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The Big Brown Box
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By Jim Samuel Photos by Bobby Bennett, Roger Richards and Brian Wood |
When most people think of Super Stock racecars, they think of Camaros, Mustangs, hemi-powered Barracudas and other sleek muscle cars. But for Mike Boyles, a 59-year old veteran drag racer from King, North Carolina , a Super Stock race car is a big, brown 1957 ChevrOl't Bel Air wagon. That's right, a station wagon and it's one that Boyles has been racing every season for the past 34 years. It's also a station wagon that has taken Boyles to 22 IHRA national event wins, eight IHRA Super Stock World Champions and more than 50 IHRA Pro Am wins. Boyles was the IHRA Super Stock World Champion in 1978, 1980, 1982, 1985, 1990, 1991 and 1992 and was the IHRA Formula Stock World Champion in 1975.
Though the car is now well-known throughout the drag racing community as “Good Ol' Charlie Brown,” for the name painted on its side, its original name was a bit more risqué and prompted IHRA officials to tell Boyles to change the name or stay away from the track. That was 29 years ago, and since then, Boyles and “Good Ol' Charlie Brown” have become a fixture at drag strips around North Carolina . But like many well-known couples, Boyles and “Good Ol' Charlie Brown” came together almost by accident.
“After I got out of the army, I worked at East Bend Dragway on the pit gate,” Boyles said. East Bend Dragway was an eighth-mile track located east of the town of East Bend , NC. “Lyle Epperson was driving the Chevy there,” Boyles explained, adding that he often helped Epperson work on the car and tow the car to the track on weekends. Epperson drove the Chevy wagon in 1968, 1969 and part of 1970, when he broke the rear-end on the car. But instead of fixing it, Epperson parked the big, brown wagon and built himself a new Camaro. During the off season, Boyles started to get the urge to drive and asked Epperson what he was going to do with the '57 Bel Air. “I asked Lyle if the wagon still ran,” Boyles said. “He told me that the motor was good but that the rear didn't work. So we got a 12-bolt rear and put it in and I started to drive the car.” After they got the wagon running again, Boyles and Epperson campaigned the two cars at drag strips near their North Carolina homes. “I'd go to one track on Friday night and he'd run at a different track on Saturday,” Boyles said. Boyles started driving the car during the 1971 season and continues to drive the '57 Chevy wagon today. He purchased the Bel Air from Epperson in 1977, when Epperson decided to move away from the area.
That's how Boyles got behind the wheel of the big, brown Chevy, but how did it come to be known as “Good Ol' Charlie Brown?” “When Lyle built the car, it was brown. It was so brown that it needed something to break it up,” Boyles said. “We sent the car to another racer who owned a sign shop and told him to do something with it but we didn't know what he was going to do.” When the car came back from the shop, it was still big and was still brown but it now had a large picture of a pregnant Lucy and Charlie Brown (from the Peanuts comic strip) and a caption that read “Damn you, Charlie Brown.”
“We raced it that way until 1975 when IHRA told us we'd have to change it if we wanted to keep racing,” explained Boyles. “I wanted to keep the same theme but keep it more family-oriented, so we went with “Good Ol' Charlie Brown'.” Even though they told him he could not continue to use the original name for the car, Boyles said he prefers racing in IHRA competition because it is better suited to his lifestyle and financial situation. In IHRA racing, he said, it is still possible for sportsman racers to be competitive without turning racing into a full-time occupation. “I like to run IHRA because it's more local and I don't have to take days off from work. “I would love to run NHRA but you have to do that full time if you want to be competitive,” he said, mentioning racers such as Anthony Bertozzi, Peter Biondo, Dan Fletcher and others who have made sportsman racing their full-time jobs. “That's their job and they do an excellent job at it,” he said. “I just felt like I had too many other priorities. I know I never drove as good as Bertozzi but I had my good days,” he said.
Instead, Boyles was a drag racer for the enjoyment of it. “I do it just because I love it and I enjoy the competition,” he said, adding that he still enjoys racing even though he has not won a championship in 12 years. “I enjoy going to the races because I get to see many people that I know.”
“I go to about six IHRA races and 10 to 15 Gear Jammers races each year,” Boyles said. “I try to race 20 to 22 times a year.” Classic Gear Jammers is an association of drivers who race cars that are equipped with manual transmissions. “Good Ol' Charlie Brown” is currently powered by a 283-cubic inch Chevy engine equipped with a single four-barrel carburetor and attached to a manual, four-speed transmission. In the past, said Boyles, he used to switch the car to dual four-barrel carbs or a single two-barrel carb to change classes, depending on the level of competition in each class. With eight championships under his belt, it is his first Super Stock championship in 1978 that Boyles remembers most. “We got to the last race in Atlanta and Ray Johnson was leading in the points. I won the last race in Atlanta and won the championship by five points.” In addition to his championships, Boyles was also named the Super Stock Driver of the Year in the 1983 Car Craft Magazine All Star Team and in 1980, he won the Valvoline Sportsman Cup and the Stroh's Cup awards.
Throughout his racing career, Boyles has tried to make sure that racing kept its proper place in his life. No matter how much he loves racing, Boyles said, he's always placed a limit on his participation in the sport so it did not place a burden on his family life or finances. “The most money I ever won in a year was $32,000,” he said. “I used to save money during the off season so that I could start each year with $10,000 in my racing account. If I got low on money, I either stopped racing or cut back.”
As he looked back at his own racing history, Boyles said he wanted to be sure to thank everyone who has helped him along the way. “I've had some very good sponsors over the years and a lot of people who have helped me,” he said. “I couldn't have done it at all without the people who helped me.”
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While Boyles has his memories, a thief recently made off with some of the awards he has won over the course of his racing career. “We recently had a break-in and the thief got some of my rings and other awards,” he said. But they didn't get it all. I've still got two of my IHRA rings and four of my gold belt buckles.” 
