World's first four second quarter mile run happened 29 years ago today - I was there


FourFather

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May 24, 2007
460
Wichita Falls, Texas 76306
And this is the car, driver, tuner, and team manager.



The short one is the the brains AND the looks of the team-

4.990 and 288.55 mph on 4/9/88, the day that seemed to demand it.

Big fun - good memories.
 
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Spaceman

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Sep 1, 2012
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Happy anniversary Eddie,that was such a big accomplishment !!! I was not present for that run but was on hand in Houston later that year to see your 4.93 pass which was truly amazing. I think some of these milestones seem to get lost with the switch to the 1000 foot by folks that are new to the sport. I will always remember seeing my first 4 second pass and thank you for your huge contribution to our sport.
Mike
 

Apollo

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Awesome, Happy Anniversary! :thumbsup:cheers
 

twobjshelbys

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Jul 26, 2010
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What a story! Thanks for sharing it with us
 

CJ428

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Remember the day ,God bless you and your family.
 

Cobraguy

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I remember clearly where I was and what I was doing when I heard this news 29 yrs ago.......Congrats Eddie (albeit a little late!)
 

Mike Mosing

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Too cool. Love the history.
 

GTMD

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A truly humbling event. You are the king Eddie. Thank you for the tremendous contributions to our sport!!!
 

STORMCAT

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Nice... Happy anniversary..!! I hope you were able to contact Darrell Gwynn ..:biggrin
 

THamonGT

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Happy Anniversary Eddie. Saw you run in Houston many times and it's great to have you as a big part of this Forum for many, many more years ahead buddy.
 

Vince H

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Spectacular accomplishment. Congrats to you both!

Vince H
 

digman1

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Well done Eddie, and weren't you the first to 300mph as well ?

I was a Green Valley, and Dallas International Motor Speedway ET Bracket racer in the late 60's and early 70's.
 

FourFather

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Happy anniversary Eddie,that was such a big accomplishment !!! I was not present for that run but was on hand in Houston later that year to see your 4.93 pass which was truly amazing. I think some of these milestones seem to get lost with the switch to the 1000 foot by folks that are new to the sport. I will always remember seeing my first 4 second pass and thank you for your huge contribution to our sport.
Mike

Thanks Mike, for the kind words. Both Ercie and I were impressed that you remembered the 4.93 we turned while winning the final over Joe Amato.

We actually "outran ourselves" for the national record of 4.93, because of the 1% backup rule. If we had run 4.94 in the final, that would have stood as the new record. So our official new NHRA record was the 4.990 that we ran against Gene Snow, in the semi final. We had won over Darrell Gwynn in the second round.

We had three consecutive blower explosions, right on the starting line, on our first three qualifying attempts. This due to a broken wire in an ignition coil that parted under the gee of launch, killed the ignition, and then the resulting LACK of gee let the parted wire make contact again and reestablish ignition. Unfortunately that brief interruption of ignition allowed enough nitro to go unburned, to blow the blower off the top of the engine, when it re-lit. With new ignition coils and a blower borrowed from Earl whiting, we qualified on our fourth and final attempt, running a 5.036 to qualify 3rd. And bump out Earl Whiting. Earl was not mad. He was very gracious, and said simply HE should have run better.

After we had won the race, he sold me the blower that he had loaned me. As I was borrowing it earlier, he said his crew chief had told him that that particular blower "was not good enough to run on his car". I don't know what his crew chief told him later about the blower that was not good enough for him, but it won the race, and now holds the NHRA record. :lol

The 5.03 backed up the 4.990 for the new NHRA record, the same exact ET we had set exactly six months earlier at the Texas Motorplex at Ennis, for the IHRA record. And both times, Gene Snow was in the other lane, and had shut off early both times, and rolled through slow enough to read my times on the scoreboard. He had smoked the tires at Ennis, and shutoff from a big wheelie at Houston.

And that is "the rest of the story".

Thank you again,

Eddie
 
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FourFather

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Awesome, Happy Anniversary! :thumbsup:cheers

Thanks, Apollo, appreciate it! :thumbsup

Eddie
 

FourFather

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What a story! Thanks for sharing it with us

Thanks, Tony!

I just posted "the rest of the story"

Cheers,

Eddie
 

FourFather

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Remember the day ,God bless you and your family.

Thank you CJ428. God has, and continues to bless, us, as I hope he does for you and yours.

Cheers,

Eddie FourFather Hill
 

FourFather

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I remember clearly where I was and what I was doing when I heard this news 29 yrs ago.......Congrats Eddie (albeit a little late!)

Thanks, Cobraguy! That was a very intense weekend for us, repeated lows early on, then incredible highs as it started going our way.

Cheers,

Eddie FourFather Hill
 

FourFather

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Too cool. Love the history.

Thank you Mike.

I filled in a bit more story, in post 13.

Best wishes,

Eddie FourFather Hill
 

FourFather

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Wichita Falls, Texas 76306
A truly humbling event. You are the king Eddie. Thank you for the tremendous contributions to our sport!!!

Thank you, sir. I just feel very fortunate and blessed to have been able to chase my dreams for these many years.

May God bless you and yours-

Eddie FourFather Hill
 

FourFather

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460
Wichita Falls, Texas 76306
Nice... Happy anniversary..!! I hope you were able to contact Darrell Gwynn ..:biggrin

Thank you, STORMCAT!

I made my self a mental note to call Darrell- and then I guess I lost my note- I need to do that!

All the best,

Eddie FourFather Hill