Bruce Larson
Encyclopedia
Drag racing
Drag racing is a competition in which specially prepared automobiles or motorcycles compete two at a time to be the first to cross a set finish line, from a standing start, in a straight line, over a measured distance, most commonly a ¼-mile straight track....
from Camp Hill, Pennsylvania
Camp Hill, Pennsylvania
Camp Hill is a borough in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, 2 miles southwest of Harrisburg. It is part of the Harrisburg–Carlisle Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 7,636 at the 2000 census...
. He became nationally known for his match races. He quit drag racing during the early 1980s. He returned in 1985 on the National Hot Rod Association
National Hot Rod Association
The National Hot Rod Association is a drag racing governing body, which sets rules in drag racing and host events all over the United States and Canada...
(NHRA) Funny Car
Funny Car
Funny Car is a drag racing car class. In the United States, other "professional" classes are Top Fuel, Pro Stock, and Pro Stock Motorcycle. Funny cars have forward-mounted engines and carbon fiber automotive bodies over the chassis, giving them an appearance vaguely approximating manufacturers'...
tour and won the 1989 NHRA Funny Car championship. His cars were so clean that he became nicknamed "Mr. Clean". ESPN
ESPN
Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....
says that he is remembered for his red, white, and blue USA-1 Chevrolet Camaro
Chevrolet Camaro
The Chevrolet Camaro is an automobile manufactured by General Motors under the Chevrolet brand, classified as a pony car and some versions also as a muscle car. It went on sale on September 29, 1966, for the 1967 model year and was designed as a competing model to the Ford Mustang...
s.
Racing career
Larson began drag racingDrag racing
Drag racing is a competition in which specially prepared automobiles or motorcycles compete two at a time to be the first to cross a set finish line, from a standing start, in a straight line, over a measured distance, most commonly a ¼-mile straight track....
as a 16-year-old at Linden, New Jersey
Linden, New Jersey
- Local government :, the Mayor of Linden is . The former longtime Mayor of Linden is 82-year-old John T. Gregorio, who served as mayor of Linden for 30, nonconsecutive years and was repeatedly tagged with scandal during his mayoral career, including one felony conviction, later pardoned, which...
in a chopped fenderless
Fender (vehicle)
Fender is the US English term for the part of an automobile, motorcycle or other vehicle body that frames a wheel well . Its primary purpose is to prevent sand, mud, rocks, liquids, and other road spray from being thrown into the air by the rotating tire. Fenders are typically rigid and can be...
1932 Ford coupe. Over the next ten years, he consistently won at local tracks using that car and later a 1954 Oldsmobile and a 1932 Chevrolet A/Gas coupe. In 1965, he switched from the coupes to a 1964 Ford Cobra and immediately set records in NHRA's A/Sport and AA/Sport classes. He used the car to win the NHRA Winternationals, Springnationals, and U.S. Nationals. Larson was working at a Chevrolet
Chevrolet
Chevrolet , also known as Chevy , is a brand of vehicle produced by General Motors Company . Founded by Louis Chevrolet and ousted GM founder William C. Durant on November 3, 1911, General Motors acquired Chevrolet in 1918...
dealership at the time and he formed a Chevrolet-based Funny Car
Funny Car
Funny Car is a drag racing car class. In the United States, other "professional" classes are Top Fuel, Pro Stock, and Pro Stock Motorcycle. Funny cars have forward-mounted engines and carbon fiber automotive bodies over the chassis, giving them an appearance vaguely approximating manufacturers'...
team with Greg Sutliff, the dealership's owner. They built a fiberglass-bodied Chevrolet Camaro
Chevrolet Camaro
The Chevrolet Camaro is an automobile manufactured by General Motors under the Chevrolet brand, classified as a pony car and some versions also as a muscle car. It went on sale on September 29, 1966, for the 1967 model year and was designed as a competing model to the Ford Mustang...
and toured the country in match races. Larson had a 7.41-second run in 1967 which broke the all-time Funny Car elapsed time (e.t.) record. In 1969, he received national recognition when he won the Super Stock Nationals at York, Pennsylvania
York, Pennsylvania
York, known as the White Rose City , is a city located in York County, Pennsylvania, United States which is in the South Central region of the state. The population within the city limits was 43,718 at the 2010 census, which was a 7.0% increase from the 2000 count of 40,862...
. He added a "USA-1" license plate to his Camaro and later painted the dragster car red, white, and blue and added "USA-1" decals to the side.
Larson did not have a major sponsor until he found Datcon/Sentry in 1985. That year he switched from Chevrolet to Oldsmobile
Oldsmobile
Oldsmobile was a brand of American automobile produced for most of its existence by General Motors. It was founded by Ransom E. Olds in 1897. In its 107-year history, it produced 35.2 million cars, including at least 14 million built at its Lansing, Michigan factory...
and teamed up with world champion Joe Amato. The two shared information. Larson won his first national funny car win at the Cajun Nationals. Larson hired Pennsylvania sprint car racer
Sprint car racing
Sprint cars are high-powered race cars designed primarily for the purpose of running on short oval or circular dirt or paved tracks. Sprint car racing is popular in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa....
Maynard Yingst
Maynard Yingst
Maynard K. Yingst was an American racer and crew chief from Linglestown, Pennsylvania. He quit his sprint car racing career to become the crew chief for Bruce Larson's 1989 national championship Funny Car drag racing team. He was nicknamed "The Linglestown Leadfoot".-Racing career:Yingst was a...
as his crew chief to tune and setup the car. Larson started 1989 by winning the Winternationals. He won at Springnationals, Mile-High nationals, Seafair nationals, Fallnationals, and the Winston Finals, plus finished second at five additional events. He led the season points standings from start to finish to claim the 1989 NHRA Funny Car national championship. He was voted Car Craft
Car Craft
Car Craft is a magazine devoted to automobiles, hot rodding, and drag racing. It is published by Source Interlink Media. It was first established in 1953...
magazine's Funny Car Driver of the Year.
Larson raced his first Top Fuel
Top Fuel
Top Fuel racing is a class of drag racing in which the cars are run on a mix of approximately 90% nitromethane and 10% methanol rather than gasoline or simply methanol. The cars are purpose-built for drag racing, with an exaggerated layout that in some ways resembles open-wheel circuit racing...
car in June 1992. He took over "Big Daddy" Don Garlits
Don Garlits
Donald Glenn "Don" Garlits is considered the father of drag racing. He is known as "Big Daddy" to drag racing fans around the world. Always a pioneer in the field of drag-racing, he, with the help of T.C...
' car when Garlits retired due to a detached retina
Retina
The vertebrate retina is a light-sensitive tissue lining the inner surface of the eye. The optics of the eye create an image of the visual world on the retina, which serves much the same function as the film in a camera. Light striking the retina initiates a cascade of chemical and electrical...
. Garlits closed his operation in 1995. Larson helped Garlits work on his dragster during his 2002 comeback.
Awards
He was inducted in numerous Halls of Fame. Don GarlitsDon Garlits
Donald Glenn "Don" Garlits is considered the father of drag racing. He is known as "Big Daddy" to drag racing fans around the world. Always a pioneer in the field of drag-racing, he, with the help of T.C...
' International Drag Racing Hall of Fame inducted Larson in 2006. Larson was inducted in the East Coast Drag Times Hall of Fame in 2003, and the Eastern Motorsports Press Association Hall of Fame in 2004, the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame in 1993, and the Super Stock Magazine Drag Racing Hall of Fame in 1995.
Other awards that he received during his career include: the Al Holbert
Al Holbert
Alvah Robert "Al" Holbert was an American automobile racing driver who was a five-time champion of the IMSA Camel GT series.- Life and career :...
Memorial Award, the 1989 Car Craft
Car Craft
Car Craft is a magazine devoted to automobiles, hot rodding, and drag racing. It is published by Source Interlink Media. It was first established in 1953...
magazine Driver of the year, the 1989 Eastern Motorsport Press Association Driver of the Year, 1980 Jungle Jim Liberman
Jim Liberman
Russell James "Jim" Liberman was an United States drag racer from Pennsylvania, known as "Jungle Jim". He was named #17 on the list of the Top 50 NHRA drivers. Liberman was known for driving backwards at 100 mph after doing his burnout.Liberman was known as a flamboyant showman who toured the...
Memorial Award, and the ’89 NHRA Northeast Division N.E.D. of the Year Award.