Eddie Hill
Encyclopedia
Eddie Hill is a retired American
drag racer who won numerous drag racing
championships on land and water. Hill had the first run in the four second range (4.990 seconds), which earned him the nickname "Four Father of Drag Racing." His other nicknames include "The Thrill", "Holeshot Hill", and "Fast Eddie". In 1960, he set the NHRA record for the largest improvement in the elapsed time (e.t.) when he drove the quarter mile in 8.84 seconds to break the previous 9.40-second record.
Hill raced at open competitions and Top Fuel
events from 1955 until he retired in 1966. After opening a motorcycle shop, he returned several years later to race motorcycles. He started racing drag boats
after attending a drag boat event in 1974 and he won championships in all of the major boat drag racing sanctioning bodies. Hill set the lowest wet elapsed time (e.t.) record with a 5.16-second run, which was lower than the land drag racing record of 5.39 seconds. He quit water drag racing after he suffered broken bones at a crash in Arizona
and returned to land drag racing in 1985. Initially underfunded and unsuccessful, Hill set the all-time speed record at a National Hot Rod Association
(NHRA) event in 1987, becoming the first person to hold both the land and water speed records simultaneously. In 1993, Hill became the NHRA's oldest Top Fuel champion. When Hill retired in 1999, he had won 12 national season point championships on land or water, and had won more than 100 trophies in motorcycles and 86 drag events between his land and water careers.
. After graduating from Longview High School
, he graduated from college in 1957 with an industrial technology
degree from Texas A&M University
.
in 1955. Hill drove his home-built hot rod
to the track and won the event. The hot rod had a Model T frame
and an Oldsmobile
V8 engine
. In 1958, he built his second dragster
using parts that his employer allowed him to scavenge while working as a sales engineer at a foundry in Wichita Falls, Texas
. He used the dragster to set the Texas state low elapsed time (e.t.) that year with a 9.93-second pass. The following year, Hill won the state championship with a 9.25-second pass at 161 miles per hour (259 kilometers per hour). Hill won his first national event in 1959 in a Hot Gas race at an American Hot Rod Association
(AHRA) national championship event in Great Bend, Kansas
. Hill earned $500 for an appearance at Inyokern, California
to race Jack Chrisman
and his Sidewinder dragster. One of his four passes in the 1960 event set the B/Gas dragster record at 163.04 mph (262.39 km/h), so Hill quit his job to become a full-time drag racer. Later that season he set the a new A/Gas low e.t. at 8.84 seconds and set the speed record in the class at 161.29 mph (259.57 km/h).
Hill spent four months designing and seven months building another home-built dragster called the Double Dragon. The machine had two engines, with each engine having its own ring gear and pinion, clutch, and driveshaft. He used four rear racing slick tire
s in open competitions for faster passes, and two rear slicks in match competitions to produce smokier passes. The machine ripped up the starting line at the 1961 NHRA Nationals at Indianapolis. In 1962, Hill ran 202.7 mi/h two years after Chris Karamesines had the first 200 mi/h pass and two years before Don Garlits
had the first official 200 mi/h rpass. A speed or e.t. record is first certified official after it is backed up by a different pass within one percent. Hill built his first Top Fuel
dragster in 1963 using a Pontiac
engine. He had nearly completed a jet-engine powered ultralight dragster in 1963 when the NHRA outlawed all aircraft engines. He built two more Top Fuel Hemi-powered dragsters before he had an engine fire at Green Valley Race City in 1966. "It was one of those fireballs that you couldn't see through," Hill said. "I locked up the brakes, and it felt like I needed to turn the wheel to the left, but for some reason, I didn't. I had to do something that was counterintuitive, and it spooked me." Hill had managed to steer straight down a course that was lined with trees. Hill had been using the Double Dragon to win matches, which were used to finance his Top Fuel dragster. The Double Dragon had been destroyed in a wreck two months before this fire. The fire tapped his finances and his resolve to drag race.
and Kawasaki
dealership in Texas. He soon wanted to race again, so he built his own motorcycle and began racing as a 30 year old. He raced in numerous types of motorcycle racing: cross country, drag racing, hare scramble, motocross
, road racing
, and short track. When Hill participated in a Daytona
race in 1971, he had an opening lap at 151 mi/h, which was faster than factory rider Gary Nixon
. Hill continued to race motorcycles and in 1972 and won the Texas state road racing championship. Hill won over 100 trophies in his motorcycle career.
. He thought the drivers were "crazy" after he saw a driver being thrown from his boat during a crash. Less than a month later, Hill had stopped motorcycle racing to drag race boats, despite not being able to swim. "Once I hit the water with the boat, I never went back to motorcycles," Hill recalled. "The power, speed, and acceleration were all things that I had missed since I quit drag racing." He began racing in a non-blown
hydroplane, winning in his first event. In his third race he set the class top speed. In 1975, he set the Southern Drag Boat Association (SDBA) speed record at 137.46 mi/h. In 1976, he switched to nitromethane
fuel and set the SDBA record with a 171.81 mi/h run. He was the SDBA top pointgetter and won the National Drag Boat Association (NDBA) World Fuel & Gas championship. He repeated as champion in both series in 1977, setting the NDBA record with a 170.45 mi/h run.
Hill raced an all white blown
-fuel hydroplane from 1978 to 1984. He won 55 of 103 races during that time. Hill captured four American Drag Boat Association (ADBA) championships and was the SDBA top points earner in five consecutive years. In 1982, his Top Fuel hydroplane went 229 mi/h at an NDBA event to set the world's record for a quarter mile water drag at Chowchilla, California
. It was recorded in the Guinness Book of World Records, and it was not broken for 10 years. Hill also set speed records that year in the SDBA (220.76 mph), ADBA (215.82 mph), and International Hot Boat Association (IHBA) (212.78 mph). He became the only racer to hold records in all four associations simultaneously. He won the NDBA Nationals four times including three straight from 1982 until 1984. In 1983 and 1984, Hill won the World Series of Drag Boat Racing championship. The series features two races in each of the four major drag boat racing sanctioning bodies. He won 17 races between 1983 and 1984, and made 29 of 34 final rounds. Before he quit boat drag racing, he had an elapsed time of 5.16 seconds in the wet quarter mile at Firebird Lake in Chandler, Arizona
. The e.t. was quicker than Gary Beck
's 5.39-second NHRA Top Fuel dragster record, the first time that the water record was lower than the land record. Hill quit boat racing in October 1984 after a crash at 217 miles per hour. "It was a perfect run," Hill recalled. "I started to settle the boat back into the water, and then it took off." His Texas A&M ring was torn off his hand; he suffered seven broken bones, a concussion, & eye injuries. He spent five days in the hospital and was not fully recovered for a year.
's Top Fuel car and salvaged the drag boat engine from the bottom of the lake. He joined one of the most underfunded and least competitive Top Fuel teams. Hill would have quit early in the 1986 season had he not gotten some tuning advice from a competitor that helped make his car more competitive. Fifteen races after returning, he finally got out of the first round at the 1986 Mile High Nationals. Hill made it to the final round of competition, losing to Larry Minor when he lost reverse after his burnout. At the 1987 Chief Auto Parts Nationals, where he was runner-up, Hill set an NHRA record of 285.98 mi/h In doing so, he became the first person to hold both the land and water quarter mile drag racing speed records simultaneously.
Hill won the first of his thirteen NHRA national events when he beat Joe Amato in final of the 1988 Mac Tools Gatornationals
. Amato and Hill met in four final rounds that season, with Hill winning three. On April 9, 1988, he set the first four second elapsed time (4.990 seconds) at the International Hot Rod Association
(IHRA) Texas Nationals. Hill made the run on only seven cylinders; the post-run computer readout showed his #7 cylinder failed at launch. Six months later, Hill recorded a 4.936-second e.t. at the NHRA SuperNationals at Houston on October 9, 1988. Hill set the record as the oldest Top Fuel champion when he won the season championship as a 57-year-old. It was his twelfth championship. Hill won a record-tying six of seven national events and 15 events overall. Hill finished in the Top 10 in Top Fuel points for all but one of the years between 1987 and 1995. Between 1994 and 1999, Hill won his final two events in seven finals. When Hill won the 1996 Mile High Nationals, he set the record for the oldest Top Fuel event winner at age 60. He retired in 1999.
when his car suffered severe vibration as he crossed the finish line. The car went out of control and was completely destroyed. Hill had two broken toes and a shoulder contusion, which were not serious injuries. The run had been fast enough to make Hill the fastest qualifier, and Hill wanted to race his backup car in the first round on the day after the accident. The NHRA had a rule that the car used for qualifying had to be used in the event, so the sanctioning body did not allow him to compete. The rule was changed after the event to allow cars to race on race day even if they do not use the same car.
to dragsters and charcoal
masks for driver safety.
in 1984. She had several roles during his career, including team co-owner, starting line navigator, record taker, pit crew member, business manager, marketing, and public relations. She has written about drag racing in National Dragster, AutoWeek
, and Christian Motorsports magazines. Eddie has a daughter named Sabrina and a son named Dustin.
' International Drag Racing Hall of Fame. Hill was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America
in 2002. After he was notified of his nomination, he said
In 1988, Hill was selected by Car Craft
magazine, Hot Rod Magazine
, and the International Hot Rod Association
as the Person of the Year. Car Craft magazine's readers voted him the Top Fuel Driver of the Year after he won the 1993 championship.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
drag racer who won numerous drag racing
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....
championships on land and water. Hill had the first run in the four second range (4.990 seconds), which earned him the nickname "Four Father of Drag Racing." His other nicknames include "The Thrill", "Holeshot Hill", and "Fast Eddie". In 1960, he set the NHRA record for the largest improvement in the elapsed time (e.t.) when he drove the quarter mile in 8.84 seconds to break the previous 9.40-second record.
Hill raced at open competitions and 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...
events from 1955 until he retired in 1966. After opening a motorcycle shop, he returned several years later to race motorcycles. He started racing drag boats
Drag boat racing
As the name suggests, drag boat racing is a form of drag racing which takes place on water rather than land. As with land based drag racing, a pair of competitors race their vehicles for the lowest elapsed time over a straight race course of a defined length...
after attending a drag boat event in 1974 and he won championships in all of the major boat drag racing sanctioning bodies. Hill set the lowest wet elapsed time (e.t.) record with a 5.16-second run, which was lower than the land drag racing record of 5.39 seconds. He quit water drag racing after he suffered broken bones at a crash in Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
and returned to land drag racing in 1985. Initially underfunded and unsuccessful, Hill set the all-time speed record at a 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) event in 1987, becoming the first person to hold both the land and water speed records simultaneously. In 1993, Hill became the NHRA's oldest Top Fuel champion. When Hill retired in 1999, he had won 12 national season point championships on land or water, and had won more than 100 trophies in motorcycles and 86 drag events between his land and water careers.
Racing career
In 1947, 11-year-old Hill won the Tri-State Motor Scooter Flat Track championship in Shreveport, LouisianaShreveport, Louisiana
Shreveport is the third largest city in Louisiana. It is the principal city of the fourth largest metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana and is the 109th-largest city in the United States....
. After graduating from Longview High School
Longview High School
Longview High School is a public, co-educational 5A high school serving grades nine to twelve in Longview, Texas . The school serves as the secondary campus of the Longview Independent School District...
, he graduated from college in 1957 with an industrial technology
Industrial technology
Industrial technology is the field concerned with the application of basic engineering principles and technical skills in support of industrial engineers and managers...
degree from Texas A&M University
Texas A&M University
Texas A&M University is a coeducational public research university located in College Station, Texas . It is the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System. The sixth-largest university in the United States, A&M's enrollment for Fall 2011 was over 50,000 for the first time in school...
.
Land drag racing
Hill's entered his first drag race at the Flying Fish Lodge in Karnack, TexasKarnack, Texas
Karnack is a rural unincorporated community in northeastern Harrison County near Caddo Lake in the eastern region of the U.S. state of Texas. The population was 775 at the 2000 census....
in 1955. Hill drove his home-built hot rod
Hot rod
Hot rods are typically American cars with large engines modified for linear speed. The origin of the term "hot rod" is unclear. One explanation is that the term is a contraction of "hot roadster," meaning a roadster that was modified for speed. Another possible origin includes modifications to or...
to the track and won the event. The hot rod had a Model T frame
Chassis
A chassis consists of an internal framework that supports a man-made object. It is analogous to an animal's skeleton. An example of a chassis is the underpart of a motor vehicle, consisting of the frame with the wheels and machinery.- Vehicles :In the case of vehicles, the term chassis means the...
and an 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...
V8 engine
V8 engine
A V8 engine is a V engine with eight cylinders mounted on the crankcase in two banks of four cylinders, in most cases set at a right angle to each other but sometimes at a narrower angle, with all eight pistons driving a common crankshaft....
. In 1958, he built his second dragster
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....
using parts that his employer allowed him to scavenge while working as a sales engineer at a foundry in Wichita Falls, Texas
Wichita Falls, Texas
Wichita Falls is a city in and the county seat of Wichita County, Texas, United States, United States. Wichita Falls is the principal city of the Wichita Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Archer, Clay and Wichita counties. According to the U.S. Census estimate of 2010,...
. He used the dragster to set the Texas state low elapsed time (e.t.) that year with a 9.93-second pass. The following year, Hill won the state championship with a 9.25-second pass at 161 miles per hour (259 kilometers per hour). Hill won his first national event in 1959 in a Hot Gas race at an American Hot Rod Association
American Hot Rod Association
American Hot Rod Association, also known as AHRA, and most recently AHRA Motorsports. In late 2008 Rod Saint restarted the AHRA and brought onboard Jim Tice, son of the late Jim Tice Sr., and Troy Moe, nephew of Orville Moe. 2010 was to be the beginning of a new era and season with the 'reunion...
(AHRA) national championship event in Great Bend, Kansas
Great Bend, Kansas
Great Bend, named for its location at the historic big bend of the Arkansas River, is the most populous city in and the county seat of Barton County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 15,995.-History:...
. Hill earned $500 for an appearance at Inyokern, California
Inyokern, California
Inyokern is a census-designated place in Kern County, California, United States. Inyokern is located west of Ridgecrest, at an elevation of 2434 feet . Located in the Indian Wells Valley. The population was 1,099 at the 2010 census, up from 984 at the 2000 census...
to race Jack Chrisman
Jack Chrisman
Jack Chrisman was an American drag racer. He was a drag racing pioneer and 1961 champion. He was influential in the formation of the Funny Car class, as he introduced the first blown, injected, nitro-burning Funny Car...
and his Sidewinder dragster. One of his four passes in the 1960 event set the B/Gas dragster record at 163.04 mph (262.39 km/h), so Hill quit his job to become a full-time drag racer. Later that season he set the a new A/Gas low e.t. at 8.84 seconds and set the speed record in the class at 161.29 mph (259.57 km/h).
Hill spent four months designing and seven months building another home-built dragster called the Double Dragon. The machine had two engines, with each engine having its own ring gear and pinion, clutch, and driveshaft. He used four rear racing slick tire
Slick tire
A slick tyre is a type of tyre that has no tread pattern, used mostly in auto racing. The first production "slick tyre" was developed by a company called M&H Tires in the early 1950s for use in drag racing...
s in open competitions for faster passes, and two rear slicks in match competitions to produce smokier passes. The machine ripped up the starting line at the 1961 NHRA Nationals at Indianapolis. In 1962, Hill ran 202.7 mi/h two years after Chris Karamesines had the first 200 mi/h pass and two years before 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...
had the first official 200 mi/h rpass. A speed or e.t. record is first certified official after it is backed up by a different pass within one percent. Hill built 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...
dragster in 1963 using a Pontiac
Pontiac
Pontiac was an automobile brand that was established in 1926 as a companion make for General Motors' Oakland. Quickly overtaking its parent in popularity, it supplanted the Oakland brand entirely by 1933 and, for most of its life, became a companion make for Chevrolet. Pontiac was sold in the...
engine. He had nearly completed a jet-engine powered ultralight dragster in 1963 when the NHRA outlawed all aircraft engines. He built two more Top Fuel Hemi-powered dragsters before he had an engine fire at Green Valley Race City in 1966. "It was one of those fireballs that you couldn't see through," Hill said. "I locked up the brakes, and it felt like I needed to turn the wheel to the left, but for some reason, I didn't. I had to do something that was counterintuitive, and it spooked me." Hill had managed to steer straight down a course that was lined with trees. Hill had been using the Double Dragon to win matches, which were used to finance his Top Fuel dragster. The Double Dragon had been destroyed in a wreck two months before this fire. The fire tapped his finances and his resolve to drag race.
Motorcycle racing
He stopped racing and opened a motorcycle dealership in Wichita Falls in 1966. The dealership is still open (as of 2008), and it is now the oldest HondaHonda
is a Japanese public multinational corporation primarily known as a manufacturer of automobiles and motorcycles.Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, as well as the world's largest manufacturer of internal combustion engines measured by volume, producing more than...
and Kawasaki
Kawasaki Heavy Industries
is an international corporation based in Japan. It has headquarters in both Chūō-ku, Kobe and Minato, Tokyo.The company is named after its founder Shōzō Kawasaki and has no connection with the city of Kawasaki, Kanagawa....
dealership in Texas. He soon wanted to race again, so he built his own motorcycle and began racing as a 30 year old. He raced in numerous types of motorcycle racing: cross country, drag racing, hare scramble, motocross
Motocross
Motocross is a form of motorcycle sport or all-terrain vehicle racing held on enclosed off road circuits. It evolved from trials, and was called scrambles, and later motocross, combining the French moto with cross-country...
, road racing
Road racing
Road racing is a general term for most forms of motor racing held on paved, purpose-built race tracks , as opposed to oval tracks and off-road racing...
, and short track. When Hill participated in a Daytona
Daytona International Speedway
Daytona International Speedway is a race track in Daytona Beach, Florida, United States. Since opening in 1959, it has been the home of the Daytona 500, one of the most prestigious races in NASCAR. In addition to NASCAR, the track also hosts races of ARCA, AMA Superbike, Grand-Am and Motocross...
race in 1971, he had an opening lap at 151 mi/h, which was faster than factory rider Gary Nixon
Gary Nixon
Gary Nixon was an American motorcycle racer who, when on Triumph motorcycles, most notably won the A.M.A. Grand National Championship in 1967 and 1968. He was also a former winner of the Daytona 200 motorcycle race on a 500cc Triumph, claiming a victory in the 1967 event...
. Hill continued to race motorcycles and in 1972 and won the Texas state road racing championship. Hill won over 100 trophies in his motorcycle career.
Boat drag racing
Hill attended his first boat drag racing event in 1974 at Austin, TexasAustin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...
. He thought the drivers were "crazy" after he saw a driver being thrown from his boat during a crash. Less than a month later, Hill had stopped motorcycle racing to drag race boats, despite not being able to swim. "Once I hit the water with the boat, I never went back to motorcycles," Hill recalled. "The power, speed, and acceleration were all things that I had missed since I quit drag racing." He began racing in a non-blown
Supercharger
A supercharger is an air compressor used for forced induction of an internal combustion engine.The greater mass flow-rate provides more oxygen to support combustion than would be available in a naturally aspirated engine, which allows more fuel to be burned and more work to be done per cycle,...
hydroplane, winning in his first event. In his third race he set the class top speed. In 1975, he set the Southern Drag Boat Association (SDBA) speed record at 137.46 mi/h. In 1976, he switched to nitromethane
Nitromethane
Nitromethane is an organic compound with the chemical formula . It is the simplest organic nitro compound. It is a slightly viscous, highly polar liquid commonly used as a solvent in a variety of industrial applications such as in extractions, as a reaction medium, and as a cleaning solvent...
fuel and set the SDBA record with a 171.81 mi/h run. He was the SDBA top pointgetter and won the National Drag Boat Association (NDBA) World Fuel & Gas championship. He repeated as champion in both series in 1977, setting the NDBA record with a 170.45 mi/h run.
Hill raced an all white blown
Supercharger
A supercharger is an air compressor used for forced induction of an internal combustion engine.The greater mass flow-rate provides more oxygen to support combustion than would be available in a naturally aspirated engine, which allows more fuel to be burned and more work to be done per cycle,...
-fuel hydroplane from 1978 to 1984. He won 55 of 103 races during that time. Hill captured four American Drag Boat Association (ADBA) championships and was the SDBA top points earner in five consecutive years. In 1982, his Top Fuel hydroplane went 229 mi/h at an NDBA event to set the world's record for a quarter mile water drag at Chowchilla, California
Chowchilla, California
Chowchilla is a city in Madera County, California, United States. Chowchilla is located northwest of Madera, at an elevation of 240 feet . It is a principal city of the Madera–Chowchilla Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 18,720 at the 2010 census, up from 11,127 at the 2000...
. It was recorded in the Guinness Book of World Records, and it was not broken for 10 years. Hill also set speed records that year in the SDBA (220.76 mph), ADBA (215.82 mph), and International Hot Boat Association (IHBA) (212.78 mph). He became the only racer to hold records in all four associations simultaneously. He won the NDBA Nationals four times including three straight from 1982 until 1984. In 1983 and 1984, Hill won the World Series of Drag Boat Racing championship. The series features two races in each of the four major drag boat racing sanctioning bodies. He won 17 races between 1983 and 1984, and made 29 of 34 final rounds. Before he quit boat drag racing, he had an elapsed time of 5.16 seconds in the wet quarter mile at Firebird Lake in Chandler, Arizona
Chandler, Arizona
-Demographics:As of the Census of 2010, there were 236,123 people, 86,924 households, and 60,212 families residing in the city. The racial makeup of the city was 73.3% White, 4.8% Black or African American, 1.5% Native American, 8.2% Asian, 0.2% Pacific Islander, 21.9% Hispanic or Latino, and 8.3%...
. The e.t. was quicker than Gary Beck
Gary Beck
Gary Beck is a two-time World champion drag racing driver. Born and raised in the United States, Beck married a Canadian and they made their home in her native Edmonton, Alberta...
's 5.39-second NHRA Top Fuel dragster record, the first time that the water record was lower than the land record. Hill quit boat racing in October 1984 after a crash at 217 miles per hour. "It was a perfect run," Hill recalled. "I started to settle the boat back into the water, and then it took off." His Texas A&M ring was torn off his hand; he suffered seven broken bones, a concussion, & eye injuries. He spent five days in the hospital and was not fully recovered for a year.
Return to drag racing
Hill decided to come back into drag racing for 1985. He purchased Dan PastoriniDan Pastorini
Dante "Dan" Anthony Pastorini is a former American football quarterback in the National Football League for the Houston Oilers, Oakland Raiders, Los Angeles Rams, and the Philadelphia Eagles.-NFL career:...
's Top Fuel car and salvaged the drag boat engine from the bottom of the lake. He joined one of the most underfunded and least competitive Top Fuel teams. Hill would have quit early in the 1986 season had he not gotten some tuning advice from a competitor that helped make his car more competitive. Fifteen races after returning, he finally got out of the first round at the 1986 Mile High Nationals. Hill made it to the final round of competition, losing to Larry Minor when he lost reverse after his burnout. At the 1987 Chief Auto Parts Nationals, where he was runner-up, Hill set an NHRA record of 285.98 mi/h In doing so, he became the first person to hold both the land and water quarter mile drag racing speed records simultaneously.
Hill won the first of his thirteen NHRA national events when he beat Joe Amato in final of the 1988 Mac Tools Gatornationals
Gatornationals
The Gatornationals is an annual National Hot Rod Association national drag racing event held each March at Gainesville Raceway in Gainesville, Florida. The event was held for the first time in 1970...
. Amato and Hill met in four final rounds that season, with Hill winning three. On April 9, 1988, he set the first four second elapsed time (4.990 seconds) at the International Hot Rod Association
International Hot Rod Association
The International Hot Rod Association, also known as IHRA, is the 2nd largest drag racing sanctioning body after the NHRA.-The Carrier Era:The IHRA was formed in November 1970 by businessman Larry Carrier. Throughout this period the organization was operated primarily in the south-eastern United...
(IHRA) Texas Nationals. Hill made the run on only seven cylinders; the post-run computer readout showed his #7 cylinder failed at launch. Six months later, Hill recorded a 4.936-second e.t. at the NHRA SuperNationals at Houston on October 9, 1988. Hill set the record as the oldest Top Fuel champion when he won the season championship as a 57-year-old. It was his twelfth championship. Hill won a record-tying six of seven national events and 15 events overall. Hill finished in the Top 10 in Top Fuel points for all but one of the years between 1987 and 1995. Between 1994 and 1999, Hill won his final two events in seven finals. When Hill won the 1996 Mile High Nationals, he set the record for the oldest Top Fuel event winner at age 60. He retired in 1999.
"Eddie Hill Rule"
Hill was qualifying for a 1997 event at SonomaInfineon Raceway
Infineon Raceway, formerly Sears Point Raceway, is a road course and drag strip located on the landform known as Sears Point in the southern Sonoma Mountains near Sonoma, California, USA. The course is a complex series of twists and turns that go up and down the hills...
when his car suffered severe vibration as he crossed the finish line. The car went out of control and was completely destroyed. Hill had two broken toes and a shoulder contusion, which were not serious injuries. The run had been fast enough to make Hill the fastest qualifier, and Hill wanted to race his backup car in the first round on the day after the accident. The NHRA had a rule that the car used for qualifying had to be used in the event, so the sanctioning body did not allow him to compete. The rule was changed after the event to allow cars to race on race day even if they do not use the same car.
Innovations
In 1960, he became the first driver to heat his rear tires with a burnout and he was the first driver to use smaller front tires on a dragster in 1958. Hill introduced the aerodynamic front wingWing
A wing is an appendage with a surface that produces lift for flight or propulsion through the atmosphere, or through another gaseous or liquid fluid...
to dragsters and charcoal
Charcoal
Charcoal is the dark grey residue consisting of carbon, and any remaining ash, obtained by removing water and other volatile constituents from animal and vegetation substances. Charcoal is usually produced by slow pyrolysis, the heating of wood or other substances in the absence of oxygen...
masks for driver safety.
Personal life
Hill is married to Ercie Hill. They met at a boat drag racing event and were married on Valentine's DayValentine's Day
Saint Valentine's Day, commonly shortened to Valentine's Day, is an annual commemoration held on February 14 celebrating love and affection between intimate companions. The day is named after one or more early Christian martyrs named Saint Valentine, and was established by Pope Gelasius I in 496...
in 1984. She had several roles during his career, including team co-owner, starting line navigator, record taker, pit crew member, business manager, marketing, and public relations. She has written about drag racing in National Dragster, AutoWeek
AutoWeek
AutoWeek is a fortnightly automotive enthusiast publication based in Detroit, Michigan. One of 32 titles published by Crain Communications Inc, its parent company, AutoWeek is unique as the only consumer title among its sister publications....
, and Christian Motorsports magazines. Eddie has a daughter named Sabrina and a son named Dustin.
Awards
NHRA ranked him 14th on their Top 50 drivers in 2001. He was inducted in the NHRA Drag Racing Hall of Fame in 1978, and the Texas Motor Sports Hall of Fame in 2007. In 2000, he was inducted in 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. Hill was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America
Motorsports Hall of Fame of America
The Motorsports Hall of Fame of America is a Hall of Fame and museum for American motorsports legends. It was originally located in Novi, Michigan and it moved to the Detroit Science Center in 2009.-Museum:...
in 2002. After he was notified of his nomination, he said
"It's so much more satisfying to get this award now than posthumously. This way I'll be able to enjoy it. Honestly, it was a sobering moment when they called and told me I was being inducted along with some of the people I admired most growing up. It gives you reason to pause for a moment and reflect that maybe some good was accomplished along the way."
In 1988, Hill was selected by 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, Hot Rod Magazine
Hot Rod Magazine
Hot Rod is an American monthly magazine devoted to hot rodding, —modifying automobiles for performance and appearance.-History:Hot Rod is the oldest magazine devoted to hot rodding having been published since 1948. Robert E. Petersen founded the magazine and his Petersen Publishing Company...
, and the International Hot Rod Association
International Hot Rod Association
The International Hot Rod Association, also known as IHRA, is the 2nd largest drag racing sanctioning body after the NHRA.-The Carrier Era:The IHRA was formed in November 1970 by businessman Larry Carrier. Throughout this period the organization was operated primarily in the south-eastern United...
as the Person of the Year. Car Craft magazine's readers voted him the Top Fuel Driver of the Year after he won the 1993 championship.