Ted
Harbit raced
his “Chicken Hawk” 1951 Studebaker and won his Stock class at the NHRA Nationals
an incredible seven times in 11 tries. A retired teacher and basketball coach
in the Frankton, Ind. school system, he has raced continuously in cars he’s
built himself for more than 50 years. Ted retired from class racing after the
’72 U.S. Nationals and drove it occasionally until 1987 when he decided to see
how fast it would go. With twin turbochargers and twin four barrel carbs, he’s
turned a best of 10.07 at 137.8 mph. In the Studebaker Drivers Club
publication, Turning Wheels, Harbit explained why he still uses a
Studebaker engine. “My own experience has been that it is not necessary to go
to expensive extremes to develop over 500 HP in a Studebaker V-8. . . and that
the engine is so basically sturdy that one need not fear immediate
disintegration when higher horsepowers (sic) have been
developed.”
Ted
runs his 1963 Studebaker Lark (affectionally known as the “The Stude Tomato” in
Pure Stock and has run as fast as 12.68 at 112.07 mph
Donny Brass of the PSMCDR told us "Ted is
sneaking up on 80 years young, and shows no signs of slowing down.
and We are
honored to race with him."
We are proud to announce that Ted Harbit AND the "Stude Tomato" will appear at the 2014 Muscle Car and Corvette Nationals Show in the Pure Stock Muscle Car Drag Race Display
Comments