There is no doubt that the face of drag racing has changed immensely in the last thirty years. The “Sport of the Seventies”, as NHRA billed it thirty years ago, has, for better or for worse grown up. Today, with national events happening seemingly weekly, and television exposure at an all time high, the memories of independent circuits and little guy fuel racing seems like a dot in the distance. However, there was a day when independent, little guy racers could race a fuel funny car, mix it up with the pros, and make a decent buck at it, too.

NHRA and AHRA racing had a limited number of National events, so therefore if one was to make a living racing a fuel funny car, fuel dragster, or Pro Stocker one would be required to find different venues to appear in. Match racing filled the bill for many, but it was obvious that something was missing. Having become officially recognized by NHRA in 1967 as a valid eliminator bracket of its own, fuel funny car by 1969 had developed a large following, throughout the country, featuring legions of low buck entries in competition. Even then, money was the great deciding factor, and while many of the lower budget cars ran very good, they were not quite quick enough to run with the Blue Max’s of the world. Someone, somewhere figured out that if a group of these cars could be packaged and marketed as a group, there may be some bucks in it for everyone. Enter Coca Cola’s Cavalcade of Funny Cars.

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Thirty years ago, there were was a significant larger number of fuel funny cars than exist today, and much of the specialized equipment that is the standard requirement for a top flight Funny Car today was neither available or required back then. A regular working guy, along with a couple of buddies, could purchase a chassis or a complete roller, furnish it with a KB, Donovan, or even a iron block 426 or 392 Chrysler if he was really bucks down, and go fuel racing. The Cavalcade was a natural breeding ground for those burgeoning fuel racers, and the circuit made household name out of many of them.

A drag strip promoter could contact the Gold Agency, who also owned US30 Drag Strip in Gary, Indiana, book the entire program, and be guaranteed a field of at least eight good fuel funny cars to pack the stands at his/her local drag strip. Each car would sign a contract, its crew would be dressed professionally and accordingly in Coke circuit attire, and be part of this traveling show. A cool $1,000 was paid each car, and in addition the actual race payoff would be structured accordingly. With the down time in between National events, big name cars could also be involved, so it would be a win-win deal for everybody, featuring a mix of stars and low budget guys looking to make a name for themselves.

Coca-Cola as a source indicated sponsored the tour through advertising. The tracks paid the drivers, but Coke picked up the advertising tab.

The circuit, at its height, would total anywhere from twenty to twenty five events per year, and a points structure would be involved to crown a series champion at the end of the year. Events would be held from California to New England, from Washington State to Florida. Fans in virtually every corner of the nation would have the opportunity to get to an event within a reasonable driving distance, and as a result the circuit developed quite a following.

The contestants themselves would be as varied as possible. Each automotive manufacturer would be well represented, including AMC, and the names involved would run the gamut. Big hitters of the day, such as Mickey Thompson’s fuel funny teams would compete against bucks down pieces such as Bobby Wood’s Alabama-based fuel burning Chevrolets, the would be packed stands everywhere they went.  The structure of the circuit would enable combinations not popular on the big circuit to compete, and this would open new avenues for innovators to try different things, to “think out of the box”. As a result, a variety of fuel powerplants participated, including many early Chrysler Hemis as well as Rat Motored Chevrolets. Perhaps the biggest “underdog”, however, would be Dick Bourgeois, who, at the circuit’s inception ran a AMC Javelin FC powered by a genuine AMC engine on nitro.

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The circuit’s inaugural season, 1969, opened with a varied cast. Circuit participants included two Stone Woods Cook entries from the famous Gasser team. Doug “Cookie” Cook drove a Mach 1 Mustang, “Swindler IV” in keeping with the namesake of all of the famous S-W-C cars, and both were powered by the early Chrysler engines that had propelled the Gassers to so much success. Also included in that early group was a pure Pontiac powered Firebird of Jess Tyree as well as the AMC car of Bourgeois. The famous Mr. Norm’s Grand Spaulding Dodge, initially driven by the dealership owner himself, Norm Kraus, would one of those representing Mopar. Gary Dyer replaced Kraus early in the year, and would go on to great success with that car for many years to come. Fred Goeske, whose Plymouth Dealers Association Road Runner was already deemed as one of the nation’s “hitters,” would eventually be one of the circuit’s captains. The Chevrolet contingent was led by Kelly Chadwick, a schoolteacher from Texas whose underdog Stovebolts had gained quite a following, as well as Bobby Steakley. Jack Chrisman, the legendary figure who had cut his funny car teeth in his Kendall GT-1 Mercury Comets, was among those representing the Ford camp in that initial season.

Each year, the team would elect a “captain”, whom the drag strip operators would negotiate through, and handle the affairs of the group, as a whole. The longest running of these “captains” would turn out to be none other than Roger Lindamood, whose “Color Me Gone” Dodges had made him a household name in super stock and funny car circles. Lindamood would be captain from 1976 through 1979, and the circuit would continue to grow. The roster each year would evolve, as individual racers would retire, move on, or hit the big time. Among the graduates of the Coca Cola circuit would be names that would make their mark in years to come, including Al Hanna, Ron “Snag” O’Donnell, Dave Condit and the “LA Hooker”, Dale Pulde, and the late Tripp Shumake. Gary Bolger would initiate his long term relationship with the Creasy Brothers on this circuit, and even Tom “Mongoose” McEwen and Don Prudhomme made appearances. Last, but certainly not least, present day drag racing mogul Don Schumacher had a team of two Barracudas in 1972, and expanded to three in ’73 with them driven by Bobby Rowe, Raymond Beadle, and as well as himself. In fact, Shumacher was the circuit’s champion in 1972, driving the yellow Barracuda.

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Perhaps no other story from the circuit describes the opportunities offered better than the Steakley Chevrolet Texas based fuel funny car.  Bobby Steakley, the son of the dealership owner, had been racing injected nitro cars, and by 1970 had made the decision One of the early stars of the circuit was David Ray, who drove a fuel burning Chevrolet to step up to blown fuel burner. As business repeatedly tied up Bobby’s time, he tapped Ray to drive the car at events where he could not be present, which was most of the time. Ray had seen Jungle Jim do fire burnouts, and had developed his own procedure to do the same. This show resulted in national exposure, which resulted in the Steakley/Ray duo to be invited to US30 drag strip in Indiana, as part of the Cavalcade circuit. The fuel Chevy proved to be reliable as well as a crowd pleaser, as anyone with Chevrolet power was decidedly an underdog.

Ray, in an interview published some years later, indicated “We broke one motor early in the year” due to a casting flaw in the lifter galley area, “but the next one made about 150 runs, fifty race dates, running 7.40’s on 65-75% nitro. Sure, there were faster cars, but I doubt any had more fun!”

Pulde ran the tour for many years and did so behind the wheel of the Stone, Woods & Cook entry.

“We could probably use something like this today,” Pulde says. “The people aren’t as interested as booking in the alcohol Funny Cars as they once were as between rounds filler. The Pro Modifieds, as much as I like them, don’t always resemble what they are supposed to. They don’t sound like a Funny Car, either.”

It is said that all good things must end, and by 1976 the gas crunch was well in effect, NHRA had expanded its schedule, AHRA was strong, and the IHRA was taking hold in a big way. All of these factors affected the number of little guy fuel racers able to play the game, the circuit was having a difficult time attracting cars. Cash strapped promoters were hanging on by the skin of their teeth, and the Coca Cola circuit was being squeezed out of existence.

“It was a fabulous era,” a crewmember from that period, Randy Williams conveyed. “It was a time that I doubt will ever repeat itself. I am grateful I was able to be a part of it”. 

Williams had worked as a volunteer crewmember on a low budget, early Chrysler Funny Car out of New York, and like many of those involved in those bygone years Tom developed other priorities, and drifted away from the sport. His story is appropriate, reflecting the circuit itself. As happens so often in the passage of time, the Coke circuit quietly faded away, another wonderful page in our sport’s colorful past.

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“We really had some good hitters on the tour,” Pulde added. “We put on good side-by-side shows for everyone. I think one of the reasons It fell apart was there were becoming so many cars and good ones. They were expected to step up and run with the big boys as they used to. They needed more money and it didn’t happen.”

Pulde added that if a team couldn’t hold up to the rigors of running well, they were replaced.

“You ran as decent as you could to be respectable and to not tear your stuff up,” Pulde said.

Many of the cars that ran the tour were capable of running competitively on the national event tour. In fact, as Pulde suggested the regular tour fraternity often gunned at the visitors more than expected – just to prove that they could beat them

“It was a good deal for the tracks and the racers,” Pulde said. “Everything was priced well to enable the promoters to keep the prices down at the gate. You saw a quality and incredible show of eight nitro cars for a reasonable price. That is missing in today’s drag racing world.”