''Pure Hell'' was an American
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. The concept was originally applied solely to those materials capable of releasing chemical energy bu ...
Altered (AA/FA)
drag racing car.
With an
wheelbase
In both road and rail vehicles, the wheelbase is the horizontal distance between the centers of the front and rear wheels. For road vehicles with more than two axles (e.g. some trucks), the wheelbase is the distance between the steering (front ...
, ''Pure Hell'' was initially powered by a
Chevrolet small-block engine Chevrolet small-block engine refers to one of a number of gasoline-powered vehicle engine
An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one or more forms of energy into mechanical energy.
Available energy sources include potential en ...
V8, mounted high in the chassis, at a steep angle, to improve traction.
Driver
Don Petrich
Don, don or DON and variants may refer to:
Places
* County Donegal, Ireland, Chapman code DON
*Don (river), a river in European Russia
*Don River (disambiguation), several other rivers with the name
*Don, Benin, a town in Benin
*Don, Dang, a vil ...
was replaced in 1965 by
Dale Emery.
The car was popular for
match racing
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 consis ...
and became notorious for refusing to run in a straight line (thanks in part to its short wheelbase), wheelstanding, and running off the strip entirely. In a 1994 interview, Emery remarked, “When it locked up at half-track, it was anybody’s guess which way it would go.”
On one occasion, at
Fremont Raceway Fremont may refer to:
Places
In the United States:
*Fremont, California - largest city with the name
**Fremont station
** Fremont station (BART)
** Fremont Central Park
*Fremont, Yolo County, California
* Fremont, Illinois
*Fremont Center, Illi ...
, the car landed upside-down in a flooded ditch after an improperly fastened steering wheel came off the steering column.
After ''Pure Hell'' was outfitted with a
hemi and better clutch in 1968, the car was entered in a 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 Championship Drag Races at
Riverside (and bettering Borsch's pass of the year before), a speed no Altered would surpass that season.
''Pure Hell'' was wrecked in a highway accident when the
transporter
Transporter may refer to:
* Transporter (vehicles), types of vehicles designed to transport items
* Transporter wagon, a railway car designed to carry another railway car
* Volkswagen Transporter, a model of van
* Transporter bridge, a bridge wh ...
crashed near
Deming, New Mexico, in 1970.
References
1960s cars
1970s cars
Drag racing cars
Rear-wheel-drive vehicles
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