A Visit with Ed Rachanski
11-01-08
Story by Ed Rachanski and Richard Parks

Ed Rachanski became a 'big-league' drag racing driver because of his skill as a mechanic. He first began working as a wrench man on racecars back in 1941. He isn’t as old as you would guess by that date, as he was only seven at the time. His father, Edward Rachanski, called Senior upon the birth of his son, had been a race mechanic since 1932. "My Father really was just Edward Rachanski born 1909 in eastern Poland. He came to America 1927. When I was born in 1934 he became Senior and I (Edward R. Rachanski) became Junior. My Mom was Margaret Ivkovich born in Ledicia, Czechoslovakia 1911. This is a small town and its citizens numbered about 2500 in all and many were known to be terrorists against the Nazi's in WWII. They murdered a high command German Officer and history tells that Hitler ordered the whole town shot by firing squad. In the early years we lived 2 miles west of Chicago Municipal Airport, now called Midway Airport. The house was a small wooden frame home in the prairie, with a few chickens, geese and Brown's cows a block away. There weren't too many homes around in those days. I spent eight years in grammar school, and then went on to St. Camillis High School in Chicago, Illinois, where I graduated. I attended Holy Trinity in Chicago for two years, then Aeronautical University, also in Chicago. There were no real automotive shop classes in high school in those days. We learned about mechanics while working on cars in sand lots, on the prairies’ and in driveways wherever you could gather with some buddies and work on cars. My best buddy mechanic friends in those days were Charles Bockleman and Bob Leverance,” Rachanski said.

  “My Father, in the early 1930's worked at Jefferson Electric as a transformer foreman. He also set up a small machine shop in a one-car garage at the house and became an expert machinist and engine builder, mostly Ford Flatheads and Model A's at that time. When I was 3 or 4 years old in the latter 1930's, my Dad would take me to Robey Speedway in East Chicago and the Gary, Indiana area. It was a one mile flat dirt track, with a skimpy guard rail. All the drivers from the west coast ran their cars here a few weeks before the memorial 500. Wow, what an event, and on the other Sunday's they would run 33 or 34 Ford Roadsters and my Dad would help Emil Andraes in the pit, who was by then a famous 500 driver. As a young lad in those days and going into the early Forty's the elders would come to my dads small shop and listen to the 500 on Saturday from about 11 am till 3:30 pm or so. There was no racing from 1942 to '45, as it was wartime. I told everyone at the shop that some day I will race a car in the 500, which I later did, from 1996 thru 2000. As a youngster I would wash parts for my Dad on the engines he was overhauling. I wish I had ten bucks for all those carboned exhaust valves I had to wire brush on the grind wheel," he continued.

  "After the war there was no more rationing of gas, tires, food, etc and things really got better. I was now 12-14 and by this time I was driving, on the prairies only. My Dad accumulated many cars in the prairie around the house and some of them ran. I can remember my buddy's and I having fun when my Dad would permit me to take one of the runner junks and we would Play Joie Chitwood Daredevil, using our own home made ramps. When we flipped the car on the roof, there being no seat belts in the car, we would hurry to put it back on the wheels so we did not lose the oil. It was great fun in those days to be a young person. To this day I remember my dad was going to give a 1934 Nash 6-cylinder 12 spark ignition to the junkman, and this was a runner. I asked Dad if I can blow the engine up and he said do what ever you like. I put a brick on the accelerator pedal and run the engine for 4 minutes; nothing is happening, 8 minutes nothing, 12 minutes and finally it threw a red hot rod out the side. I could not believe how long it ran without the oil that I drained. Some 50 years later as an Air Crash investigator, for reciprocating engines only, I have been on accident cases when a pilot’s plane would pitch a rod and all the oil blew out and the engine in most all cases will run for 9-12 minutes with no oil before seizing up,” Rachanski added.

  “I have had several 1940 Ford Coupes and sedans, which is my favorite Hot Rod. It was the late forty's and early fifties when the California guys were ramping up on Drag and Bonneville racing. Those were the guys we all knew about; Wally Parks, Pete Petersen, Ed Iskenderian and Roy Richter with the Roadsters, Belly Tankers, etc. Those California guys were a year ahead of us Midwesterners and two years ahead of the east coast guys. Why was that? It was because of all the shut down WWII government plants with all the machinery and Aluminum billets that were there for the west cost guys to develop their racing and they did a great job. My drag racing started in about 1951 at Halday, Illinois a shutdown Nike Missile facility. Andy Granatelli ran the operation. I had a 4 inch Merc crank, Edelbrock Heads and a 2-Manifold with 97's carbs, Weber aluminum Flywheel, 1949 Olds Intake valves and a Winfield cam. If my memory serves me correct, my Tudor went 74 mph. That was really something back then," he exclaimed.

  "My Dad and I started racing stock cars in the Chicago Area in about 1952. I did some driving at 18 years of age but our best drivers were Jimmy Donovan, Dick Kuinga and Bigelow. We raced at all the local tracks, 27th Street Raceway Park, the Jenin Brothers, 87th Street Speedway, which was run by Andy Anderson, Santa Fe Speedway, operated by Howard Tiedt, Mazon County High bank, Rockford Speedway and other places," he said. Ed had started working as a mechanic on stock cars at oval tracks, and in 1952 and 1953 gave up drag racing to concentrate on being a circle track mechanic. In 1952 and 1953, he did the engine work on a Mercury stocker that raced at the local tracks around his home area of Chicago. Rachanski and Mercury were a potent combination, even in those days. As if that wasn’t enough to keep him busy he learned to fly in 1953. "I loved Airplanes and got my Student Pilot’s license in 1953 in a J5A 85H.P. Cub. I soloed in 6 Hours and my Dad said to me you can fly airplanes and race cars but NO motorcycles. At this time I also enrolled in the Aeronautical University on Midway Airport, in Chicago, for my A&P licenses. I started to rebuild aircraft engines on my own also at this time. My first engine was a 65 H.P Continental for a fella named Duffield. The Korean War was in full swing and I had an A-I draft classification. I felt I would best serve in the Air Force and I enlisted in 1954," he added. He has maintained an active pilot’s license since then and currently owns a Cessna Turbo 210. In addition to becoming a licensed pilot, he also became an Air Force A & E, or airframe and engine, aircraft mechanic. Ed entered the Air Force in 1954. He logged over 1500 hours in the C-119 Flying Boxcar as a Flight Engineer/Crew Chief in Southeast Asia, touring Korea, Japan, Thailand, Vietnam, Formosa and other places.

  "I went to Lackland AFB for my inductee training and then to Sheppard AFB near Wichita Falls, Texas for my Air Force mechanic training. I graduated highest in my class of about 500 airmen and against everyone's judgment, was assigned to the Far East. I was assigned to the 483rd Troop Carrier Wing, 815 Troop Carrier Squadron and became a Flight Engineer and Mechanic. Germany was the hot deal in those days. The Fairchild C-119-G is a twin engine Wright R-3350 engine Cargo Plane that drops 6X6 army trucks, 105 Howitzers with a Jeep, 42 paratroopers, and twenty 500 pound bundles from a monorail through bombays. It is a really great airplane when both engines are running. I had a 43151W Flight Mechanic rating and I changed engines, jugs, mags, tires, brakes and engine parts. I did everything, but radios and sheet metal work and it was a great experience.  We flew all over Korea, Formosa (Taiwan), Philippines, Vietnam, Laos, Thailand and other places in Asia. All of us had engine failures and with a full load the 119-G had a rough time staying in the air. I've had Magnesium fires, run-away props, blown jugs and once was hit by a tremendous static discharge that took a few feet of the right wing tip in a winter storm over Korea. Once, we were coming in late at night into Ashiya, Japan, our home base off a 401 courier run (which was 24 hours) and no one had any sleep.  We were all tired and we were landing 1200 ft AGL (Above Ground Level) on down wind, when both engines quit, and we just about all had a heart attack. I looked at our carburetor heat gauges and they were cold (it was 30 degrees, perfect icing conditions), the carburetor hot boxes were closed, I hit the toggles immediately and opened heat to the induction system, when they coughed and sputtered to life. We were about 400 feet from hitting a small hill when the puppy's fired up and of course we made it,” Rachanski told me.

  “I have one last war story. We left Okinawa at 2 in the afternoon in 100 degrees temperature, 100 percent humidity, with a 40 mph crosswind and 16 eight-hundred pound generators with engines on board. Just after take-off and clearing the runway, our #2 engine blew. We shut down #2 and I hit water injection on #1 engine, which now brought us up from 3200 H.P to 3500 H.P for 17 minutes. In the mean time with such thin air the sharks were licking their chops as the bird settled down to 3 feet above the water in practically ground effect. I got Brooks, the radio operator and Kearns the co-pilot, and we went down in the cargo compartment and we opened the bombays and started pushing the generators out one by one. We made a 30-mile, 270 degree turn and landed down crosswind at about 10 feet altitude. The engine failure was bad enough but the waters off Okinawa are known as the most treacherous shark infested area on earth. I do not like water, even without the sharks. After I got out of the service in 1958, I remained on inactive duty status until 1962," he said.

  "My son, Edward J. Rachanski, was born in 1959 and became my junior and I became Senior, since my father had passed away. I started my own automotive repair business called Ed's Auto Service with my Dad in Berwyn, Illinois on 16th and Kenilworth. I was interested in racing, so I teamed up with Gil Michaels, a great USAC Driver and became his mechanic on his Kurtis Offy. During this period I also worked on Rib Hare's Offy in UARA. We raced with Davies, Templeman, Foyt, Elision, Sachs, Tattersall and others. We raced at the Milwaukee Mile, Duquion, Springfield mile dirt tracks, Indiana State Fairgrounds, IRP, Santa Fe, Muncie, Rockford and Raceway Park to name a few," Ed added. In 1960 his mechanical skills helped keep the Michael's Offy competitive in the United States Auto Club Point standings. In 1962, Ed Rachanski went back to drag racing. He was the mechanic on the Sedlak ‘62 Plymouth super/stocker, a year that racked up the remarkable record of winning 32 out of 33 major meets in the mid-west in one year with old friends Pat Minnick and John Farkonas of Chi Town Hustler Funny Car fame. In early 1964 he became partner with friend Gary Dyer in a factory backed drag team sponsored by the Chicago Mercury Dealer’s Association's, Marauder Comet Drag Team.' In mid-1965, Ed took over the driving responsibilities, as Gary Dyer found excellent opportunity with Mr Norms Grand Spaulding Dodge funny car program. During this period of time, Ed also began working with Joe Lencki in a long business and friendship relationship that spanned over 35 years, selling and manufacturing Lenckite. The product is known today as zMax and Avblend.

  "In 1965 I became President of UDRA. We had 8 circuits at that time running mainly in all the Midwest Drag Strips. Those that were a part of our group included; John Grivens at Martin 131 dragway, Gil Cohn at Detroit Dragway, Bill McKenna with the Tri-City Saginaw Strip, John Foster at the Minnesota Dragway, Ron Leek with Rockford Dragway, Ben Christ at the U.S. 30 Dragway, Phil Minghis with Edgewater in Cincinnati, John Story at Alton Dragway, Bob Bartell with Quad Cities Dragway, and the infamous Bob Metzler at Union Grove, Wisconsin.  We also had many east coast tracks that I booked cars in match races in 1969 and later when I ran Rachanski-Brown and Associates. We had a great organization and I always had the membership's respect and the track owners’ loyalty, as that is where the dollars come from. We put on hundreds of circuit races and were the first to have 8-car Funny car Wednesday night races which became very popular. The NHRA did not like our popularity, because of our nitro burning cars. We just did our thing and stayed out of the gossip. We actually helped put Larry Carrier in business at Bristol by furnishing him with Funny Cars for his main events. We had a very unusual loyalty between our race car owners and track owners. We never had a strike or disruption. Those were great days when everyone could afford to race. I would rather not comment on today's drag racing with only a handful of stars taking it all. We had the Chi-Town Hustler, Hawaiian, Stampede, Beswick, Taylor, Tiree, Shartman, Lindamood, Hedrick, Mr. Norm, Marauders, Burkhardt and other famous cars race for us, just to name a few," Ed told me.

The United Drag Racers Association, or UDRA, was a driver and car owner organization comprising 3000 members. This organization is still in force and is the largest independent voting car-owner and driver drag racing organization in existence today.

  In 1971, Ed was President and owner of Blueprint Aircraft Engines, Incorporated, and an FAA certified overhaul aircraft engine repair facility. Blueprint was chosen in 1988 by Aviation Consumer as one of the top eight engine rebuild shops in the United States. Blueprint was also selected by Shell Oil to do lubricant testing on helicopter engines assisting Shell’s aviation oil certification. Ed began a career in aviation accident investigation as an expert witness, investigator, arbitrator and consultant for insurance companies, the Federal Aviation Administration, attorneys, and others concerning aircraft piston engine failures. “In the last 30 years or so I have done quit a bit of air crash investigation as a ‘Reciprocating piston engine expert.’ It's very interesting to inspect crashed engines after the fact to see what caused the accident. I have run many engines on the Dyno which gives revealing evidence to many operational factors. I spoke at safety seminars for the FAA concerning preventive maintenance rules and regulations for mechanics. They are a great bunch of aviation working class guys and gals, devoted to their mission in aviation safety and maintenance,” he said.

  In 1996 Ed became Director of research-development-testing at Oil-Chem Research Corporation, the company that manufactures zMax and Avblend. From 1996 through 2001, in addition to Ed’s primary duties at Oil-Chem Research Corporation, Ed raced at Indy. Ed’s Team Blueprint Racing was one of the first teams to join Tony George's lndy Racing League. The team purchased two Lola’s from Team Menard in 1995. The Lola’s were raced in the IRL in the 1996 season with drivers Johnny Parsons Jr, and winning Rookie of the Year, with Jim Guthrie. In 1997, Delara chassis’ were purchased and the team’s best performance of that year was winning the ‘Phoenix 200,’ with Guthrie as their driver. In the following years, drivers Sam Schmidt, Jimmy Kite, Claude Bourbonnais, Billy Roe and Tyce Carlson drove for Team Blueprint. Blueprint’s best finish at the Indy 500 was 14th with Tyce Carlson as driver. Ed’s engine experience combining over 50 years in rebuilding and modifying all types of engines including the Aurora V8 Indy 500 engines has provided him with useful information that is applied to the research and development of zMax. Oil-Chem Research Corporation has three state of the art Labeco CLR Eddy current test engines that are used for modified SAE, ASTM testing protocols. Various A-B tests are performed using up to date engine oils vs zMax for performance evaluation.

  “In November of 1995, the boys pulled out of Indianapolis and formed CART. Tony George formed the Indy Racing League (IRL). Tony called for the first IRL meeting, and George Barnes, Paul Deatlivich and myself where the first in line. This was a great concept to have the owners and drivers build their own engines, cars and parts. From the beginning, the IRL contracted with Dallara in Italy and G-Force in England to build the first chassis. Our first races in ‘96 included Cosworth, Buick V6 engines. In ‘97 the Aurora V8 was the series engine, although we were all allowed to build our own engines. At that time an engine cost $85,000. The thrill of my life in racing was to be part of this Indy 500 triumph. In the first year (1996) my driver, Jim Guthrie won Rookie of the year. In 1997 I had 3 new Dallara Cars and qualified all three in the 1997 Indy 500 race. We painted on the nose of Guthrie's #27 The Dragster Guys. We almost put the car in the front row in ‘97, missing by one car. My heart was never all in winning the race; my personal challenge was to build a fast engine to sit on the Pole. Blueprint Racing, Incorporated qualified 3 cars in that race. That was something we were very proud of with Jim Guthrie, Claude Bourbonnais and the infamous Johnny Parsons as drivers. We were always a little under capitalized but managed to always run a good race and finish regularly in the top 12.  Our best finish at Indy was 14th in the 1999 race with Tyce Carlson at the wheel. My last super thrill came in 2000 when our driver, Jimmy Kite put the #27 cat in on the Pole in the morning with the fastest time in our session. Everyone was saying, ‘Ed, you’re lookin' good for the pole today,’ and as a challenging dragster guy, I would not say anything. It was worth $450,000 just to win the pole position, and to qualify for the race earned each car another $150,000,” Ed continued.

  “Here's a great driver’s superstitious story. On that 2000 Pole morning, Jimmy Kite our driver was walking around with a small wooden totem pole and rubbing it. I said to Jim, ‘what's that all about Jimmy?’ ‘Oh, my new girlfriend gave this to me last night to bring me luck today.’ I said nothing as you never play with your driver’s mind on Pole or race day, but I did go to my engineer, McCandliss and say, ‘Brad, we have a problem with Jimmy. He's got a piece of wood his new girlfriend gave him last night that will make the car go faster and win pole position,’ we just looked at each other. We were #11 in the hat pick to qualify on Pole day; the car was perfect, killer qualifying engine. As we pushed Jim off Brad and I jumped in the official golf cart to ride down to the Box, where I was to give the starter the flag if Brad and I were satisfied with the practice lap. The car came by with a perfect 10,700 RPM and just barely hit the rev limiter going into turn one at 230 mph. I gave the starter a green flag for a go for Jimmy. On the back straight the car was going 234 mph in the quarter trap, awesome, as he came around and down the main straight-away he got the green flag. We had a perfect driver, engine and set-up. Just as Jimmy entered the turn, Brad and I heard a big explosion. Jim put the car and that piece of wood in the wall. He dropped a wheel off going into the #1 turn. I wanted to throw his voodoo girlfriend out of Gasoline Alley, but I never said a thing. Jimmy is still a good driver,” Rachanski said.

  “Then Tony George let in the Penske's, Gannasi's and Andretti's with only the Honda built engines. It took the racing greatness, which Tony originally created, right out of all the participants. Those that suffered were the little sponsors, seven engine shops, transmission guys, fiberglass people and just the good Ol' American, Chevrolet Apple pie racing. The politicians and big fish seem to always eat the little guys. Oh, well, 5 years of great fun in IRL racing and good rockin' chair stories for my grandchildren. My Indy 500 racing days as an owner and engine builder was a dream since I was a little boy. It's the top professional, car, driver and crew performance test and the demands are upon everyone is just awesome. My wife LaVerne is now deceased and we raised three great kids. Ed Jr is now 49 (in 2008), Michael is 45 and my daughter Kim is 52. In all we have 8 grandchildren. I kept my kids generally out of racing as I believe family comes first and through my experience, professional racing requires full time away from home. I quit my career with Mercury Comet Drag race division in 1966 because I thought my family needed me home, for little league and bonding with my family, etc. My experience with Bonneville is that I am a current member of the Sidewinders car club and associated with Ron Mains who holds Streamliner (Eco-Tech Turbo 4cyl) Records of 300 plus mile per hour. This August Ron will be trying for 400 mph. I am a crew member on this team,” Ed concluded.

Gone Racin' is at [email protected]. This article was written from internet sources and the personal memories of Ed Rachanski