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Legends of the Quarter-Mile |
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Presented by The Drag Racing Heritage Foundation |
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Note; This is the third installment in a series of histories of the drag racers from the Northwest with the help of Russ Griffith who photographed and wrote for Drag News and other publications we will attempt to cover everyone that we can from the area. As always, I need the help of anyone that was a part of the history or was just there and has memories the want to share. The "PDQ Special" Photo Album Link at Bottom of Page The "PDQ Special" Team name came from the three members, driver Paul Blaylock the wallet-man Dean Rue and wrench-man Quinten Rue. Quinten and Dean had been members of the Northwest Hall of Fame Krohn, Parmenter & Rue B/R, C/FD and T/F team and Dean had campaigned a '34 Willys, 4-door A/Gasser. Paul started seriously racing with a Hemi-powered '35 Ford Roadter that ran in B/G and B/SR.
When I first met Paul in 1959, he was nearing completion of the roadster. I was working for Safeway and he drove for them, delivering produce to the West Seattle store where I worked. We got to know each other at that time and Paul continued to work there until he retired a few years back.
The three got together for the "PDQ" Team, utilizing a chassis that had been set up for a Chevy by builders, Krohn and Parmenter. The "PDQ" group modified the chassis to accept the Chrysler and were on their way. After a year or so, they purchased a used "Woody" chassis from Jerry Ruth and were very competive with both cars.
After the team disbanded around 1970, Dean teamed up with the Foster Brothers, Gus and Glenn, leasing the SPE-chassisied former "Green Dragon" from Butch Bowers While campaigning this fueler, Dean tragically lost his life in a towing accident in Canada. Glenn Foster was murdered on the streets of Seattle. Quinten passed away at the age of 70 in 2006 and Paul suffered a stroke, slowing him down some, but he is still abe to get around. Russ Griffith
CLICK HERE to view lots more great photos
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