Don Nicholson

Don Nicholson (May 28, 1927 – January 24, 2006) was an American drag racer from Missouri.

While in high school, he joined the United States Navy which wiped out his many speeding tickets, earned at the wheel of a twin-97-equipped 235 cid 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 tracks in the late 1940s before quitting in 1949, because his friends were frequently killed.

He moved to the dry lakes 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.

He was nicknamed "Dyno Don" after he was one of the first drivers to use a chassis dynamometer on his cars in the late 1950s, a skill that he learned while working as a line mechanic at a Chevrolet car dealer.

Nicholson was born at Halltown, Missouri but was raised at Pasadena, California.

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 dynamometer (dyno).

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

At Bakersfield on 3 August 1958, with Bill Crossley at the wheel, this car was the first West Coast dragster to record a 170 mph pass; the small-block powered digger took the B/F title, beating Emory Cook for Top Eliminator, at that meet, too.

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

The National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) estimates he won 90 percent of his match races.

In 1961, Nally Chevrolet lured Nicholson to move his family to Georgia by giving him his own dyno shop and race car.

Nicholson became nationally known to drag racing fans when he won the Stock class at NHRA's first Winternationals in 1961 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, so moved to Atlanta to compete in match races.

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 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.

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

These new "funny cars" 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 car to ah A/FX, switching to nitromethane and fuel injection and moving the rear axle forward 12 in.

Several weeks later, he defeated the Ramcharger Dodge, the top Mopar entry, with a 9.30 second pass at 150 mph.

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 superchargers 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.

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, Pro Stock, Super Stock, Competition Eliminator, Stock, and Street.