Dale Emery
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Dale Emery (d. March 2018Burgess, Phil, ''National Dragster'' editor. "Remembering Dale Emery", written 23 March 2018, a
NHRA.com
(retrieved 23 October 2018)
), nicknamed "The Snail" (sometimes "Schnoz"), was an American
drag racer Drag racing is a type of motor racing in which automobiles or motorcycles compete, usually two at a time, to be first to cross a set finish line. The race follows a short, straight course from a standing start over a measured distance, most c ...
. Emery raced
Fuel A fuel is any material that can be made to react with other substances so that it releases energy as thermal energy or to be used for work (physics), work. The concept was originally applied solely to those materials capable of releasing chem ...
Altereds and Funny Cars, and briefly in wheelstanders,Burgess, Phil, ''National Dragster'' editor. "Dale Emery: A life of Pure Hell, wild rides, and big wins", written 14 August 2012, a
NHRA.com
(retrieved 23 October 2018)
as well as serving as crew chief for several top teams.


Personal life

Emery was born in
Stillwater, Oklahoma Stillwater is the tenth-largest city in the U.S. state of Oklahoma, and the county seat of Payne County, Oklahoma, Payne County. It is located in north-central Oklahoma at the intersection of U.S. Route 177#Oklahoma, U.S. Route 177 and Oklahoma S ...
and was raised in Northern California. Emery was easy-going and fun-loving, friendly with Willie Borsch, Dale Funk, Rich Guasco, and John "Tarzan" Austin, and long-time friends with
Pat Galvin Patrick Galvin (30 March 1911 – 24 September 1980) was an Australian politician. Biography Born in Quorn, South Australia, he was educated at Rostrevor College. Galvin was an engineer by profession, but became involved in the trade unio ...
. While generous with tools and equipment, even to competitors, he was also extremely hard-working and focused in dealing with his racing. He was married to Brenda, and lived near
Dallas, Texas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...
. Emery died after a prolonged illness.


Career

In 1955, he began racing, starting with a C/G ‘41 Chevrolet coupé gassers. He moved up to
fuel A fuel is any material that can be made to react with other substances so that it releases energy as thermal energy or to be used for work (physics), work. The concept was originally applied solely to those materials capable of releasing chem ...
cars in 1959, running a rear-engined coupé. He returned to the gas classes in 1960, at the wheel of a dragster, before taking the wheel of car owner Woody Parker's
Top Fuel Top Fuel is a type of drag racing whose dragsters are the quickest accelerating racing cars in the world and the fastest sanctioned category of drag racing, with the fastest competitors reaching speeds of and finishing the runs in 3.641 second ...
dragster (TF/D) in 1962. That car was built by Pete Ogden, who also built the ''Pure Hell'' Fuel Altered (AA/FA) for Rich Guasco. When Don Petrich quit the ''Pure Hell'' team in 1965, Emery replaced him, and stayed five seasons; he frequently
match race A match race is a race between two competitors, going head-to-head. In sailboat racing it is differentiated from a fleet race, which almost always involves three or more competitors competing against each other, and team racing where teams cons ...
d his friend
"Wild Willie" Borsch Willie Borsch (February 19, 1930 – October 1, 1991), nicknamed "Wild Willie", was an American AA/FA and funny car drag racer. History Borsch started racing in Altereds in 1960 with ''Winged Express'', built by Borsch and partner Al "Mou ...
. It was while driving ''Pure Hell'' he met D. Gannt, who was a crewman for Borsch, during that time.Burgess, Phil, ''National Dragster'' editor. "Remembering Dale Emery", written 23 March 2018, a
NHRA.com
(retrieved 23 October 2018)2018)
''Pure Hell'' was entered in a 1968 showdown event between Funny Cars and Altereds at OCIR; Emery won the event. A week later, he recorded a pass, on his way to winning the ''Hot Rod'' Magazine Championships at
Riverside Raceway Riverside International Raceway (sometimes known as Riverside, RIR, or Riverside Raceway) was a motorsports race track and Road racing, road course established in the Edgemont area of Riverside County, California, just east of the city limits ...
(and bettering Borsch's pass of the year before), a speed no Altered would surpass that season. After ''Pure Hell'' was wrecked, Guasco fielded a ''Pure Hell'' Funny Car; Emery denies ever driving the car, though some sources say he did. Of his time with Guasco's team, Emery said, “Driving the Pure Hell was the most fun of anything I ever did. There was no money to be made doing it, but we did it because we liked racing.” From Guasco's AA/FA team, Emery went to the fuel
slingshot A slingshot or catapult is a small hand-powered projectile weapon. The classic form consists of a Y-shaped frame, with two tubes or strips made from either a natural rubber or synthetic elastic material. These are attached to the upper two ends ...
of the Rousin-O’Hare team in 1970, where he spent six months and won TF/D at DIMS. His next ride was in partnership with
Gary Watson Garrowby Watson (born 13 June 1930), known professionally as Gary Watson, is a retired British actor. Early in his career he appeared in Friedrich Hebbel's 1962 play ''Judith'' at Her Majesty's Theatre in London, with Sean Connery. He made mo ...
on the ''Flying Red Baron'' wheelstander
Mustang The mustang is a free-roaming horse of the Western United States, descended from horses brought to the Americas by the Spanish conquistadors. Mustangs are often referred to as wild horses, but because they are descended from once-domesticate ...
, which he helped build—and crashed. After the rollover, Emery refused to drive it again, believing "it was too much of a clown deal" Emery first encountered "Waterbed Fred" Miller, with whom he would continue to associate for more than fifty years, when Emery and Gannt came into
Bob Riggle Robert Dunbar Riggle (born February 5, 1944) is an American former professional football player who was a defensive back for the Atlanta Falcons of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Penn State Nittany Lions ...
's
Mansfield, Ohio Mansfield is a city in Richland County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. The population was 47,534 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Located approximately from Cleveland and Columbus, Ohio, Columbus via Interstate 71, it i ...
, shop with ''Flying Red Baron''. Delivering Don and Roy Gay's ''Infinity'' to Riggle, who had just purchased the funny car, led to Emery driving for the new owner. Riggle owned the famous ''Hemi Under Glass'' wheelstander, and gave Emery his first Funny Car ride. Emery later worked for Sam Harris at Chaparral trailers. Starting a Funny Car team in 1973, Jeg Coughlin, Sr. hired Emery to drive for him; he was joined by Gantt (then on
Willie Borsch Willie Borsch (February 19, 1930 – October 1, 1991), nicknamed "Wild Willie", was an American AA/FA and funny car drag racer. History Borsch started racing in Altereds in 1960 with ''Winged Express'', built by Borsch and partner Al "Mou ...
's crew) and Miller. Coughlin's
Chevrolet Camaro The Chevrolet Camaro is a mid-size American automobile manufactured by Chevrolet, classified as a pony car. It first went on sale on September 29, 1966, for the 1967 model year and was designed to compete with the Ford Mustang. The Camaro sha ...
won the IHRA national event at Bristol that year, taking a win over
Pat Foster Pat Foster (born June 22, 1939) is an American former college basketball coach. He served as the head men's basketball coach at Lamar University (1980–1986), University of Houston (1986–1993), and the University of Nevada, Reno (1993–1999) ...
in Barry Setzer's
Vega Vega is the brightest star in the northern constellation of Lyra. It has the Bayer designation α Lyrae, which is Latinised to Alpha Lyrae and abbreviated Alpha Lyr or α Lyr. This star is relatively close at only from the Sun, and ...
. Emery won Funny Car at Le Grandnational at Sanair in 1973, defeating
Frank Mancuso Frank Octavius Mancuso (May 23, 1918 – August 4, 2007) was an American professional baseball player and, served as a Houston City Council member for 30 years after his sports career had ended. He played as a catcher in Major League Basebal ...
in the final. At the U.S. Nationals, Emery qualified #10, and was eliminated in round one by #2 qualifier "Jungle Jim" Liberman. The same month, he won the IHRA All American Nationals at
Bristol Motor Speedway Bristol Motor Speedway (formerly known as the Bristol International Raceway from 1978 to 1996 and as the Bristol International Speedway from 1961 to 1978) is a oval Oval track racing#Short track, short track in Bristol, Tennessee. The track ha ...
, defeating top qualifier
Raymond Beadle Raymond Beadle (December 16, 1943October 20, 2014) was an American drag racer and auto racing team owner. Beadle was perhaps best known as the driver and owner of the ''Blue Max'' Top Fuel funny car. Beadle won three consecutive NHRA Funny Car ...
in the final, and lost to Foster at the IHRA U.S. Open at
North Carolina Motor Speedway Rockingham Speedway and Entertainment Complex (formerly known as North Carolina Speedway from 1998 to 2007 and North Carolina Motor Speedway from 1965 to 1996) is a D-shaped oval track in Rockingham, North Carolina, United States. The track h ...
in Rockingham, North Carolina. He also reached the final round in the 1973 Supernationals at
Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...
, being eliminated by Tom "Mongoose" McEwen,. Emery finished the 1973 season in spectacular fashion. "Mongoose" McEwen, though successful as a
match racer A match is a tool for starting a fire. Typically, matches are made of small wooden sticks or stiff paper. One end is coated with a material that can be ignited by friction generated by striking the match against a suitable surface. Wooden matc ...
, had yet to win his first NHRA national event; his 1973 Duster qualified #17 and only made the field at all after Bobby Rowe could not race. Emery reached the semifinal (having recorded a best pass of 6.28), where he faced Don "The Snake" Prudhomme, who was eager to face teammate McEwen. Going to the staging lights, Emery had a fuel line fitting leaking at one
injector An injector is a system of ducting and nozzles used to direct the flow of a high-pressure fluid in such a way that a lower pressure fluid is Entrainment (hydrodynamics), entrained in the jet and carried through a duct to a region of higher pres ...
, but hoped it would survive the pass. Instead, the supercharger exploded and the body blew off the chassis, flipping the car over and slamming into the hay bales at the end of the strip. Replacing the destroyed one with a new, lighter body (Emery always passionate about weight reduction), qualifying #6, the team defeated "Snake" Prudhomme and Dale Pulde, to meet the 1973 Vega of Frank Hall in the final, and win Funny Car, at the
Winternats The Winternats is a competitive on-road gas powered radio controlled car race attended by racers from around the world. It is held annually in Fort Myers, Florida at the Lee County Civic Center, usually in the month of February. The Winternats i ...
in 1974, taking home a purse of US$13,800. When Coughlin stopped touring with his team, the Emery and Gannt combination provided two wins at NHRA national events that year before Coughlin decided to quit racing to focus on his mail order business. Emery quit in a disagreement over pay, and went back to Chaparral. Emery briefly drove the
Vega Vega is the brightest star in the northern constellation of Lyra. It has the Bayer designation α Lyrae, which is Latinised to Alpha Lyrae and abbreviated Alpha Lyr or α Lyr. This star is relatively close at only from the Sun, and ...
, owned by Fuel Altered racers Leroy Chadderton and Glen Okazaki (the car later raced in Britain as ''Gladiator''), turning in one pass at 6.99 with the car on fire, after a
valve lifter A tappet or valve lifter is a valve train component which converts rotational motion into linear motion in activating a poppet valve, valve. It is most commonly found in internal combustion engines, where it converts the rotational motion of the ...
failure. At the 1975 IHRA World Nationals, Emery qualified Gene "Snowman" Snow's Vega #5, only to be eliminated in the first round by #1 qualifier (and eventual event winner) Dale Pulde. In 1976 and 1977, Emery and “Big Mike” Burkhart worked together, making the final at the first ever NHRA Cajun Nationals, where Emery lost to Beadle. The duo also had peculiarly bad luck against McEwen. Emery wrecked Burkhart's silver
Camaro The Chevrolet Camaro is a mid-size American automobile manufactured by Chevrolet, classified as a pony car. It first went on sale on September 29, 1966, for the 1967 model year and was designed to compete with the Ford Mustang. The Camaro sha ...
fuel funny car at the 1977 U.S. Nationals. Though track marshals had to cut him from the car, Emery suffered only a broken bone in his left arm, which was pierced by the lever of the fuel shut-off valve. It proved to be his last race. The day after his 1977 wreck, Emery returned to the track with his arm in a cast, and was offered the chance to tune the ''Blue Max'', which had been in the left lane the day before, by Beadle; Emery hesitated to accept, having only ever tuned his own cars before that. When Beadle also offered to let Emery work as a substitute driver, he accepted. He eventually joined the team and, working with Miller and Gannt, Emery drove ''Blue Max'', hired by Beadle (on behalf of car owner and team tuner Harry Schmidt). Emery transformed the troubled team into one "that dominated Funny Car in the late 1970s and 1980s". 1978 was a difficult year for Emery. The ''Blue Max'' had been a top ten car three years running before that, but suffered persistent fuel system difficulties, keeping the car from even doing successful
burnout Burnout or burn-out may refer to: Entertainment * ''Burnout'' (film), a 2017 Moroccan film * ''Burn Out'' (film), a 2017 French film * Burnout (ride), a Funfields amusement ride in Australia * ''Burnout'' (series), a racing game series created by ...
s, for most of a year. When that was cured, ''Blue Max'' promptly won at
Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...
,
Boise Boise ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Idaho. As of the 2020 census, there were 235,685 people residing in the city. Located on the Boise River in southwestern Idaho, it is east of the Oregon border and nor ...
, and
Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more t ...
. Qualifying for the 1978 Nationals, the team recorded their first five-second pass, a 5.98, making Beadle just the second driver in the fives. They closed 1978 by defeating Tom "Mongoo$e" McEwen at the World Finals. This was precursor to winning NHRA's Funny Car championship the next three seasons in a row. In 1979, Emery tuned ''Blue Max'' to final round finishes at the Winternationals, Springnationals, and Mile-High Nationals, and wins at the Summernationals and Fallnationals, just edging out
Don Prudhomme Don Prudhomme (born April 6, 1941, in San Fernando, California), nicknamed "the Snake", is an American drag racer. He was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 1991. Racing career Prudhomme crewed for "TV Tommy" Ivo on Ivo's ...
. ''Blue Max'' took three event wins and two final-round finishes in 1980, easily beating Billy Meyer, and capped a victorious 1981 season with a win at NHRA's most prestigious event, the U.S. Nats. Beadle's increasing attention on
NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. It is considered to be one of the top ranked motorsports organizations in ...
left the ''Blue Max'' suffering, though Emery tuned the car, driven by "Lil' John" Lombardo, to a win at Indy in 1985; it was eventually sold in 1990. Following the sale of ''Blue Max'', Emery opened Dale Emery Fuel Systems, to provide
fuel pump A Fuel pump is a component used in many liquid-fuelled engines (such as petrol/gasoline or diesel engines) to transfer the fuel from the fuel tank to the device where it is mixed with the intake air (such as the carburetor or fuel inject ...
s and
fuel injector Fuel injection is the introduction of fuel in an internal combustion engine, most commonly automotive engines, by the means of a fuel injector. This article focuses on fuel injection in reciprocating piston and Wankel rotary engines. All co ...
s for
nostalgia drag racing Nostalgia drag racing is a form of drag racing that uses cars from earlier eras of drag racing, as well as cars built to fit the guidelines of earlier eras using parts that would have been available in that era. The cars raced are a mixture between ...
teams, as well a small number of existing teams. By 2012, he was supplying a ''Blue Max'' nostalgia funny car team.


Incidents

Emery survived a couple of frightening incidents. While driving ''Pure Hell'' at
Fremont Dragstrip The Fremont Dragstrip was a racing venue for Drag racing, dragster automobiles that was located in Fremont, California in the San Francisco Bay Area, operating from 1959 until the end of 1988. In its final years, it was part of Baylands Raceway ...
, an improperly fastened steering wheel came off the steering column, and the car ended up in a flooded ditch, upside down, forcing him to hold his breath until the car could be righted. While racing at the 1977 U.S. Nationals, Burkhart's silver Camaro fuel funny car got out of shape, veering toward the centerline (reminiscent of an Altered), then swerved toward the guardrail and abruptly stood on its nose, something never seen before or since (through 2012), rotating along the rail two or three times before coming to rest.Burgess, Phil, ''National Dragster'' editor. "Dale Emery: A life of Pure Hell, wild rides, and big wins", written 14 August 2012, a
NHRA.com
(retrieved 23 October 2018); Burgess, Phil, ''National Dragster'' editor. "Dale Emery: A life of Pure Hell, wild rides, and big wins", written 14 August 2012, a
NHRA.com
(retrieved 23 October 2018)
Though track marshals had to cut him from the car, Emery suffered only a broken bone in his left arm, which was pierced by the lever of the fuel shut-off valve. It proved to be his last race.


Talent

Besides being a driver, Emery was a skilled innovator and engineer, able to conceive and build parts when needed, including the team's first sixteen-
plug Plug, PLUG, plugs, or plugged may refer to: * Plug, an insertive closure or stopper (plug) ** Core plug, used to fill the casting holes on engines ** Butt plug, a sex toy that is inserted into the rectum ** Earplug for ear protection ** Plug (s ...
head A head is the part of an organism which usually includes the ears, brain, forehead, cheeks, chin, eyes, nose, and mouth, each of which aid in various sensory functions such as sight, hearing, smell, and taste. Some very simple ani ...
s, as well as a revival of an old idea, dual
magneto A magneto is an electrical generator that uses permanent magnets to produce periodic pulses of alternating current. Unlike a dynamo, a magneto does not contain a commutator to produce direct current. It is categorized as a form of alternator, ...
s. His ability to innovate, and to build from scratch, has been compared to Dick LaHaie, Alan Johnson, Tim Richards,
Austin Coil Austin refers to: Common meanings * Austin, Texas, United States, a city * Austin (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin (surname), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin Motor Company, a British car manufactu ...
, and
Don Garlits Donald Glenn Garlits (born January 14, 1932) is an American race car driver and automotive engineer. Born in Tampa, Florida, Garlits is considered the father of drag racing, he is known as "Big Daddy" to drag racing fans around the world. A pion ...
.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Emery, Dale Dragster drivers 2018 deaths Year of birth missing