Dick Surratt

(This was included as part of the October 2003 DTA Newsletter.)

Dick Surratt joined the Denver Timing Association member during the reorganization in late 1998. He has served as the club's Vice President.
Dick's most memorable experiences are the early years of drag racing. In 1958 he owned a relatively new '56 Ford Victoria with a 312 cubic inch Police Interceptor engine running a four barrel carburetor and an automatic transmission. This was his only car and he drove it daily and took it regularly to the drag strip at Continental Divide Raceways (CDR). After racing it, he'd drive it home. He remembers his speeds were in the 80's. He never was able to run good enough to win a trophy, but he says he still had great times.

Model A coupe for sale in Southern California. The seller delivered it to Dick, in Denver, for the princely sum of $550! The coupe had a new '59 Olds J-2 engine. The J-2 designation was for three two-barrel carburetors running progressively. It had a four speed transmission and an Olds rear end. Tires sizes were 8.90X15 rear and 5.00X15 front (went down hill for better gas mileage). The Olds engine was a performer, and, coupled with the car's light weight, ran very hard. When the seller delivered it in Denver, he had forgotten the title, but promised to mail it to Dick the minute he got back home. Dick took him at his word and paid him (suppose Dick might be interested in buying some slightly damp land in Florida?).

Dick had sold the '56 Victoria to acquire the rod and the hot rod became his sole transportation. During 1959, Dick raced it at Continental Divide Raceways whenever there were drag races. He drove it daily the remainder of the year using the California plates. During the winter, Dick decided it was time to make thing legal and get a Colorado title and plates. A minor problem surfaced. Dick had never received the title from the California seller! And Dick was unable to locate him or anyone who had every heard of him! Nothing left to do but post the mandatory bond of three times the $550 value of the rod ($1650) in order to get a Colorado title. The form required serial numbers from both the engine and chassis. He, as a lawful abiding citizen, dutifully supplied all needed information on the form. The state ran their normal nationwide check. Guess what….. the engine was from a stolen car in California! Colorado threatened to confiscate the engine and put Dick on trial for receiving stolen goods. Dick pulled the engine for the state. Dick called the owner of the stolen Olds in California. The man said he had settled with the insurance company sometime previously and had no interest in the engine. He sent Dick a notarized letter stating this. With this paper clutched in his hot hand, Dick was able to proceed with getting the title. And, he even got to keep the engine!

Since the engine and transmission were already out of the rod, Dick decided it would be an ideal time to make some modifications. Another minor problem or two surfaced….. seems Dick had never built an engine and had very few tools. He went to the library and read several books on engine building and hot rodding engines. He rebuilt it in a small single car garage, with a dirt floor, using what few wrenches he had. He re-did the engine without any outside help whatsoever. He had it bored out to 4" and used Jahn's racing pistons in the punched out cylinders. In went an Engle 95 cam and six Stromberg 97 carbs (if one does some good, six must be six times better… at least that's what we t thought when we first started out) on an Offenhauser intake manifold. He changed the four speed over to a B&M hydramatic transmission. At that time, a B&M hydramatic was the hot setup. He finally finished gluing everything together. Like everyone in this zany hobby, he was quite apprehensive when it came time to fire it the first time. He hadn't yet put in the floorboards and still had open headers (no mufflers). With fingers crossed, he hit the starter button. It turned over about twice and fired. Needless to say, Dick was elated.

He couldn't wait to show off his handiwork to his buddies. He was only a few blocks from the Country Kitchen at 45th and Filmore Street where he and his friends hung out. Dick fired his hot rod and started towards the Country Kitchen. About two blocks from home he looked down through the open floor at his headers. They were extremely hot! How hot? He could nearly see through them! A quick check of the temperature gauge showed the engine was running hot enough to melt! He shut it down, but it was too late. The excessive temperature had ruined his freshly built engine. Later inspection would show Dick had way too much spark advance. It would also reveal a cracked head in addition to burned rings and bearings. Now remember, Dick and Betty hadn't been married long. They were expecting their first child and Dick was making the princely sum of $1.25 per hour! He had used their entire year's savings to build the engine. Somehow, they managed to find the funds to re-do it again in time for the 1960 racing season.. It consistently ran about 110 mph in C/Gas class. C/Gas was dominated by Dick Montoya and his Chevy powered duece coupe. His Model A never beat Montoya's coupe. Dick would find out where Montoya was going drag racing and go elsewhere. If Montoya was going to race a Julesburg, Dick would go to CDR…. or vice versa.

One fine Sunday morning Dick was on his way to CDR. By now the car sported about seven different colors of primer. (racing colors, we called them). Whatever primer friends had left over Dick would use on his coupe. Pretty colorful for sure. He spotted a police cruiser and quickly braked to get somewhere close to the posted speed limit. The cruiser followed him a distance before lighting up his light bar and pulling Dick over. Seems the cop just wanted to look over his rod. The cop said "This thing looks like it'll really run." Dick proudly went over some of the modifications. The cop was very interested and friendly and asked him how fast it accelerated. He asked if Dick thought it was faster than his patrol car. Dick said he was certain it was. The cop asked if Dick would mind if they ran off a short distance to verify which was faster. No sweat. They drove side by side about 10 -15 mph and nailed them. Dick easily pulled away. The patrol car's red lights came on. You guessed it….. Dick received a $35 ticket for "Contest of speed"!

Dick needed bigger transportation due to his growing family. He sold the coupe in 1965 for the whopping sum of $1200. He couldn't believe the coupe would ever bring that much money!

He hooked up with Swede Ehrlich and his Chevy powered dragster. The Chevy displaced 327 inches, with fuel injection, and ran nitro. It turned consistent speeds in the 135 mph range which was fast in those early years.

Dick had always been interested in roundy-round racing and became very active at Lakeside Speedway in both stock cars and midgets. His fascination with midgets soon won out over the stockers. He, like so many other midget drivers, started midget racing behind Ford V8-60 flathead engines. Dick had a ride (drove the car for a season or length of time) with a midget running a 4 cylinder Willys engine. Eventually he changed to the newer hot midget engine….. a highly modified VW engine.

He still races midgets today. His present car is one he built completely himself. He acquired a complete and detailed set of plans. He used tubing in fabricating the chassis. Not much of a problem since he's a very accomplished welder. He built the race car from scratch. Pretty talented to say the least. He acquired a SESCo (Speed Engineering Service Company) 4 cylinder engine for the power. A SESCO is essentially one-half of a 350 inch Chev V8 (cut in half lengthwise). They make a ton of power and are the current engine of choice for many serious midget racers. His particular engine features an aluminum block and head. Aluminum SESCO Chevy blocks are extremely rare. It's injected and runs on straight methanol (alcohol). Horsepower developed is unknown, but it would appear it's in the neighborhood of somewhere around 300 hp.

Dick has recently completed building his new garage and is moving his machinery and equipment into the new diggin's. He's begun learning the intricacies of his Bridge Port. This knowledge will be needed quite soon because he's begun building a sprint car with a loaded Pontiac V8…… some gear heads never grow up.

Here's an addition the last entry about Dick Surratt and his midget. .......rumble seat

SCARY!!!!
DTA member Dick Surratt and his good friend, Charlie Gottschalck (got-chuck), towed their midgets to California for a race the last weekend in November 2003. They went together in Dick's Ford dually truck with their two midget racers tucked safely inside the enclosed trailer. The race was to be at Willow Springs Raceways near Rosemond, California (about 50 miles northeast of Los Angeles). The track itself is a 3/8 mile banked dirt and is a very fast dirt track. It's located directly across the road from the famous Edwards Air Force Base. There is a small town nearby by the name of Antelope.

Dick's midget runs a SESCo engine. It's basically a 350" Chevy V8 cut in half lengthwise to make it a four cylinder engine. The block and head are aluminum. It has fuel injection and runs straight methanol (alcohol) for fuel. It makes a bunch of horsepower and is very fast. Charlie is running a hopped up Ford V8-60 flathead engine. It too runs on straight alcohol.

Dick and Charlie made changes to their jetting and timing during practice laps. They finally found the right combination for the lower altitude. Their midgets reflected it in the speeds they were turning on the track. Following time trials, Dick always flushes the fuel system and cleans the injectors on his SESCO midget. This is to flush out any particles or alcohol and water mix which might cause a problem during the upcoming races. The flushing includes the injectors, fuel lines as well as the systems barrel valve. The barrel valve is similar to a fuel block in that it distributes pressurized fuel to the injector nozzle at each of the four cylinders. The fuel pressure at the barrel valve is 40 psi. Dick completed his normal flushing ritual while talking with fellow racers. He re-filled the fuel tank with fresh alcohol. He was satisfied the car was ready to race.

The announcer called for the first heat to line up. There were 37 midgets in this particular heat. A good sized field for sure. Dick and Charlie suited up in their safety gear. Mandatory flame resistant equipment includes coveralls, undergarments, gloves, shoes, etc. Further safety gear includes a full helmet with full face shield.

Dick pushed the midget to the staging line, got inside the cramped quarters, and strapped himself in. Lastly he put on the steering wheel. This may sound strange, but one must remember how small these cars are. It's virtually impossible to get in or out of a midget with the steering wheel in place. The steering wheel and steering shaft are splined. A lever of sorts on the steering wheel snaps down and secures the steering wheel to the splined shaft. Dick was ready to go racing.

He got a push and started his SESCo engine. He slowly circled the track while the remaining cars were started. Soon all the race cars were on the track and in their correct starting position. Time to race!

The field of 37 midgets roared down the front straightaway and flew past the green start flag. Dick had nailed the accelerator and the midget was still accelerating hard as he pitched it sideways into turn one. On the back chute the SESCO powered midget quickly accelerated up past the 100 mph mark. Dick would pitch it sideways into each corner with the steering wheel and then navigated the turn in a controlled slide using a lot of throttle and seesawing the steering wheel back and forth. The rear wheels left rooster tails most of the way around the track. The little midget was running the hardest it had ever run. He showered dirt on the other racers when he passed them..,.. usually sideways! Dick was doing his thing and having a ton of fun.

He was up to 3rd place, and closing quickly on the second place racer, as he crossed the start/finish line at the end of the third lap. As he pitched the midget sideways, at 100+ mph, he heard a slight pop up front somewhere, but thought little of it since it was a one time thing and he'd never heard it before. He had barely entered turn one when he became aware his feet and lower legs were getting quite warm. He was going sideways, but managed a quick look at both the heat and oil gauges. Readings were all normal….. 60 psi oil pressure and 160 degrees engine temperature (alcohol does run cool). Odd he thought. He couldn't find any reason for the heat he was feeling around his feet and legs. He took a quick look down at his feet. No smoke or flames to indicate fire of any kind. By this time he was over halfway through turn one. His feet and legs were getting hotter with each passing millisecond. He figured he'd best pull off the track and return to the pits to determine what the problem was.

By the time he had exited turn one, his feet and legs were burning from the heat. HE REALIZED HE WAS ON FIRE!!!!! No flames or smoke. But burning alcohol cannot be seen because it doesn't emit visible flames or smoke. Dick knew he had to get out of the car… and damned fast! He doesn't remember a lot of the details, but he remembers stopping in the middle of the straightaway. <o:p></o:p>
He unsnapped the steering wheel and pitched it. The midget's floor area was super hot and the intense heat was now clear up to his knees! He knew he was in serious trouble. Remember he was still strapped in the cramped quarters. He reached down for the safety belt clasp on the right side. On a midget, they're located down low between the seat and the body. It's very tight quarters in a midget and not easy to reach. Simpson, who made the seat belt (and all of Dick's fire equipment), had had problems with the midget guys popping this clasp loose with a sleeve of their fire suit as they sea-sawed their steering wheels through the turns. Simpson came up with a simple and effective solution….. add a piece of Velcro to cover the clasp and prevent a sleeve from catching the clasp and releasing it. They added a tab to the Velcro to pull it apart. The tab is ¼" long and can easily be pulled with or without gloves…. but only if it can be located. A full face helmet prevents a driver from tipping their chin down enough to touch their chest. This is necessary to lower your head far enough to see the tab. Dick fumbled blindly for the elusive tab…. all the while the flameless alcohol was beginning to broil him alive! He remembers trying to rip loose the seat belts in his panic. Naturally he couldn't. All this time the 34 cars behind him were sliding past him on both sides of the race car. Hairy to say the least. Dick finally located the tab and got the seat belt clasp loose. Not out of the woods yet! Both feet were stuck tightly to the floor. The fireproof shoe soles had melted to the floor due to the intense heat!!!!! After what seemed an eternity, he finally managed to get jerk them free. He crawled and fell out of the midget. He rolled down the track towards the infield to snuff out the still burning firesuit.

Dick laid there and looked towards his abandoned race car. Dark smoke was pouring out of the car now. Mostly it was the wiring and upholstery on fire. Dick could see flames coming out of the engine compartment. A track fireman came towards Dick carrying a fire extinguisher. Dick hollered at him that his racer was on fire and to put the fire out. The fireman ran up to the midget to put the fire out. Yeah, right! Not wanting to waste the contents of his precious fire extinguisher, the idiot fireman leaned over and blew on the flames!!!! The track could certainly use a little training for their track firemen.

The ambulance personnel began working on Dick. The lower part of his fire suit had changed from its solid black color to red due to the fire. His legs and feet appeared to be burned very badly. They worked on him while they sped to nearby Antelope Community Hospital. Dick was in intense pain.

Examination at the Antelope Community Hospital showed Dick had second degree burns on his feet. But his legs weren't burned and blistered….. only his feet. His Simpson fire suit had saved his legs and prevented extreme burns to him. (I believe his fire suit and gear prevented him from being burned to death while still inside the midget.)

Something happened at the hospital that helped Dick manage the pain. He was laying on his bed in excruciating pain. He said it's the worse pain he has ever had. An elderly couple in their eighties passed by his bed and saw the huge blisters and burns on his feet and legs. They stopped and the woman bent over and kissed him. She said she felt so sorry for him and knew how much pain he had to be in. Her husband produced a picture. It was of the woman. Seems she had slipped and fallen into a hot barbecue pit!!!! She hadn't been killed because she had landed on her back in the burning pit. She had received burns from her buttocks to her feet. On each of her buttocks there was a blister nearly the size of a soccer ball!!!!! Dick suddenly found his pain less intense. The next morning, the woman came back by the hospital to see how he was doing! There are a lot of nice and kind people in this world, aren't there?

What caused the fire? When Dick had flushed the fuel system before the heat race, he'd disconnected the fuel line from the barrel valve. This was normal to flush it out. When finished, he'd reconnected the fuel line to the barrel valve with his fingers. He went to his tool box to get a wrench to tighten the connection, but got side tracked when he stopped to talk with other racers. Consequently, the connection was never wrench-tightened. Alcohol sprayed out of the loose fitting under 40 psi pressure when the engine was started. It soaked the engine and managed to penetrate the firewall where it collected on the floor of the midget. Now his feet were sitting and soaking in liquid alcohol. The pop he'd heard was the alcohol soaked engine catching fire. It traveled quickly to the inside of the cockpit and ignited the puddle of alcohol on the floor.

Damage to the race car? Just some blistered paint, totaled upholstery, and loss of all electrical wiring. Everything else appears okay. Not near as much damage as Dick received. Dick went to his hospital once he reached Denver. They said the California hospital hadn't treated the burns according to new methods of treatment. Consequently the burns will take longer than they should. An additional update….. on December 8, 2003, his doctor notified him the burns on his feet were more considerably more severe than originally thought. His right foot has one spot with 3rd degree burns. But his left foot has 3rd degree burns over most of it. I understand 3rd degree burns are when the innermost layer of skin has been burned through and has burned the nerves. Serious to say the least. Dick is on the mend, but it'll be a long time before he's back up to speed. We all wish him the best.

postscript: Dick was fully healed by the late summer of 2004 after months of excruciating pain. He has since sold the midget when he came across a Champ car for sale. He's using a 350" Pontiac engine from a drag racer which makes about 380 hp. He has organized a nation wide Champ car club. They don't have roll bars since they're into nostalgic race cars. Mostly this is because they are unable to get insurance. So they do a lot of parade laps…. at least it starts that way. And then someone will nail the throttle for just a second…. and then another gets on it for a second… and so on!

......rumble seat

 

Return to Home Index