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Legends of the Quarter-Mile |
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Presented by The Drag Racing Heritage Foundation |
Connie Swingle
"Master Fabricator and Driver"
Another Pioneer and Friend Gone...........
Connie Swingle, 1935-2007; pioneer, skilled chassis builder, driver
The following article and photos courtesy of NHRA.com
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Connie Swingle, one of the true pioneers of
drag racing, died Sept. 29 peacefully in his home in
After serving in the Air Force in the late
1950s, he moved to
Swingle was instrumental in the success of
the Garlits chassis business from 1961 through 1964, at which time Garlits
relocated to
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Swingle went west and joined up with the “Old Master,” Ed Pink. Driving Pink's AA/FD, Swingle enjoyed his biggest win at Fontana Dragstrip in the fall of 1965, when he beat Garlits in the final for the Mickey Thompson 200 Mph Meet and took home all the gold, about $10,000, a very large purse for that era.
He also won the Drag News Invitational in 1962, held at Dragway 42 in Ohio, held the Drag News #1 spot several times, and the Drag News 1320 e.t. record of 7.88 seconds at 198.22 mph. Swingle also was Garlits' crew chief during the Drag Racer Magazine Number One Spot held at Half Moon Bay in 1966, which Garlits won.
When the weather “got to Garlits” in Detroit
and he moved back to Florida to his longtime base in Seffner, Swingle returned
from California and rejoined the chassis business. Swingle and Garlits built
some outstanding slingshot dragsters. The best and fastest, Swamp Rat 13, blew
the transmission at
According to Garlits, Swingle always referred to SR14 as a “front-driver” car, which it technically was. After much frustration and many tests, Swingle told Garlits, “If you think the steering is too fast, why don't we slow it down?”; the rest is history, and the drag racing world now had a successful, working rear-engine dragster.
"We can all give Connie Swingle a great big thank-you for his participation in this endeavor that took drag racing to the next plateau," said Garlits.
Swingle finally wanted to slow down, so he
opened a small shop in
"As I look back, he was probably getting
sick then and didn't have the energy to go the way I was racing," said Garlits.
"The last job that he did was the re-creation of Swamp Rat IV, with the blown
Dodge wedge on gas. He did a beautiful job, but I could see he was all done
welding as his hands shook too much for welding. We all got together and moved
him back to
Swingle was installed into the Southeastern NHRA Drag Racing Hall of Fame in 1991 and the International Drag Racing Hall of Fame in 1998.
"Connie was a tireless worker, could go for days without sleep, and always had a new idea on how to go fast," concluded Garlits. "He left his mark on our sport, and he will be sorely missed."
Swingle is survived by his son, Theodore “Teddy” Swingle, named after his grandfather.
The Life & Times of Connie Swingle
All Photos Courtesy of the "Don Garlits Museum of Drag Racing"
Though Connie Swingle can certainly be considered one of Drag Racing's “Free Spirits” he most certainly should be considered one of the “Pioneers and Innovators” of the sport, as his forward thinking and craftsmanship played a key role in the evolution of the Top Fuel Dragster.
Swingle, Don Garlits and Ed Garlits circa
1960
Although
born in Oklahoma City, he made his way south to Florida in 1959 to escape the
cold and snow of Oklahoma. After arriving in Florida, he managed to support
himself with his street racing winnings and after beating the best in the area;
he was told of one man he couldn’t beat. The ensuing trip to see this
challenger is when the first meeting of the unlikely duo of Swingle and Garlits
took place. Garlits “officially” hired Connie to weld headers for Super
Stocks, he just sort of walked in and went to work and from that day forward,
Swingle played a role in the adventures of “Big Daddy”. Connie continued to
work at the Garlits shop, off and
Swingle & Garlits talks with a customer 1959
In
1961 while Garlits and Brother Ed were gone to the West Coast Swingle finished “Swamp Rat IIIA”. Garlits had built the chrome-moly frame
before Swingle had arrived at the shop. Later that year when Don was burned in a
testing accident he went into retirement and put Swingle into the seat. Connie
soon proved that his abilities in the fabrication shop were second only to his
ability behind the wheel.
Although he crashed the car at a match race in Emporia, VA, breaking several ribs in the process, he and Garlits repaired the car and six days later won his next match race in York, PA against the "Shadow". According to Connie, he was dead on his feet and when he climbed in the tow truck, he fell asleep and never moved for the entire trip to York, while Garlits drove all the way.
Swamp Rat III
after Emporia crash
After
crashing again in Reading, Swingle and Garlits repaired the car at the Hurst
shifter plant in PA. Swingle was soon back in form and won several Match Races
that year.
1962 was a good year for Connie, beating the “Greek” at Cordova’s World Series of Drag Racing and defeating Art Malone at the California Championship at Kingdon in SR III before Garlits returned to the seat for the gas only NHRA US Nationals.
While
Connie never won a NHRA National Event he was a very respected and feared
competitor on the Match Race circuit. While at the same time building the
chassis for Garlits, Swingle was building chassis for many of his competitors,
such as Bobby Langley, Vance Hunt, Tom McEwen, Art Malone, Price Turner, Ron
Colson and many others which helped them to become top runners in the dragster
ranks.
Connie
has certainly earned his reputation as a “master fabricator” and with the
motto of “I’ll try anything once” a lot of his innovations became the norm
in dragster chassis design and building.
In
his time with Garlits they traveled many miles across the country to races and
as one could expect it was not with out a few highway crashes. One of these
crashed that was told to me by Connie, took place on the way to Savanna, GA when
a axle broke putting the GMC Carryall, along with Don and Connie into a barge
canal. During the accident the spare engine they were carrying broke loose and
pinned Don to the steering wheel. As the truck, racecar and all slipped into the
murky water, Connie worked his way into the front and by placing his feet on the
dash was able to push the seat back far enough for Don to free himself from what
was surely a life-threatening situation.
As
one could also expect the personalities of Garlits and Swingle would clash from
time to time and Connie would go his own way for a while. During these times,
Connie drove several other cars, including the AMT Piranha, a mid-engine,
exhibition funny car. By incorporating some of his own innovations and getting
help from Don “Mad Dog” Cook on a new engine combination, Swingle took the
car from the 170mph range to almost 200 mph, much to the delight of AMT and car
owner, Fred Smith.
Swingle on a pass at Lion's in the "Piranha"
In
1970, after the now famous transmission explosion at Lions, that cost Don part
of his foot, Connie rejoined forces with Garlits and along with TC Lemons,
repaired the car and took it back on the road. This accident is what inspired
Garlits to build his first mid-engine Top Fuel car. (Connie is quick to tell you
that they are mid-engine cars and not rear-engine, as they are commonly referred
to, since the engine is in front of the rear wheels) It is of course, common
knowledge that after some trial and error, this prototype design changed the
face of Top Fuel forever.
In
researching and writing this article I spent a lot of time on the phone with
Connie Swingle and to tell all the stories he has to tell would take volumes.
But Connie doesn’t live in the past and his innovative thinking is still going
strong. He has many ideas he wants to try with a modern-era Top Fuel car that
would be a total reversal of what the current technology is. These ideas are
revolutionary and controversial, but I for one would not bet against them
working.
The
years have not been kind to Connie in many ways, having spent several years in a
nursing facility, recovering from Lupus which cost him all his memorabilia,
tools and money. He has not however lost his keen wit and great sense of humor
and is now making the rounds of the nostalgia event as much as he can.
Connie
was fittingly inducted into the International Drag Racing Hall of Fame in 1998
and although he and Garlits didn’t always see eye to eye, in part of the
inscription on the Hall of Fame plaque, Don says, “I couldn’t have done it
with out him”
Look for More to Come on the "Swingle Story"
