Oct 21, 2026 · 48 min · 12 segments
This is the story of Tommy Howes' 6.99-second quarter mile run at the 1988 IHRA Summer Nationals told in its complete form. From the tech that went into building the car, the men who tuned it, the…
In the 1980s, there was no rule set for full-bodied cars running supercharged engines on methanol.
Not only were there not rules, in places like California, these cars were having their very existence threatened, and track operators who ran them were also feeling the heat from the NHRA.
But in that period of time, there was a value in being two thousand miles away on the East Coast.
There was no internet, no cell phone video, and the power of NHRA's seven division directors was in many way absolute for the areas they oversaw.
He told them to keep their noses clean, keep their names out of the negative headlines, and he clearly saw the value of the show they brought to the strips they raced at, knowing that trying to rub this group out would hurt the sport and the businesses of the tracks he oversaw.
They settled on wearing the same level of safety gear required by alcohol funny car racers, garnering the highest echelon of NHRA competition license they could hold with their seven and eight-second machines, and even using similar equipment like double wall style headers and more.
By all accounts, the relationship was a solid one, both sides understanding the other and respecting them.
But where did this all start? In reality, it began with three crazy guys, Camp Stanley, Tommy House, and Nelson Grimes.
These dudes had made such a name for themselves in the late 1970s by running eight-second, occasionally one hundred and seventy mile per hour blown door cars on alcohol that in 1979, Car Craft magazine featured the cars which were animals for their time and place.
They were the outlaws, as you'll learn, and the seed they planted germinated, and it grew fast.
The Wild Bunch was formed in the late 1970s to early 1980s at Maryland International Raceway.
As the fable goes, the Wild Bunch began one crazy night when track operator Todd Mack at Maryland International Raceway was waiting on jet cars to show up that never did.
Short on jet cars and trying to make a show, he talked Tommy House into a handicap race with a jet-powered car.
Soon, a group of racers with other such blown machines formed a group and were able to take their unique and sometimes bizarre act on the road.
House soon transferred from the Camaro to a Datsun 280Z built by Maryland chassis fabricator Bob Rizzoli at his small shop, RCD.
Danny Brightwell had a wheel-standing blown Camaro, and the list goes on and on.
None of these cars were remotely legal for NHRA or IHRA competition at this time for one simple reason, and that was their fuel.
In the 1980s, there was no rule set for full-bodied cars running supercharged engines on methanol.
Not only were there not rules, in places like California, these cars were having their very existence threatened, and track operators who ran them were also feeling the heat from the NHRA.
But in that period of time, there was a value in being two thousand miles away on the East Coast.
There was no internet, no cell phone video, and the power of NHRA's seven division directors was in many way absolute for the areas they oversaw.
He told them to keep their noses clean, keep their names out of the negative headlines, and he clearly saw the value of the show they brought to the strips they raced at, knowing that trying to rub this group out would hurt the sport and the businesses of the tracks he oversaw.
They settled on wearing the same level of safety gear required by alcohol funny car racers, garnering the highest echelon of NHRA competition license they could hold with their seven and eight-second machines, and even using similar equipment like double wall style headers and more.
By all accounts, the relationship was a solid one, both sides understanding the other and respecting them.
But where did this all start? In reality, it began with three crazy guys, Camp Stanley, Tommy House, and Nelson Grimes.
These dudes had made such a name for themselves in the late 1970s by running eight-second, occasionally one hundred and seventy mile per hour blown door cars on alcohol that in 1979, Car Craft magazine featured the cars which were animals for their time and place.
They were the outlaws, as you'll learn, and the seed they planted germinated, and it grew fast.
The Wild Bunch was formed in the late 1970s to early 1980s at Maryland International Raceway.
As the fable goes, the Wild Bunch began one crazy night when track operator Todd Mack at Maryland International Raceway was waiting on jet cars to show up that never did.
Short on jet cars and trying to make a show, he talked Tommy House into a handicap race with a jet-powered car.
Soon, a group of racers with other such blown machines formed a group and were able to take their unique and sometimes bizarre act on the road.
House soon transferred from the Camaro to a Datsun 280Z built by Maryland chassis fabricator Bob Rizzoli at his small shop, RCD.
Danny Brightwell had a wheel-standing blown Camaro, and the list goes on and on.
None of these cars were remotely legal for NHRA or IHRA competition at this time for one simple reason, and that was their fuel.
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