Limited-Edition Print of 350 (13x30) prints signed and numbered by the Artist.

No history of FX racing would be complete without a nod to some of the boys from down south, Robert (The Flying Milkman) Nance and Billy (Big Deal) Jacobs are two such people. Robert was from Ringgold Georgia, and Billy hailed from Enterprise Alabama, both men passed away within the last 5 years. Billy was inducted into NHRA's Hall Of Fame (southeast division) in Jan. 08

If you ever wondered why Dick Landy and Gene Snow choose to build Dodge Darts for the 66 racing season instead of Chargers, I would imagine Billy Jacobs "Kid Goat" has something to do with it. 

Billy's "Kid Goat" (before GTO's were nicknamed Goats, early mopars were known by that name) was the first A-Body car to run the "new" 426 Hemi.  Billy’s mechanic, J.C. Woddham, and the guru of engines Herman Moore, tuned the hemi for peak performance. 

Once the "Goat's" rear wheels were moved forward for better traction, the car developed serious steering problems. The fix was simple, an A-100 front axle was installed and that alleviated the handling problems. The fix worked so well, that Mopar had the same thing done to all their Factory FX cars. 

“Big Deal” wasn’t content being a big fish in a small pond in Alabama racing; so he branched out, traveling with his wife Ozella, and he won race after race at dragstrips across the South.

“When Billy had three cars, he’d pick two and we’d go racing,” Mrs. Jacobs said recently.

On more than a few occasions, the final race of the day would pit the two Jacobs’ cars against each other for the championship; Ozella drove the other car.
“I enjoyed racing with Billy, and he’d always tell folks, ‘she only knows one way to drive and that’s wide-open."

Robert Nance known as the "Flying Milkman" had a series of "Mr Plymouth" FX cars through the 60s, and is probably best known for his 66 Cuda named "Lil Miss Plymouth. Here in this scene, we see Roberts 65 Plymouth in a stage of change, as the rear wheels were just recently moved forward, not even having enough time to repaint over the primer spots before this event.

In the 60s while the rest of the Drag Racing world was racing for tin, (trophies,) the Southern Circuit boys were running for big bucks, cold cash!  There was good money to be made in those days as the boys could sometimes make $500-$1,000 on the weekend.”

A good example of this, is this scene from Oct. 65, at the second annual "Atlanta $10,000 Fuel and Gas Meet. 

Here in the Funny Car Eliminator finals,  Robert outruns Billy to win $1,000, big big money in those days for first place. Second place money was decided in another race between Don Nicholson's Comet, and Billy's "Kid Goat." The "Goat made it to the finish line first to garner the second place money... 

This was fun painting to do, and although it would considered more of a landscape painting then racing art, it is the companion piece to my recent the "Longhorn and the Mule" print.

I hope you enjoy my little nuggets of little known history of this awesome sport of Drag Racing...   DCP