Bruce Larson (1937) is an American retired
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 ...
from
Camp Hill, Pennsylvania
Camp Hill is a borough in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania. It is southwest of Harrisburg and is part of the Harrisburg–Carlisle metropolitan statistical area. The population was 7,888 at the 2010 census. There are many large corporations bas ...
. He became nationally known for his match races. He quit
funny Car racing in 1972 after a bad fire and raced in the Pro Stock class for 2 years. He then returned to the Funny Car class and match racing until 1987 where he fought his way to the NHRA Funny Car Championship in 1989.He led the points chase from start to finish collecting 6 National Event wins, 5 runner ups and the Car Craft Funny Car Driver of the Year award. That championship car is now one of only 2 drag race cars in the collection of the Smithsonian Institution, the other being Don Garlits' rear engine dragster. He was inducted into the International Drag Racing Hall of Fame in 2006. Larson is remembered for his red, white, and blue USA-1
Chevrolet Camaros
Racing career
Larson began
drag racing
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 ...
as a 16-year-old at
Linden, New Jersey
Linden is a city in southeastern Union County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is part of the New York Metropolitan Area, located about southwest of Manhattan and bordering Staten Island, a borough of New York City, across the Arthur Kill ...
in a chopped
fenderless 1932 Ford coupe.
Over the next ten years, he consistently won at local tracks using that car and later a 1954 Oldsmobile and a 1932 Chevrolet A/Gas coupe.
In 1965, he switched from the coupes to a 1963
Ford Cobra and immediately set records in NHRA's A/Sport and AA/Sport classes.
He used the car to win the NHRA Winternationals, Springnationals, and U.S. Nationals.
Larson was working at a
Chevrolet
Chevrolet ( ), colloquially referred to as Chevy and formally the Chevrolet Motor Division of General Motors Company, is an American automobile division of the American manufacturer General Motors (GM). Louis Chevrolet (1878–1941) and ous ...
dealership at the time and he formed a Chevrolet-based
Funny Car
Funny Car is a type of drag racing vehicle and a specific racing class in organized drag racing. Funny cars are characterized by having tilt-up fiberglass or carbon fiber automotive bodies over a custom-fabricated chassis, giving them an appea ...
team with Greg Sutliff, the dealership's owner.
They built a fiberglass-bodied 1966
Chevrolet Chevelle
The Chevrolet Chevelle is a mid-sized automobile that was produced by Chevrolet in three generations for the 1964 through 1978 model years. Part of the General Motors (GM) A-body platform, the Chevelle was one of Chevrolet's most successful ...
and toured the country in match races.
Larson had a 7.41-second run in 1968 in his Logghe Camaro which broke the all-time Funny Car elapsed time (e.t.) record.
In 1969, he received national recognition when he won the Super Stock Nationals at
York, Pennsylvania
York ( Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Yarrick''), known as the White Rose City (after the symbol of the House of York), is the county seat of York County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located in the south-central region of the state. The populati ...
.
He added a "USA-1" license plate to his Chevrolets, painted the dragster car red, white, and blue and added "USA-1" decals to the side.
Larson did not have a major sponsor until he found Datcon/Sentry in 1985.
That year he switched from Chevrolet to
Oldsmobile
Oldsmobile or formally the Oldsmobile Division of General Motors was a brand of American automobiles, produced for most of its existence by General Motors. Originally established as "Olds Motor Vehicle Company" by Ransom E. Olds in 1897, it produ ...
and teamed up with world champion
Joe Amato.
The two shared information. Larson won his first national funny car win at the Cajun Nationals.
Larson hired Pennsylvania
sprint car racer Maynard Yingst as his crew chief to tune and set up the car and moved Don Milletics to the chief engineer position.
Larson started 1989 by winning the Winternationals.
He won at Springnationals, Mile-High nationals, Seafair nationals, Fallnationals, and the Winston Finals, plus finished second at five additional events.
He led the season points standings from start to finish to claim the 1989 NHRA Funny Car national championship.
He was voted ''
Car Craft
''Car Craft'' was a magazine devoted to automobiles, hot rodding, and drag racing. It was published by the Motor Trend Group. It was established in 1953. The magazine published articles directed at inexperienced and expert car mechanics, such as ...
'' magazine's Funny Car Driver of the Year.
Larson raced his first
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 3.62 seconds ...
car in June 1992. He took over "Big Daddy"
Don Garlits
Donald Glenn Garlits (born January 14, 1932, Tampa, Florida) is an American race car driver and automotive engineer. Considered the father of drag racing, he is known as "Big Daddy" to drag racing fans around the world. A pioneer in the field o ...
' car and won 4 IHRA National events when Garlits retired due to a detached
retina
The retina (from la, rete "net") is the innermost, light-sensitive layer of tissue of the eye of most vertebrates and some molluscs. The optics of the eye create a focused two-dimensional image of the visual world on the retina, which then ...
. Garlits closed his operation in 1995. Larson helped Garlits work on his dragster during his 2002 comeback.
Awards
He was inducted in numerous Halls of Fame.
Don Garlits
Donald Glenn Garlits (born January 14, 1932, Tampa, Florida) is an American race car driver and automotive engineer. Considered the father of drag racing, he is known as "Big Daddy" to drag racing fans around the world. A pioneer in the field o ...
' International Drag Racing Hall of Fame inducted Larson in 2006.
Larson was inducted in the East Coast Drag Times Hall of Fame in 2003, and the Eastern Motorsports Press Association Hall of Fame in 2004, the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame in 1993, and the Super Stock Magazine Drag Racing Hall of Fame in 1995.
Other awards that he received during his career include: the
Al Holbert
Alvah Robert "Al" Holbert (November 11, 1946 – September 30, 1988) was an American automobile racing driver who was a five-time champion of the IMSA Camel GT series. He once held the record with the most IMSA race wins at 49.
Life and career
...
Memorial Award, the 1989
Car Craft
''Car Craft'' was a magazine devoted to automobiles, hot rodding, and drag racing. It was published by the Motor Trend Group. It was established in 1953. The magazine published articles directed at inexperienced and expert car mechanics, such as ...
magazine Driver of the year, the 1989 Eastern Motorsport Press Association Driver of the Year, 1980
Jungle Jim Liberman Memorial Award, and the ’89 NHRA Northeast Division N.E.D. of the Year Award.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Larson, Bruce
Living people
Year of birth missing (living people)
Dragster drivers
People from Camp Hill, Pennsylvania
People from Linden, New Jersey
Racing drivers from New Jersey
Racing drivers from Pennsylvania