By Wm. R. LaDow
In 1938, at age 15, Ray Nichels, went on the road as a midget car crew chief, racing at tracks across America. From 1938-1948, the drivers of the Ray Nichels prepared midgets (campaigned by his father Rudy Nichels) were Ted Duncan, Tony Bettenhausen, Johnnie Parsons, Paul Russo, Mike O’Halloran, and Ray Richards (All members of the Midget Racing Hall of Fame.)
Rudy Nichels shop at the corner of Cline Avenue and Ridge Road in Highland, Indiana, in 1947. Working on the two Nichels-owned midgets in the front of the garage is 24-year-old Ray Nichels. In the back on the right in the white tee shirt is Ronney Householder, who at the time was one of the most respected drivers in racing. He went on to manage Chrysler Corporation’s racing operations from 1955 thru 1972 – Nichels Engineering Archives
Hammond, Indiana Speedway 5/8th’s mile track w/two Nichels midgets. The car on the left is the #25, driven by Mike O’Halloran, and on the right is Teddy Duncan in the #2. Both drivers were eventually elected to the National Midget Racing Hall of Fame. Kneeling between the Nichels cars are from left: Dale “Tiny’ Worley, Ray Nichels, and Rudy Nichels – Nichels Engineering Archives
Following his time in midget racing, Nichels moved on to Indy cars and eventually participated in 12 Indianapolis 500 races, as a chief mechanic and crew chief. In those twelve 500’s, Ray Nichels won one Pole (1957 w/Pat O’Connor), garnered 2 top-fives (a 3rd and a 5th w/Paul Goldsmith), and 5 top-tens.
Most notable of his top-ten finishes was the 9th place showing in the 1950 Indianapolis 500 of the Russo-Nichels Special. Paul Russo and Ray Nichels constructed this car in the basement of Russo’s Hammond, Indiana home during the winter of 1949-1950. Qualifying in the 7th row, the Russo-Nichels Special captured the imagination of the American racing public by running with the leaders for much of the day before the rain-shortened race ended at 345 miles. The Russo-Nichels Special soon became affectionately known as “Basement Bessie” as it campaigned on the AAA Championship Trail during the 1950 season. In December, Nichels, with Johnnie Parsons behind the wheel, won the first-ever Indy car race at the newly built Darlington Raceway. On the season, Ray Nichels and Paul Russo and their hand-built “basement” creation missed the chance to win the National Championship only after a season-ending injury to Russo in the November AAA Indy car race in Phoenix.
Nichels then toiled as chief mechanic for Johnnie Parsons’ entries in the 1953 and 1954 Indy 500 races. In June of 1954, Ray Nichels joined the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company as its chief mechanic for all race tire testing. In their first test together, he and driver Sam Hanks teamed up to set a new world closed-course speed record of 182.554 mph at Chrysler Corporation’s newly built Chelsea, Michigan Proving Grounds in a Nichels-prepared Chrysler Hemi-powered Kurtis-Kraft roadster. It would be the first of many world speed records that Nichels and his cars would set over the next 20 years.
In 1957, Ray Nichels and Indiana-based Nichels Engineering won the pole (w/Banjo Matthews) and won the race (w/Cotton Owens) at the NASCAR Grand National Beach Race at Daytona. Two months later, Nichels traveled to Monza, Italy, on behalf of Firestone, and set a series of world speed records on the world’s highest-banked oval with driver Pat O’Connor behind the wheel of the Chrysler Hemi-powered Kurtis-Kraft roadster. Nichels and O’Connor then returned to the United States, where they won the Pole position for the world’s most important race, the Indianapolis 500. In his time, Ray Nichels was the only mechanic to win the Pole at Daytona and Indianapolis in the same year.
Nichels Pontiac 1957 NASCAR Victory – (from left) Ray Nichels, Semon Knudsen, Harley Earl, Cotton Owens, Bill France, Sr. – Photo Credit: Nichels Engineering Archives
With his 1957 Daytona win, Nichels expanded his stock car racing business, becoming Pontiac’s “house” racecar builder from 1956-1963. Working directly for Pontiac Gen. Mgr. Semon “Bunkie” Knudsen, Nichels managed Pontiac’s involvement in stock car racing from his operations in Highland, Indiana. By 1961, under Nichels’ guidance, Pontiac dominated American stock car racing. Nichels Engineering driver, Paul Goldsmith captured the USAC National Championship with 10 wins, 7 poles, and 16 top-five finishes in 19 races. Pontiac’s performance in USAC was 14 wins, 10 poles, and 38 top-five finishes in 22 races. In NASCAR, Pontiac’s performance was 30 wins in 52 races. In 1962, Pontiac’s dominance under Nichels became even further evident as Nichels and Goldsmith won their 2nd consecutive USAC National Championship with 8 wins, 6 poles, and 15 top-five finishes in 20 races. Pontiac’s performance in USAC was 10 wins, 10 poles, and 34 top-five finishes in 22 races. Four Nichels Engineering drivers (Goldsmith, A.J. Foyt, Rodger Ward, and Len Sutton) finished in the season’s Top Ten. In NASCAR, overall Pontiac performance was 22 wins in 53 races, with Joe Weatherly winning the National Championship driving a Nichels Engineering built, Bud Moore prepped Pontiac.
In 1961, Nichels Engineering prepared and ran two 1962 Pontiac Catalinas, setting one-lap, 500-mile, and 24-hour world stock car speed and endurance records at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Darlington Raceway. The Nichels Engineering driving team consisted of Rodger Ward, Paul Goldsmith, Len Sutton, Fireball Roberts, Joe Weatherly, and Marvin Panch. Nichels’ mechanics for these historic speed and endurance runs were Ray Nichels, Dale “Tiny” Worley, Bud Moore, Cotton Owens, and Smokey Yunick.
In 1963, Nichels and driver Goldsmith delivered one of the most lopsided victories in Daytona Speed Weeks history, in the Challenge Cup 250, when Goldsmith piloted the Nichels Engineering #50 Super Duty 421 Pontiac Le Mans to victory, beating second-place finisher A.J. Foyt by over five miles.
In 1963, Nichels Engineering became the “house” racecar builder for all of Chrysler Corporation. Nichels role with Chrysler was identical to his with Pontiac. Working for Ronney Householder, Nichels was commissioned to build the fastest and safest stock cars in the business and disseminate racing knowledge and design technology to all Chrysler teams in support of their collective racing efforts. Working with legendary stock car racers Cotton Owens, Ray Fox, Harry Hyde, Norm Nelson, and Petty Enterprises, Nichels Engineering did just that. It is no coincidence that the most prolific period in Chrysler’s stock car racing history was 1964-1970. Nichels Engineering-built stock cars won national stock car championships in USAC, NASCAR, ARCA, and IMCA, for several years running, setting speed records at tracks across America.
Ray Nichels and Nichels Engineering won three (3) National Stock Car Championships in USAC. Goldsmith and Nichels combined to win titles in 1961 and 1962. Then in 1967, Nichels and all-time winningest USAC Stock car driver Don White teamed up for the USAC national championship.
In 13 years of NASCAR competition, Nichels Engineering campaigned cars raced 223 times, garnering 89 top-ten finishes, 62 top-five finishes, 12 Poles, and 11 victories. Nichels Engineering was a winner at tracks such as Daytona, Bristol, Rockingham, Michigan, and Talladega. Nichels also won NASCAR pole positions at Daytona, Talladega, Charlotte, Rockingham, Darlington, Michigan, and Riverside.
Nichels Engineering was a seven (7) time NASCAR winner at Daytona from 1957-1970. The winning drivers were Cotton Owens, Bobby Isaac, Paul Goldsmith (2), AJ Foyt, Sam McQuagg, and Charlie Glotzbach.
The drivers who piloted cars built by and/or campaigned by Ray Nichels and Nichels Engineering are synonymous with American racing excellence …. they are Bobby Isaac, A.J. Foyt, David Pearson, Bobby Unser, Al Unser, Roger Penske, Paul Goldsmith, Rodger Ward, Don White, Tony Bettenhausen, Richard Petty, Dan Gurney, Junior Johnson, Buddy Baker, Bobby Allison, Gordon Johncock, Pat O’Connor, Paul Russo, Mario Andretti, LeeRoy Yarbrough, Jim Hurtubise, Fred Lorenzen, Charlie Glotzbach, Glenn “Fireball” Roberts, Joe Weatherly, Cotton Owens, Banjo Matthews, Sam McQuagg, Joe Leonard, Len Sutton, Darel Dieringer, Troy Ruttman, Dave Marcis, Richard Brickhouse, Ramo Stott, Ernie Derr, Jimmy Pardue, James Hylton, Butch Hartman, Roger McCluskey, Bobby Johns, Ray Elder, Norm Nelson, and Lloyd Ruby.
In September of 2021, Ray Nichels was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America located in Daytona Beach, Florida. In 2022, Nichels was also inducted into the USAC Hall of Fame in Speedway, Indiana. In addition, Indiana Governor, Evan Bayh, awarded Ray Nichels the “Sagamore of the Wabash,” the highest distinguished service honor bestowed upon an Indiana citizen by its governor.
Copyright© 2005-2023 — Wm. LaDow / LaDow Publishing
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