Virgil Cates was known for removing his glass front end wiring on a Ford model A grill over his Radiator and running in competition eliminator class make his pass pull in the pits and pull the grill off and put his front glass front back on and run the next round in B/.Gas . NHRA Rules were made to limit a car to 1 class per race day via Virgil Cates He Was Smart And Clever and a NHRA World Champion in Comp Eliminator in 1965 .A interesting note is he drove from Mansfield Ohio to Tulsa Oklahoma for the world championships earning enough season points for a invite, pulling a open trailer with a 50's pickup truck 500 miles away from Oklahoma blew a gear in the trans on the truck ,On the side of the road he pulled the trans opened the case and did a repair that got him to Tulsa with only minutes before time trails were to end, he made the field and also made Drag Racing history. His car is all original as last ran by him in 1970
this 1969 photo was at Indy the big go ! it was the first and only year running the 426 Hemi this is a qualifying pass in the photo , in first round racing he pulled his wheels came down and snapped the front chrome axle it did a bit of damage and was done for the season, For 1970 the last year the car would compete Virg went back with a blown small block chevy as he had always ran a injected small block he would try the blower retired after that season no longer competitive a new car was built the Opel ! today the car is a time capsule being saved for future generations. Honored by the NHRA as a Golden 50 car and a 3 time concourse D elegance Invitee and a winner of the coveted Wally Award presented to the Masters family at the nationals for preservation of a historic race car.
