Don Nicholson (May 28, 1927 – January 24, 2006) 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 ...

from

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

. He raced in the 1960s and 1970s when there were few national events. The

National Hot Rod Association The National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) is a drag racing governing body, which sets rules in drag racing and hosts events all over the United States and Canada. With over 40,000 drivers in its rosters, the NHRA claims to be the largest motorspo ...

(NHRA) estimates he won 90 percent of his match races. As of 2002, he held the record for the most number of categories in which he reached a final round (won or took second at an event):

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 ...

, Pro Stock, Super Stock, Competition Eliminator,

Stock In finance, stock (also capital stock) consists of all the shares by which ownership of a corporation or company is divided.Longman Business English Dictionary: "stock - ''especially AmE'' one of the shares into which ownership of a company ...

, and Street. He was nicknamed "Dyno Don" after he was one of the first drivers to use a chassis

dynamometer A dynamometer or "dyno" for short, is a device for simultaneously measuring the torque and rotational speed (RPM) of an engine, motor or other rotating prime mover so that its instantaneous power may be calculated, and usually displayed by the ...

on his cars in the late 1950s, a skill that he learned while working as a line mechanic 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 ...

car dealer.

Racing career

Nicholson was born at Halltown, Missouri but was raised at

Pasadena, California Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial district. I ...

. While in high school, he joined the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

which wiped out his many speeding tickets, earned at the wheel of a twin- 97-equipped Stovebolt-powered 1934 Chevy coupé (run without front fenders), which he (illegally) street raced; almost everyone else raced Fords. Nicholson began organized racing in jalopies on

oval track Oval track racing is a form of closed-circuit motorsport that is contested on an oval-shaped race track. An oval track differs from a road course in that the layout resembles an oval with turns in only one direction, and the direction of traff ...

s in the late 1940s before quitting in 1949, because his friends were frequently killed. He moved to the

dry lake A dry lake bed, also known as a playa, is a basin or depression that formerly contained a standing surface water body, which disappears when evaporation processes exceeds recharge. If the floor of a dry lake is covered by deposits of alkaline c ...

s at the Bonneville and El Mirage. He was already an experienced driver when drag strips began opening in Southern California. In the 1940s, Nicholson did body work and engine building, but did not drive.Baskerville, p.81. During the 1950s, Nicholson was a manager at Service Chevrolet. He got a job with Mead Chevrolet in Pasadena in 1958. Nicholson got his nickname "Dyno Don" by being the first person to be trained on Service's

(dyno). In 1961, Nally Chevrolet lured Nicholson to move his family to

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

by giving him his own dyno shop and race car.

Drag racing

In 1958, Nicholson acted as tuner for the Greth Brothers B/Fuel Dragster, based out of

Monrovia, California Monrovia is a city in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains in the San Gabriel Valley of Los Angeles County, California, United States. The population was 37,931 at the 2020 census. Monrovia has been used for filming TV shows, movies and co ...

.''National Dragster'' online
(retrieved 15 September 1018) At Bakersfield on 3 August 1958, with Bill Crossley at the wheel, this car was the first West Coast dragster to record a pass; the

small-block The Chevrolet small-block engine is a series of gasoline-powered, V-8 automobile engines, produced by the Chevrolet division of General Motors between 1954 and 2003, using the same basic engine block. Referred to as a "small-block" for its size ...

powered digger took the B/F title, beating

Emory Cook Emory may refer to: Places * Emory, Texas, U.S. * Emory (crater), on the moon * Emory Peak, in Texas, U.S. * Emory River, in Tennessee, U.S. Education * Emory and Henry College, or simply Emory, in Emory, Virginia, U.S. * Emory University ...

for Top Eliminator, at that meet, too. Nicholson became nationally known to drag racing fans when he won the Stock class at NHRA's first Winternationals in

1961 Events January * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and consular relations with Cuba ( Cuba–United States relations are restored in 2015). ** Aero Flight 311 ...

with a 12-second pass; he and Ronnie Sox raced the only two Chevrolets, when Fords were the standard. The win helped his business in Southern California, and gave him access to factory-developed Chevrolets and special racing parts. He repeated as the 1962 Winternationals winner. He received lucrative offers from promoters in the

Southeastern United States The Southeastern United States, also referred to as the American Southeast or simply the Southeast, is a geographical region of the United States. It is located broadly on the eastern portion of the southern United States and the southern por ...

, so moved to

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

to compete in

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 consi ...

s. Chevrolet and the other American car manufacturers decided to drop their factory backing in 1963 and his vehicle became uncompetitive. He switched to a

Mercury Comet The Mercury Comet is an automobile that was produced by Mercury from 1960–1969 and 1971–1977 — variously as either a compact or an intermediate car. In its first two years, it was marketed as the "Comet" and from 1962 as the "Mercury Comet ...

for 1964 in the A/Factory Experimental (A/FX) class. He won over 90 percent of match races he entered that year. That year he made the first 10-second pass in a doorslammer, as well as being the first driver to lift the front wheels when he shifted gears.

Funny Car

In 1965, Dodge and Plymouth teams moved their front and rear wheels forward, giving them greater traction. These new "

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 ...

s" were not allowed in NHRA meets. Ford disallowed their factory-supported Ford and Mercury teams competing against these new Mopar funny cars. Nicholson was concerned about losing his match racing income since his car was outclassed. That August, he converted his steel-bodied

four-speed In physics, in particular in special relativity and general relativity, a four-velocity is a four-vector in four-dimensional spacetimeTechnically, the four-vector should be thought of as residing in the tangent space of a point in spacetime, spacet ...

car to ah A/FX, switching to

nitromethane Nitromethane, sometimes shortened to simply "nitro", is an organic compound with the chemical formula . It is the simplest organic nitro compound. It is a polar liquid commonly used as a solvent in a variety of industrial applications such as in ...

and

fuel injection Fuel injection is the introduction of fuel in an internal combustion engine, most commonly automotive engines, by the means of an injector. This article focuses on fuel injection in reciprocating piston and Wankel rotary engines. All comp ...

and moving the rear axle forward . Several weeks later, he defeated the Ramcharger Dodge, the top Mopar entry, with a 9.30 second pass at . Mercury commissioned a new tube chassis Comet for 1966. The Logghe Bros.-built car featured a one piece flip-top body. Nicholson's car, ''Eliminator I'', was rarely defeated that season. It clocked the first 7-second e.t. in Funny Car at Michigan in the second half of 1966. The only driver capable of defeating ''Eliminator I'' was Nicholson's teammate Eddie Schartman. Nicholson was so dominant, critics predicted the demise of the new Funny Car "craze". He enjoyed another highly successful year in ''Eliminator II'' in 1967, until other teams started adding

supercharger In an internal combustion engine, a supercharger compresses the intake gas, forcing more air into the engine in order to produce more power for a given displacement. The current categorisation is that a supercharger is a form of forced induct ...

s late in the year. Other teams had run superchargers before, but by the middle of 1967, tire technology had caught up to the power produced by these cars and they began to "hook up" better rather than just spin the tires. Nicholson started the 1968 season with his now-supercharged Comet. He won the Irwindale New Year's Day race, where he qualified number two with a 8.03 and went on to set low e.t. of the meet at 7.99, and won the event. At the AHRA meet at Lion's Dragway in January, he qualified number one (low e.t.) with a strong 7.63 but failed to win the meet. He did win the second annual Stardust National Open, beating Schartman in the final round, with a 7.83 pass, low e.t. of the meet. Most of Nicholson's earnings at this time came from match race competition. During 1968, Nicholson became concerned about engine fires caused by blower explosions.

Super Stock/Pro Stock

After the 1968 season, Nicholson organized a match racing group, along with Ronnie Sox (of Sox & Martin), Bill "Grumpy" Jenkins, and "Dandy Dick" Landy. These Super Stock cars were a throwback to the A/FXs of the mid-1960s. The four-speed carburated cars raced heads-up (instead of handicapped like the NHRA did).

"The Funny Cars had just gotten too out of hand," said Nicholson. "They no longer resembled what Detroit was trying to sell. Chrysler already had backed out of Funny Car racing in 1967 when they had Sox & Martin and Landy start their Super Stock clinics. We just wanted to get our original fans back."

Nicholson converted a Jerry Harvey 1966 A/FX

Ford Mustang The Ford Mustang is a series of American automobiles manufactured by Ford. In continuous production since 1964, the Mustang is currently the longest-produced Ford car nameplate. Currently in its sixth generation, it is the fifth-best selli ...

to Super Stock, and used the car to win Street in A/Modified Production at the 1969 Springnationals. The popularity of the 9 second heads-up racers led to NHRA forming Pro Stock in 1970. Nicholson prepared at

Ford Maverick Ford has marketed the following automobiles models using the Ford Maverick nameplate: * The Ford Maverick (1970–1977), a compact car sold in North America and Brazil during the 1970s * The rebadged Nissan Patrol Y60 sold by Ford Australia under ...

for the Winternationals in seven days, but did not win. The car was dominant on the match racing circuit, winning 45 straight rounds. Nicholson's Maverick earned Ford's first NHRA Pro Stock win at the Summernationals in

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses ( February 25, July 22 and August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 10, and August 6). The world population increased by 2.1% this year, the highest increase in history. Events Ja ...

. He switched to a 351 Cleveland-powered

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for 1972. He started the 1973 season by winning three consecutive national events at the American Hot Rod Association (AHRA) Winternationals, NHRA Winternationals, and NHRA

Gatornationals The Gatornationals is an annual National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) national drag racing event held each March at Gainesville Raceway in Gainesville, Florida. The event was held for the first time in 1970. The traditional East Coast opener and ...

. In 1973, following an NHRA rule change to allow records to be set at any national meet, at the Winternationals, Nicholson set the first official Super Stock e.t. record with a 9.33; later at the same event, he turned in a 9.01 second/ pass, breaking his own e.t. record, and Bill Jenkins' speed record, set earlier at the same meet. Nicholson finished second at the 1974

U.S. Nationals United States nationality law details the conditions in which a person holds United States nationality. In the United States, nationality is typically obtained through provisions in the U.S. Constitution, various laws, and international agree ...

and 1976 Summernats.

1977 Pro Stock championship

Nicholson ran mainly regional match races most years. He decided to compete in the complete NHRA Nationals tour in 1977. He won the Gatornationals, Springnationals, and U.S. Nationals to win the 1977 Winston championship. His most famous race of the season was one he did not win. His chief rival was 1976 champion Larry Lombardo, who drove for Bill Jenkins. At that time, season championships were decided by a combination of regional and national events. Nicholson attended a divisional event Lombardo needed to win. "We qualified low on purpose so that we could race Larry early in eliminations," said Nicholson. "I beat him in the first round and kept him from earning a lot of points he otherwise would have earned." Lombardo ended up third in the season points, and Nicholson beat

Bob Glidden Bob Glidden (August 18, 1944 – December 17, 2017) was an American drag racer. He was retired from Pro Stock racing in 1997 and returned in 2010. Glidden retired as the driver with the most wins in National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) history ...

by 1400 points to win the championship.

Later career

Nicholson made another championship run in 1979, finishing third. After starting the 1980 season by failing to qualify for the Winternationals and Cajun Nationals, Nicholson looked at IHRA Pro Stockers. He did qualify for the Springnationals, where he lost in the second round when his Mustang II broke, and the Summernationals, where he lost in the first round. He returned to Pro Stock at Milan for IHRA's Northern Nationals and went on to win the event. At the IHRA Summernationals at Bristol, Nicholson set top speed at 169.45 on the way to a runner-up finish. He had a brand new Mustang built to replace his "old" Mustang II and he debuted it at Maryland International Raceway's Mountain Motor Nationals, but lost in the first round. The 1981 season saw Nicholson qualify #1 at the AHRA Winter Nationals and was runner-up. He did run a NHRA combination as well. The -powered car qualified at the NHRA Winternationals but went out in an early round. He also qualified for the NHRA Gatornationals but he failed to reach the final. Where Nicholson stood out was in IHRA Pro Stock. He qualified number one (low e.t.) at Darlington for the IHRA Winternationals with a pass of 7.81 seconds at . He lost in the second round to a holeshot. In April, Nicholson went to Atlanta for the NHRA Southern Nationals. He qualified well and made it into the semi final, where he had a front wheel come off in the traps. Nicholson avoided hitting the rail. On May 3, he won his last IHRA event. the Pro Am Championships, at Rockingham. His car was, by this time, known as the quickest in IHRA Pro Stock and once again proved it by qualifying #1 with a pass of 7.82 seconds at . He went on to win the event. Shortly after this, he sold his Pro Stock operation to Harold Denton, who retained Nicholson for the next few races to acquaint himself with the car. Nicholson's tuning aided Denton to a runner-up finish at the next IHRA event, the Springnationals, at Bristol. They may have won too, except for a burned out clutch in the final. Nichoson continued to race a Pro Stock Ford until 1980. Nicholson made a comeback in 1984 in an Oldsmobile. He returned in 1988 in the nostalgia tour in a version of 1962

Chevrolet Bel Air The Chevrolet Bel Air is a full-size car produced by Chevrolet for the 1950–1975 model years. Initially, only the two-door hardtops in the Chevrolet model range were designated with the Bel Air name from 1950 to 1952. With the 1953 model year, ...

, which he was still campaigning in 2001. He also made some appearances in a Pro Stock Truck in 1998 and 1999.

Death

Nicholson's health deteriorated over his last few years. He died from

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegeneration, neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and progressively worsens. It is the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in short-term me ...

on January 24, 2006, in

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most po ...

at age 78.Drag Racer "Dyno" Don Nicholson: Death of an Icon (1927–2006)
Jim Hill; written in 2006; ''

Hot Rod Magazine ''Hot Rod'' is a monthly American car magazine devoted to hot rodding, drag racing, and muscle cars—modifying automobiles for performance and appearance. History ''Hot Rod'' is the oldest magazine devoted to hot rodding, having been publishe ...

'', Retrieved March 11, 2008 He was survived by his daughter Cindy Christie, grandson Christopher Christie and granddaughter Candace Christie.

Awards

Nicholson was ranked 18th on NHRA's Top 50 Drivers list in 2001.,

; written in 2002; Retrieved March 11, 2008 Nicholson was awarded the Funny Car Driver of the Year in 1967. He received the Car Craft All-star Drag Racing Team Ollie Award in 1977. In 1997 he was honored as the

grand marshal Grand marshal is a ceremonial, military rank, military, or political office of very high rank. The term has its origins with the word "marshal" with the first usage of the term "grand marshal" as a ceremonial title for certain religious orders. ...

of the California Hot Rod Reunion. He has been inducted in several halls of fame. He was inducted in the

International Drag Racing Hall of Fame International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations". International may also refer to: Music Albums * ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011 * ''International'' (New Order album), 2002 * ''International'' (The T ...

, and the

Motorsports Hall of Fame of America The Motorsports Hall of Fame of America (MSHFA) is hall of fame that honors motorsports competitors and contributors from the United States from all disciplines, with categories for Open Wheel, Stock Cars, Powerboats, Drag Racing, Motorcycles, Sp ...

Don Nicholson
at the

in 1998.