Thu, 21 Feb 2008, 04:16 PM Let's Just Have Some Fun

By Bob Frey Photo copyright 2008 Auto Imagery, Inc.

Al Joniec's Cobra Jet

Before the days of the internet (remember that?) it took a long while for news of a national event to make its way across the country. In 1968, for example, the Winternationals were over, the grandstands were taken down, the Fairplex was cleaned up and they were getting ready for the next show long before the east coast drag racing fans knew who won the race. National Dragster came a few weeks later and we were all surprised to find out that one of our heroes had, indeed, won the Winternationals. Al Joniec was already a big-time star here in the east before he made national headlines by beating the top drivers in the country on his way to the Super Stock title in 1968. Prior to winning in Pomona Al had picked up wins at the Gold Cup race at Numidia Dragway in 1965, and that was a big race back then. He competed in the "Woodstock" of drag racing, the 1965 Super Stock Nationals in York, Pennsylvania where he was one of the stars in the popular 3,000 pound class. And he had raced all up and down the east coast while campaigning one of the very first "factory-backed" Fords in the sport. Of course in those days, most of the Fords were sponsored by Ford dealerships because Ford was, officially, out of the racing business. Al drove an A/X Mustang for Al Swenson Ford in his early days before hooking up with one of the biggest dealerships in the east, the Rice & Holman Ford dealership in Southern New Jersey. After a string of successes back east Al decided to take his show on the road and he headed for Pomona, California and the famous Winternationals. Super Stock was huge at that event and it featured most of the top drivers in the sport. Among those in the field were Dick Landy, Ronnie Sox, Herb McCandless and more. On race day, Al went out and beat some of the best including Don Grotheer, Tommy Crutchfield, Hubert Platt and, finally, Dave Wren to secure his place in drag racing history. When we finally got the news at Atco Dragway where I was working in 1968, the crowd went wild. Literally.

John Calvert

With that as a background, imagine my surprise when I was sitting in the tower at this year's Winternationals and the Super Stock cars came through the staging lanes, made that famous left hand turn and began their initial qualifying runs. There, before my very eyes, was Al Joniec's 1968 Cobra Jet Mustang, the one that won the race exactly forty years ago. I did a double-take and then realized that Al hadn't come out of retirement, but the car I was seeing belonged to John Calvert, himself a former Winternationals champion. "My brother actually came up with the idea," John said. "He's a pretty creative guy and I don't think I would have thought of doing this myself." What he did was take the Ford Mustang that he has owned for a long while and made it look exactly like Al's car did when he beat Dave Wren for the title in 1968. "At my age it's nice to be able to go out and have fun," John said. "I've been very fortunate to do a lot in drag racing and this was a little way of giving something back." When John says that he has done a lot in the sport he's actually being extremely modest. He has been to nine final rounds on the national event level and fifteen more at divisional races. He is the current national record holder in the SS/G class at 9.57 - 139.38 and he has been the Division 7 champion twice, including most recently in 2006. He has been a Jeg's All Star representative several times and he was the 1991 Lucas Oil World champion and had three top ten finishes to his credit. Not a bad resume, is it? And all of those races, all of those wins and all of those championships have come while driving a Ford, the same Ford that he drove at this year's Winternationals. "I actually began racing back in the 1970's with a 1957 Ford Fairlane. It had a 292 cubic inch engine with headers, a four-barrel carburetor and a Dempsey Wilson cam. The car ran in P/Stock and I went to my first race at Edwards Air Force base and won my first round and I was hooked." After that John bought a 1967 Mustang that he didn't race but enjoyed driving on the street. "That was a really nice car but I was driving one day and ran out of gas on the freeway. I pulled the car over to the side of the road and went for gas and someone ran right into it." The next car he got was another Mustang that John says he bracket raced and he admits to being "pretty successful with that car." Then, as he was reading the newspaper one day, everything changed. "I saw an ad for an experimental Mustang that was for sale. The ad said it was one of only 400 built. I had never heard of that but I decided to check it out." John did say that one thing that really attracted him to the car was the fact that he saw the new Ford Cobra Jet Mustangs running at Pomona and Ontario and he really liked them. "I remember seeing Bob Glidden race and win and I saw his two boys with him in the winner's circle. That was so cool."

When John responded to the ad he found a 1968 Cobra Jet Ford Mustang and he learned the man who owned it had been at the '68 Winternationals. "It was a classic case of 'win on Sunday and sell on Monday.' The guy saw the cars at the race and went to his Ford dealership on Monday and ordered the car." While the salesmen at the dealership weren't exactly sure what they were ordering, they placed the order and six months later the car came in. "The guy waited six months for the car and then got a speeding ticket the second day he had it," John said. When John asked the man how much he wanted for the car he was told "fifteen hundred and fifty dollars." "I countered with an offer of fifteen hundred bucks but he was firm, so I went back, got the extra fifty dollars and bought the car." That might have been the best fifty dollars anyone ever spent in drag racing, because the car John is running today is that same car. "It's been a very good car and it's nice to be able to say that I own one of the original Cobra Jet Ford Mustangs." John has been racing the car for a long while and, in addition to the wins already mentioned, he even set the national record with the car in 1975 at Sacramento Raceway. The numbers.11.86 at 115.05 miles per hour.

John Calvert

After John spoke with his brother and decided to run the tribute car at this year's Winternationals, there were several things he needed to do. "I had never spoken with Al Joniec and I called him to see if it was OK with him. He really liked the idea and I even suggested that he come out to Pomona and maybe make a parade lap down the track with the car. Unfortunately he couldn't work that into his schedule." John also had to make some changes to his classic car in order to make it look "period correct." "I had several of the C-stripes on the car that came with the GT model and there were some things on the hood that needed to be changed. And, of course, I had to get the right Cragar wheels to go with it." Part of the wheels came from an auction on e-bay while the rest came from one of our favorite spots, the Summit Racing catalog. "Then I took the car to a friend of mine who did the graphic work on it and we were ready to go." And while John didn't add another Pomona final round to his credit, he did have a nice weekend at the track. "The car got a lot of attention but I really would have liked to win. I always do well here and I wanted to win this on the 40th anniversary of Al's win."

When John is not racing his classic Cobra Jet, he is busy running his business, Calvert Racing. "I started this around 1991 and decided that if I could generate enough business I would do it full time." Since 1995 it has been a full time business and he produces some of the best racing components in the sport. His main item is the popular CalTracs traction system, "the bar with bite" as he calls it. He also does front and rear suspension systems and the Calvert Racing name can be found on some of the best running cars in the country. "My brother was instrumental in getting me started," John said. "I began it in our garage and did almost everything myself initially. I would grind the parts, drill them, assemble them, paint them and then deliver them to the UPS store to get delivered. I've been very fortunate and the business has grown every year." Fortunate may not be the right word, because when you see a problem and develop a solution and build a product that the racers need you're bound to be a success.

After the Winternationals I did speak to Al Joniec and he was extremely flattered at John's gesture. "To be remembered like that and to have John do what he did is really special" And when I asked Al what he's doing these days he said, "I'm just hanging out, working on some historic Ford cars and having fun." That's interesting because that's almost the same thing that John Calvert said, that is, "I just want to have fun." Two men who have never met, one car, one activity and the same goal. That's what makes this such a wonderful sport.

NHRA: 10 Most Recent Entries [ top ]

Jul 28- FEATURE- Jimmy Lewis
Jul 27- FEATURE- Did You Know? by Bob Frey
Jul 26- DENVER - Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series Wrap Up
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Jul 25- DENVER - Sunday Wrap Up
Jul 25- DENVER - Championship Points
Jul 25- DENVER - Bonus Points
Jul 25- DENVER - Summary of Eliminations in Top Fuel
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Jul 25- DENVER - Summary of Eliminations in Pro Stock



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