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The Ray Nichels Story
A Racing Legend- A PONTIAC LEGEND
April 25, 2007

In the history of Pontiac racing there have been a number of stand out drivers whose names we have seen time and again either in the NHRA drag racing or NASCAR oval track circuits. But, behind every great racer is sometimes an even greater builder. Such was the case of Ray Nichels. And, like many back during what might be considered the Golden Years of auto racing, Nichels “came up through the ranks”.

At the young age of only 15, in 1938, Ray Nichels set out as a midget crew chief and for the next ten years built a reputation as a leading/winning builder, having prepared cars for some of the biggest (and soon to be come biggest) names in the racing world at the time.

The following years were filled with involvement in twelve Indianapolis 500 races and some very successful showings, including pole positions and a number of top five and top ten finishes. All during this time, Nichels continued to work as crew chief for some of the Indy leading drivers, as well as joining (1954) Firestone Tire and Rubber Company as their chief mechanic for all race tire testing.

In 1957, Ray Nichels and his Nichels-Engineering Company (the “Go Fast Factory”) gained NASCAR attention when, with Cotton Owens driving, they won the Grand National Beach Race at Daytona. This NASCAR win has special importance for Pontiac hobbyists as it marked the beginning of Ray Nichels’ involvement with Pontiac. The following is an exurb by LaDow Publishing (read more about them later).

With his 1957 Daytona win, Nichels expanded his stock car racing business becoming the “house” racecar builder for Pontiac 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. Overall Pontiac performance in USAC was 14 wins, 10 poles and 38 top-five finishes in 22 races. In NASCAR, overall Pontiac 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. Overall Pontiac 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 seasons 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 Paul 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 LeMans to victory, beating 2nd place finisher A.J. Foyt by over 5 miles.

Later in 1963, Ray Nichels and Nichels Engineering became the “house” racecar builder for all of Chrysler Corporation. Nichels role with Chrysler was identical to his with Pontiac....

Ray Nichels and Nichels Engineering won three (3) National Stock Car Championships in USAC. Paul Goldsmith and Ray 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. Winning drivers were Cotton Owens, Bobby Isaac, Paul Goldsmith (2), AJ Foyt, Sam McQuagg and Charlie Glotzbach.

The list of drivers who piloted cars built by and/or campaigned by Ray Nichels and Nichels Engineering is 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, Marvin Panch, 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, Lloyd Ruby, Arnie Beswick and Ronnie Sox.

On April 25th, 1996, Ray Nichels was inducted into Mechanics Hall of Fame within the International Motorsports Hall of Fame located in Talladega, Alabama. On the same day, 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.

It is easy to see that Ray Nichels was one of racing’s all time leaders for many years. Although his shop has long ago closed, and Ray left us on November 25, 2005 at the age of 83, his memory lives on through his tremendous accomplishments in the racing world. We are all looking forward to the long-awaited release of the book about Ray Nichels called “Conversations with a Winner– The Ray Nichels Story”. It is secheduled for release of orders on May 27, 2007. it is over 300 pages, contains 500 photos and illustrations, hard bound, and represents six years of effort by its author; Wm. LaDow. Utilizing the Nichels Engineering Archives, until now sealed for over 30 years, this book offers a glimpse into the never before documented life of Racing Hall of Famer Ray Nichels. Offering insight from such legendary American racing personalities as Cotton Owens, Chris Economaki, A.J. Foyt, David Pearson, Bud Moore, Len Sutton, Bobby Unser, Don White, Ernie Derr, Paul Goldsmith, Shirley Muldowney, Fred Lorenzen, Ray Fox, Andy Granatelli and Arnie “The Farmer” Beswick, just to name a few, this volume promises to be the most wide ranging narrative outlining Ray Nichels almost 40 year racing career. The new LaDow web site is scheduled to launch at this same time where it will be set up to accept orders. Please watch for it.

For even more, see the article of the same title in our PontiacRegistry.com On-Line Magazine.