 11-12-13, in Orlando, Florida.  Baltes and his wife Pat brought the car from their home in North Carolina and displayed it during the entire 2008 edition of the Performance Racing Industry (PRI) show in Orlando. 

Acting as hostess and representative of the East Coast Drag Racing Hall of Fame and its weekend’s activities was Nancy Wilson, the event’s President and Director of the Vance County Tourism Development Authority, headquartered in Henderson, North Carolina.

“We consider the PRI Show and its attendees to be the primary target of our efforts at expanding our annual East Coast Drag Racing Hall Of Fame® Weekend and in our continuing quest to build a drag racing oriented, motorsports museum.  This was our third PRI Show and we were extremely pleased with the response that our booth and display of Jerry Baltes’ car produced!  Several thousand very interested folks stopped, looked carefully at the car and left with information and literature on our 2009 event.  This type of enthusiasm and interest will be key to the continuing expansion of our event and programs”, Ms. Wilson noted.

“I am especially grateful to Jerry and Pat Baltes.  I sincerely thank them for their efforts in bringing their beautiful race car to the PRI Show, and for their being on hand the entire weekend to answer questions not only on the car, but our event too!”, added Ms. Wilson.  Jerry and Pat Baltes have been both participants as well as attendees at all of the East Coast Drag Times Hall Of Fame® Weekend, and displayed their car during the last three events.

 “It’s amazing how quickly and how popular the entire nostalgia drag racing concept has become.   Events such as our Hall of Fame Weekend continue to grow as this wave of enthusiasm brings more and more people back to the true roots of racing.  Perhaps even more important is the fact that our event and others like it are attracting not only the veteran racers and fans, who were there when it originally happened, but an amazing and growing number of young people who have embraced the nostalgia drag racing concept and are finding an entire new field of motorsports activity in which to participate as racers and spectators.  I’m particularly proud that our Hall Of Fame Event Weekend is on the leading edge of this new motorsports movement”, she added.

NHRA 1964 Top Fuel Record Holder Rides Again!  

Jerry Baltes’ original Croshier-Baltes-Lovato car set the Official NHRA AA/Fuel Dragster record of 193.54 mph in 1964, at Inyokern Drag Strip, Inyokern, California.  Jerry intended to find his original car and restore it, but after an extensive search, Baltes was unable to locate the original.  Undaunted, Jerry and his wife Pat, now of Boydton, VA, had an exact duplicate built as it last raced, in 1965.  Ironically, soon after the recreation was finished, Baltes stumbled upon the original, in Cleveland, Ohio.

“That was a great example of how ‘Murphy’s Law’ works in drag racing!”, Jerry laughed. 

The owner of the original car knew something of the car’s distinguished pedigree and was unwilling to sell at this time. 

“I had given up on ever finding my old car, thinking it had been cut up or otherwise destroyed, so I was fortunate to secure the services and amazing memory of Rod Pepmuller, who built the original C-B-L race car.  It shows how much these cars were loved by the guys who built them, because Rod sat down and drew out the plans from his memory, some 45 years later!  The new car, of course, is far cleaner than the original, because in those days we were all about functionality rather than looking good.  Besides, our budgets were pretty thin and wouldn’t allow us to buy anything that wouldn’t help us go faster or get us to the next race”, Jerry reflected.  

Legendary California racers Rod Pepmuller and “TV Tommy” Ivo built and assembled the original car in 1963.  Jerry Baltes and Don Croshier then bought it from Ivo.  At the time it was state-of-the-art, built with the finest available “go-fast goodies”.  Baltes drove and campaigned the car with racing partners Don Croshier and Billy Lovato, all from the San Diego, CA area. 

On-Tour & Winning Big Drag Races “Back East”

1964 was an especially productive year for the team.  They not only set the official NHRA speed record, but went on a national tour with the car, scheduling and running all the “big meets back east”.  That year they won the coveted World Series of Drag Racing title at Cordova, IL, recording times of 7.82-204.54 mph.  That same year they also set the track record at 202.24 mph, running at the fabled Union Grove, Wisconsin track.

The chassis for the “new” C-B-L car was re-crafted from memory by its original builder, Rod Pepmuller.  Bob Sorrell, the noted California race car body designer and craftsman built the original body, but like the original car, it too was long-gone.  Sorrell passed away many years ago, and that presented a dilemma in finding someone with the talent and time to recreate Sorrell’s original hand-formed aluminum body.  Baltes knew of only one man with that capability, the immensely talented Tom Hanna.
The Return Of “The Tin Man”, Tom Hanna 

Hanna lived in the San Diego area at the same time Baltes did, and the two were friends “from way back when”.  Hanna’s aluminum art graced many of the 60’s most beautiful and well-known race cars and several of his creations are regarded as iconic examples of the hand-formed aluminum race car body as art.  Tom had abandoned his body craft decades past and gone on to a successful entrepreneurial business career in other non-automotive industries. The rise of interest in nostalgia drag racing rekindled Hanna’s desire to again create the aluminum bodies he is famed for.  He has since recreated several notable Top Fuel bodies and designed and built what many have called “The Ultimate Front-Engine Dragster”.  After conferring with Hanna, Jerry was overwhelmed when Tom agreed to do the body as well as the fabrication, machining and assembly needed to complete the car.  The new C-B-L car proudly displays a nosepiece medallion inscribed with the legend: “Body By Bob Sorrell and Tom Hanna”.  This is Hanna’s way of honoring Sorrell’s own wonderful art.  Elsewhere, Hanna and his crew of machine-wizards did their magic in creating yet another piece of drag racing legend. 

As was the original, the new car is powered by a supercharged, nitro-burning 392 Chrysler Hemi with the long, sweeping “weedburner” style headers popularized by nitro racers of the early 1960’s.  The engine was built by a trio of skilled individuals who collaborated on the project.  These included: Carl Johnson’s Sterling Engines; Bob Crietz, of Tulsa; and the late Steve Carbone, also of Tulsa, OK.  Baltes frequently participates in “Cacklefest” displays at nostalgia drag racing events, giving the fans a taste of what top-level drag racing was like in the sport’s golden era, the 1960’s. 

The striking paint work is authentic to a minute degree obtained from various photos and was executed to perfection by Chris Ellis, of South Hill, Virginia.

Not surprisingly, since its competition, the Croshier-Baltes-Lovato Top Fuel dragster has won several awards for its beautifully stated excellence in craftsmanship and authenticity.

East Coast Drag Times Hall Of Fame Weekend Highlights 2009 Hot Rod Events!

The East Coast Drag Times Hall of Fame® Weekend completed its eighth annual event last October, at its birthplace, Henderson, NC.  What began as an informal weekend barbeque and drag racer’s gathering has blossomed into a major east coast drag racing happening.  The Hall of Fame induction ceremonies on Sunday honors east coast drag racing notables, and keynotes an entire weekend of festivities.   The fun begins on Friday with a Show, Shine, Shag & Dine, 1:00-6:00 pm at the Ambassador Inn, Henderson.  This includes an old fashioned, southern style barbeque.  From 7:00-10:00 pm there’s a Cruise-In at Raleigh’s Road Outdoor Drive-In Theatre, and at the same time, a reception at four different Henderson hotels: Hampton Inn; Holiday Inn Express; Jameson Inn; and Ambassador Inn.  Saturday brings the annual Show & Shine.  This is now a major eastern car show that attracts more than 1,000 hot rods, race cars, antique vehicles and musclecars.  This phase of the Hall Of Fame Weekend has grown to the point that it literally takes over the entire downtown area of host city, Henderson, NC.  Attracting tens of thousands of spectators, the show’s downtown pedestrian mall allows a leisurely stroll to enjoy the multitude of cars on display. 

The 2009, Ninth Annual East Coast Drag Times Hall of Fame® Weekend with all its festivities is scheduled for October 16-17-18, 2009, in Henderson, NC.

For additional information on the East Coast Drag Times Hall of Fame® Weekend contact: Nancy Wilson, Vance County (NC) Tourism, 946 T West Andrews Avenue, Henderson, NC, 27536. 
Tel: (252) 438 -2222, Ext. 21 or E-Mail:  vctourism@gloryroad.net