This “Sidewinder” blown small block Chevy powered front-motored car embodies the innovative engineering Sand Drag racers are famous for. Former T/F driver Frank Prock handles this dragster.

Words by Tim Marshall (Special thanks for notes by Tom Bray)
Photos by Tim Marshall and Eileen Staunton

The annual Mertens Springnationals held at the Kingman, Ariz., sand drags facility is one of the bigger summer races for sand drags fans and racers. The fact that eight Top Fuel sand dragsters pre-entered and more than 100 other racers showed up for this event proves its importance.

The Kingman track with concrete guard walls and shaded bleachers for the fans is one of the finest facilities in the sport. The organizers of the event had the dirt/sand prepped extremely well as demonstrated by the fact that Dennis Rieck driving his nitro-burning, small-block Chevy powered Top Fueler re-set the track record with an ET of 2.374 lap on the 300-foot track.

Drag racing fans were treated to everything from a ’68 Camaro to the Blair’s “Fugowie” Top Fueler that had four rubber paddle tires on the back and lots of nitro.