John Shoemaker
Chassis Builder & Drag Racer
Be sure to check out the photos from John's personal album at the bottom of this article
John
Shoemaker realized in his early teen years that he was more interested in hot
rods than baseball (his older brother Bob was signed by the Detroit Tigers as a
pitcher at 17 years old and his dad played semi-pro baseball for many years).
John's mom moved him to the garage at that time, built him a bed and
shelves for his Hot Rod magazines and car parts, gave him a hot plate for his
chili, and John has been in the garage ever since!
John and
his high school friends all had cool hot rods.
John had a '32 three-window coupe that he used to play "ditchem"
with the CHP after school. (There
were five exits at El Camino High School.)
They cruised Mel's Drive In with cars like John's, and Ted Holden's blown
Willy's coupe, and challenged the guys in their dads' new '59 Impalas to race
out on El Centro Road for $10.00 beer money (always winning).
The first
dragster chassis John ever built (at 23 years old) had a full body with a swoopy
tail section painted beautiful purple metal flake with wood grained panels on
the sides of the tail (similar to the Hawaiian).
It was show quality and was featured in a 2-page layout in the September
1968 Rodder and Super Stock magazine. John
will be the first to tell you, however, that the chassis was made out of one
inch mild steel tubing, and although very nice looking, tended to droop in the
middle after only a few runs. That's
how you learn! John built a second
stronger chassis and sold it to a friend before he ever completed it for
competition.
John
continued building race car chassis from 1966 to 1984 building over 125 cars,
including one front engine and one rear engine dragster for the late Gary Ormsby,
1989 World Champion. John's chassis
shop would have as many as four cars at a time in various stages of completion.
He also built chassis for many other local top fuel racers in the mid
'60s and 70's including Ron Welty, Shorty Leventon, Gene Winther and Bill
Stammerjohan. He built two top fuelers for Frank Martinez, the
self-proclaimed "World's Fastest Mexican" and the Trillo brothers out
of the bay area. John also drove
both the front engine and rear engine top fuel dragsters he built for Bill
Stammerjohan. John buillt a rear-engined
junior fuel dragster called the Outcast Jr. with Vaughn Raviart long before
Garlits' accident and subsequent building of his first rear engine dragster.
(The idea was conceived after a few beers at a party one night.)
Shoemaker actually built cars for racers all over the west coast.
Every car
was custom made for the owner and driver from start to finish and John says it
would have been boring any other way. Every
car he ever built from day one also had a deep four-point cage even before they
were required. John did all of his
original work in his large shop attached to his home where he hand fit all of
the tubing and did all of his welding. John also did some of his own bodies
while Jack Hagemann, Sr. did most of them, with Ron Covell and even Hanna doing
a few. The usual mode of
transportation for John to take the chassis to Hagemann's shop 1 1/2 hours away
was on the roof rack of a '64 Chrysler wagon! Randy Ayres of Sacramento also built several bodies for
John's creations in the 1970's.
John was
also one of the pioneers in blown alcohol racing, with the first-ever six-second
run in the then Pro Comp field at Irwindale's Grand Premiere in January 1975
driving one of his creations, Gene Gilmore's Renegade blown alcohol dragster.
John was runner-up at the Winternationals and also set the national
record that year with runs of 6.78 and 6.87 at NHRA's championship series event
at Sacramento Raceway all in Gilmore's Renegade.
John drove
the Shoemaker Clan rear engine '34 Ford B-fuel coupe to a win at the 1964
Bakersfield Fuel & Gas Championships. Twenty
years later in 1984 he won the Fuel & Gas Championships in his blown alcohol
dragster. That same year John, with
his wife Judee began campaigning their own Shoemaker dragster throughout the
west. John finished 2nd that year
in the then combined NHRA Divisions 6 and 7, with two wins, two runner-ups and
two semi-final finishes. John began
his commitment to the northwest at that time, finishing 2nd in 1987 and 1988,
winning the Division 6 Championship in 1989 and was runner-up again in 1990.
Shoemaker's
began 1992 with a new 275-inch Shoemaker dragster, and inspired by the Persian
Gulf war, became the "American Eagle" with John holding up the
American flag as he backed up from each burnout, with the tradition continuing
today.
1994 began
with the most exciting and prestigious win for the "American Eagle",
the Winternationals at Pomona in February.
Shoemakers continued to compete through 1998 with much success both
divisionally and nationally with a second national event win at the Autolite
Nationals, Sears Point Raceway, Sonoma in July 1998 (their home national event
track).
John and
Kent Fuller teamed together at Shoemaker's shop this summer while restoring the
Stellings & Hampshire S&H car where the chassis work was completed for
owner Dennis Prater. Arnie Roberts
who originally built the body is retired and living in Hawaii.
The plan had been to ship the car to Arnie once the chassis was completed
to do the nose, but shipping charges were going to reach $7,000 and that was not
cost effective. Randy Ayres of Sacramento completed the body on this S&H
project. With the original tail
section, belly pan and side panels intact, Randy did an outstanding job
recreating the nose for the car exactly as it was.
Original
driver Jeep Hampshire and brother Ronnie were at Shoemaker's shop several times
and were pleased at that time with the progression of the restoration.
They both sat in the car (one of the few ever built with your legs going
under the rear end) and told stories of those early days.
The car,
originally built by Fuller in the early 60's has always been considered to be
one of the most beautiful cars ever built.
(One of Shoemaker's favorite cars of all time.)
It was featured in the movie Bikini Beach at that time.
This car raised the bar to a new level with its unique style when it was
originally built. It exudes charm,
has quite a following and is nostalgia to the essence.
The
chassis and body were completed prior to the Hot Rod Reunion 2003 and John drove
it in the Cacklefest for owner Dennis Prater. John totally
enjoyed his collaboration with Kent Fuller and the time they shared on the
project. He and Fuller had a
favorite "fish & chips" diner near John's shop where many hours of
stories were shared from over the years.
Also, much
appreciation is given to Larry Anderson for all of his efforts with this
project. Larry played a big role in
the "coming together" of this incredible venture.
The S&H car will be painted by Don Honstein of Sacramento over the winter and Dennis will display it at the March Meet 2004 in its true colors. The car will be museum quality upon its final phase of restoration.
The restored " S&H Red Stamp Special" at CHRR XII
Special
thanks to John and Judee Shoemaker for their help with this article
John's rear engine, flat-head powered B-Fuel Coupe that he won the Fuel & Gas Championships with at Bakersfield in 1964. The motor and rear end were mounted on a separate sub-frame from the car and could be separated very fast. You could pick up the body and roll it away from the sub-frame.
John's shop in the 1960's showing chassis's in various stages of completion
The "Stammerjohan & Shoemaker" front engine dragster which John drove for two years
Gary Ormsby's front engine dragster. This is the first dragster that Gary owned himself. This was the beginning of many cars that Gary would own on his journey to the 1989 Top Fuel Championship. John is currently restoring this car for Cacklefest.
Vaughn Raviart's rear engine "Outcast Jr." built in the late 60's before the rear engine design was the craze
The "Stammerjohan & Shoemaker" rear engine dragster that was powered by a high compression Ed pink 426.
The Red, White & Blue, Wolfe & Ormsby rear engine dragster. Gary won quite a few races with this car that was highly detailed with lots of chrome and polish, as was Gary's style.
Gene Gilmore's "Renegade" that John built and drove. This car was the first blown alcohol dragster to run a six second ET and was a National Record holder in 1975.
John's "Budweiser Eagle" dragster that won the NHRA Northwest Division 6 Championship in 1989. John also raced many jet-cars at Sacramento Raceway, such as the "Green Mamba", ect. with this car.
The "American Eagle" dragster that John drove to the 1994 Winternationals win at Pomona and the 1998 Autolite Nationals at Sears Point.
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