Part 2 Drag Racing History Rod Authority Rewind - Diary of a dragster
With a 371ci blown Oldsmobile V-8, the team quickly became the one to beat at Lion’s Dragstrip in San Fernando and many other local southern California tracks.Mort Smith piloted the rail, and Gene Adams was the man behind the moster Olds mill. The engine rocked a 6-71 blower with two-port Hilborn Injection that Stu Hilborn personally came out to the track to tune.

The team had a healthy rivalry with the famous Tommy Ivo and wins would be handed back and forth for Top Eliminator laurels.In September of 1959, a 394ci Oldsmobile V-8 was installed hoping the extra cubic inches would take them across the finish line first, but that’s when the problems started. One night while making runs at Lion’s strip, Mort reported that whenever he dropped the clutch the rail would violently turn to the right. He couldn’t keep it straight and would have to let off. Then tragedy struck.Mort decided to call it a night, but their friend Mickey Brown hopped in the rail to see if he could handle it himself. Mickey Brown drove the Quincy Automotive Olds powered dragster, and was the first man to go over 150mph on pump gas. He had been hanging around at the dragstrip that night with his wife and two-year old daughter just enjoying the event. Mort said he was the kind of guy who wasn’t too particular about safety constraints. He wouldn’t tighten his seat belts, or helmet and always kept his foot in it.He jumped in and sure enough, when he dropped the clutch the rail lurched to turn to the right. He kept pedal down, hoping to correct it but ended up going off the track and putting the dragster on its’ side. It wasn’t a violent crash and the attitude of the bystanders were, “Let’s go grab Mickey.”Famed racer Mickey Thompson was the first man to the scene. Brown had broken his neck and subsequently died on the way to the hospital. He was 22 years old.After that fateful night, Mort left the team and ended up renouncing racing for quite awhile. The chassis was sold to a tech at Lion’s named Wayne Talley and the engine went into the infamous Albertson Olds.