Long Island Classic CarsOnline NewsletterVol.9 April 2011 No. 2 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
The Snizek & Dodge Racing Team “The Pacers”
by Scott Snizek
In 1955, a Long Island Hot-Rodder named, George Snizek, brought together a group of friends who had fast, custom cars and formed The Valley Stream Pacers Hot Rod Club in his parent’s basement. Each weekend, members would drive their cars, along with their club car, a channeled ’32 Ford 5 window coupe, out to the newly opened Westhampton Dragway for flag-start, heads-up drag racing. The club was very successful with George’s ’55 Ford Victoria and the club’s Chrysler Hemi-powered deuce coupe.
The following year, a friend at the track, known as Charlie Dodge, told The Pacers that he could make their coupe run faster if they used a different camshaft in their hemi. Charlie had a spare one they could use at his friend’s shop in Jamaica, NY. The Pacers agreed to try it out and brought the coupe out to Henny’s Welding, which was owned by drag racers Mike Sforza and Dick Yarkin. Charlie installed the cam into the coupe and that weekend the cam did exactly what it was supposed to do. The coupe ran faster, but it exposed the next weakest links of the car shortly thereafter.
This cycle continued as they tried out other custom made parts and combinations. When parts were pushed to their limit, breakage would often occur, so any weak areas were then strengthened, readjusted, or retuned. This testing & tuning of custom made speed parts each weekend eventually became a side business between George & Charlie, and The Valley Stream Pacers Hot Rod Club evolved into The Pacers’ Snizek & Dodge Racing Team.
George, Charlie, and their friend, Kenny Braun, had full time jobs at the prestigious George Haug Company in Manhattan. Since Haug only serviced high end cars, George & Charlie needed a place where they could do their own work in their spare time. They found a small garage in Hewlett, NY and began working on cars after work and on the weekends. It’s where they built their first racecar, the “Snizek & Dodge Roadster”. It was a dual-nosed ’30 Ford Roadster with a ‘53 354 cubic inch Chrysler Hemi with 6 Stromberg Carbs on a manifold made by Charlie. They proudly advertised their new automotive service “Pacers” on the side. It was the first of many purpose-built racecars that the Snizek & Dodge team built specifically for drag racing. The car was fast and well-engineered and its unique look stood out among the more popular dragsters at the time. It even was invited to Dick Clark’s American Bandstand show.
The Pacers’ second car, a B dragster, was built from a Scotty Fenn Chassis kit and powered by a 354 c.i. Chrysler Hemi running 6 Stromberg carbs like the roadster. It crashed on June 15th of 1959 at a NASCAR sponsored meet in Montgomery, NY seriously injuring George with a broken back. Charlie finished up the rest of the season doing double duty as both driver & tuner of the roadster while George recovered. That winter, they built a new B dragster using the new TE-440 Slingshot frame from Chassis Research Co., and powered it with a bored & stroked, injected, 454 c.i. Chrysler Hemi. A removable Simca body was created for it so it could run in the Competition Eliminator class whenever possible.
Each winter, the Snizek & Dodge team built a new racecar. The one created over the winter of 1960, really put Pacers Auto on the map. The car literally became the Quickest and Fastest altered in the country. George & Charlie purchased a new Chassis Research Co. R-16 roadster frame and installed a GMC-supercharged, Hilborn 4-port injected, 454 c.i. Hemi with a fiberglass Bantam body. The potent combination in that car made it run as fast as some dragsters but also made it hard to stop without using a 16 foot ribbon slot drag chute for braking. It was the first car in its class to use the parachute system before it became mandated.
The Snizek & Dodge Racing Team's new self-sponsored roadster was nicknamed "The Tasmanian Devil" after the ferocious but lovable Warner Bros. cartoon character. It was a mechanical incarnate of the cartoon right down to its quarter-mile long tire smoke trails and the ravenous, unstoppable appetite that it had (for racecars). With Charlie tuning and George driving, The Pacers’ car began breaking numerous local track records for MPH and ET’s, racking up over 150 wins in its first 3 years.
In 1963, they moved into a newly built ten-car shop in Oceanside, NY and replaced the Bantam body with a customized fiberglass 23T body with a unique turtle deck and belly pan. On its debut run on May 19th at Island Dragway, The Pacers ran a class strip record with a 9.63 ET @ 159.86 MPH, well below the National Record mark of 9.79 seconds. The run was captured by young filmmaker, Walter Ungerer, in a 20-minute black & white film titled, “The Tasmanian Devil”. While The Pacers ran faster that day at Island Dragway, they did set the official National AA/A Class Record the next month at Atco Dragway in NJ when they ran 154.9 MPH on June 16, 1963.
The Pacers became a feared competitor in the Northeast Division 1 and were always at the top in the Points race. Their immaculate roadster along with the Pacers’ coordinated professional team appearance enabled them to take home best appearing awards wherever they went, which included the “Best Appearing” award at the 1963 NHRA US Nationals. The roadster competed in the ever-changing Eliminator category that spanned across the AA/A, A/FD, CC/FD and AA/FA classes. The Tasmanian Devil quickly became a featured car at meets and favorite of the fans and the editors of the speed magazines.
In 1964, Pacers continued to break their own times at Island Dragway with a best of 9.496 ET @ 162.45 MPH on August 18th, an unofficial National Record.
The following month at the 1964 NHRA US Nationals, Pacers made it official by setting both ends of the National AA/Altered Record with a 9.56 Second-161.87 MPH mark. They actually ran a best time and speed of 9.51 @ 163.04 that weekend and had set the record 3 times before it became official.
In 1965, The Tasmanian Devil became the founding car of the CARS Magazine Racing Team. Taz was set up to compete on either Gas or Fuel and CARS Magazine editor, Marty Schorr, put its performances in print and personalized the racers behind The Pacers team. At the first NHRA regional meet of 1965 at Cecil County, the Tasmanian Devil on a nitro-alky fuel setup ran an 8.81ET @ 167 MPH despite shutting down 200 feet before the finish line. The impressed crowd voted it “Best Appearing car of the meet.”
Pacers Auto created a magazine-sponsored AA/ Fuel Dragster to be part of CARS Magazine Racing Team. It was called the Pacers Auto “CARS Magazine Special”. They bought a brand new chassis designed by Roy Steen and Frank Huszar of Race Car Specialties and powered it with a blown-injected, 392 c.i. Chrysler Hemi. A series of articles written by Marty Schorr covered its construction and its performances in CARS. The fully enclosed aluminum trailer that George & Charlie custom built for it was a spectacle to see at the track because no one had anything like it at the time. With it all lettered up, it was a rolling billboard of Pacers Automotive. It was impressive to see The Pacers’ caravan arrive with their ’57 Chevy pickup towing the Tasmanian Devil and the ’65 Carryall towing the Pacers’ AA/FD trailer. Pacers debuted the new “CARS Magazine Special” at the opening of Gil Kohn's NY National Speedway on March 20th of 1966 and ran the low ET of the day (7.93 ET@199 MPH) on its first run. Immediately after the event, they brought their fueler into Manhattan to participate in the NY International Auto Show.
Two months later, on May 22nd, George and Charlie set both ends of the National Record again with the roadster, this time in the new CC/FD class, by running a 9.34 ET@165.13 MPH at Island Dragway. They reset the MPH Record again by running a faster 167.59 MPH on June 11th at Sanford Dragway in Maine.
Two months later, on May 22nd, George and Charlie set both ends of the National Record again with the roadster, this time in the new CC/FD class, by running a 9.34 ET@165.13 MPH at Island Dragway. They reset the MPH Record again by running a faster 167.59 MPH on June 11th at Sanford Dragway in Maine.
Pacers Auto holds a rare single day version of the “Double-Up” award (same driver, 2 different cars, 2 different titles). Pacers Auto accomplished that feat at the NHRA Division One Championships at York US-30 Drag-o-Way in July of 1966. On a hot Sunday, The Pacers-CARS Magazine Racing Team cars took home the Super Eliminator title with The Tasmanian Devil CC/FD roadster and the Top Eliminator title with The “CARS Magazine Special” AA/Fuel dragster.
George & Charlie became the Official Road Test Consultants for Hi-Performance CARS magazine and SPEED and CUSTOM magazines. Countless speed & how-to tech articles featuring The Pacers wound up giving them worldwide recognition, which was unheard of at the time for an EAST coast team. Since Marty lived near the Pacers’ shop in Oceanside, it was easy for him to follow The Pacers’ National record holder and the other projects that were in the shop, or bring down a new car model to test & tune.
From their success on the track, and expertise shown through the magazine articles, Pacers Auto became the place in the Northeast to go for specialized speed work, custom fabrication and nitro-alky racing fuel. Pacers Auto serviced everything ranging from competition B and C-rig drill team fire trucks to offshore Hemi-powered SK racing boats.
As business grew, George & Charlie chose to retire their cars from active competition so they could service the volume of customers they had built up. They decided to sell the Taz Roadster first (in 1967) because the payouts were much less than the race winnings paid in the top fuel dragster class. At the end of the ’68 season, they sold the dragster as well.
George & Charlie became the Official Road Test Consultants for Hi-Performance CARS magazine and SPEED and CUSTOM magazines. Countless speed & how-to tech articles featuring The Pacers wound up giving them worldwide recognition, which was unheard of at the time for an EAST coast team. Since Marty lived near the Pacers’ shop in Oceanside, it was easy for him to follow The Pacers’ National record holder and the other projects that were in the shop, or bring down a new car model to test & tune.
From their success on the track, and expertise shown through the magazine articles, Pacers Auto became the place in the Northeast to go for specialized speed work, custom fabrication and nitro-alky racing fuel. Pacers Auto serviced everything ranging from competition B and C-rig drill team fire trucks to offshore Hemi-powered SK racing boats.
As business grew, George & Charlie chose to retire their cars from active competition so they could service the volume of customers they had built up. They decided to sell the Taz Roadster first (in 1967) because the payouts were much less than the race winnings paid in the top fuel dragster class. At the end of the ’68 season, they sold the dragster as well.
They seamlessly began building dune buggies, creating their own model, the Pacers Sand Cat, based on a VW chassis powered by a high performance VW or Porsche engine. An old friend, Otto Qualliotine, joined them as a partner and business grew. Customers were able to walk in and order a potent Sand Cat dune buggy and pick it up the next week.
Pacers Auto, Inc., continued in operation doing various speed work, fabrication, and servicing their customer’s cars for another twenty years. They sold the business in 1989.
A few years later, in November of 2002, “Charlie Dodge” Hagenmayer passed away. Some people were surprised to find out that his last name was actually, Hagenmayer. The “Dodge” nickname had been given to him by his friends Mike Sforza and Otto Qualliotine when they saw him come down Bootleg road behind Henny’s Welding in his Ford coupe that he had re-powered with one of Mike’s Dodge Red Ram Hemi engines. Mike jokingly said, “here comes ‘Charlie’s Dodge’” and it became a nickname for life.
Pacers Auto, Inc., continued in operation doing various speed work, fabrication, and servicing their customer’s cars for another twenty years. They sold the business in 1989.
A few years later, in November of 2002, “Charlie Dodge” Hagenmayer passed away. Some people were surprised to find out that his last name was actually, Hagenmayer. The “Dodge” nickname had been given to him by his friends Mike Sforza and Otto Qualliotine when they saw him come down Bootleg road behind Henny’s Welding in his Ford coupe that he had re-powered with one of Mike’s Dodge Red Ram Hemi engines. Mike jokingly said, “here comes ‘Charlie’s Dodge’” and it became a nickname for life.
In 2006, The Pacers racing days were resurrected when Jerry Joaquin, from Phoenix, AZ contacted George looking for permission to recreate The Tasmanian Devil. Being a retired firefighter as well as a retired police officer from NY who grew up watching The Pacers race, Jerry wanted to pay his respects to the rescue workers killed on September 11th, 2001 in his own unique way. His idea was to create a modern Tasmanian Devil-9/11 Tribute car which would serve as a reminder to never forget the accomplishments of The Snizek & Dodge Racing Team and to never forget those who were killed in the World Trade Center attacks. Drag racing specialist, Southwest Custom Trucks in Apache Junction, AZ was chosen to fabricate the new car. It would be a blown 392 c.i. Chrysler hemi-powered, 23T body on a 100 inch 6.0 certified funny car chassis. All NHRA mandated safety tech requirements would be incorporated while trying as much as possible to resemble the original Pacers car. Since Jerry had no experience with racecars, there was only one condition that Southwest Custom Trucks gave Jerry before agreeing to build the car - he had to get his NHRA license first. Jerry enrolled in Frank Hawley’s drag racing school in California and was lucky enough to have Fast Jack Beckman as his instructor. Two years later, the car was completed and ready to run. Taz II, as it is known, made its debut runs at the NHRA Hot Rod Reunion in Bowling Green, KY in June of 2008 and continues to be actively raced out West today.
In October of 2008, the East Coast Drag Times Hall of Fame recognized The Pacers’ achievements in drag racing and inducted The Pacers’ George Snizek, “Charlie Dodge” Hagenmayer (posthumously), Kenny “KB” Braun and Otto Qualliotine, as a team. The following year, the National Nostalgia Drag Racing Association inducted Charlie and George into their Legion of Honor at Darwin Doll’s show in York, PA.
In October of 2008, the East Coast Drag Times Hall of Fame recognized The Pacers’ achievements in drag racing and inducted The Pacers’ George Snizek, “Charlie Dodge” Hagenmayer (posthumously), Kenny “KB” Braun and Otto Qualliotine, as a team. The following year, the National Nostalgia Drag Racing Association inducted Charlie and George into their Legion of Honor at Darwin Doll’s show in York, PA.
In 2009-2010, a group of former Top Fuel drivers from Long Island were assembled by Billy Lynch with the idea to create a nostalgia cackle car which could participate in the increasingly popular “Cacklefest” events and represent the incredible talent from Long Island. They chose to recreate the best known Pacers’ car, but this time, they wanted to recreate it exactly as it was (in 1965) sparing no expense. Top fuelers, Billy Lynch, Roy Miller, Bernie Shacker, George Snizek, along with his son, Scott Snizek, and veteran drag racer Dennis Quitoni, painstakingly researched and fabricated a stunning, authentic, working, recreation of The Original Pacers AA Fuel Altered. The build was code named Project Pacers and kept relatively quiet so it could be built without any interruptions over the winter. Incredibly, including finding all vintage parts from the era, the car was built in just six months time. The car’s T-body was built from a mold casting by Rod & Race down in Maryland using the same specs from the original body and molds back in the 60’s. Step-by-step coverage of the entire Project Pacers build can be found at: www.projectpacers.typepad.com.
The Miller & Lynch / Snizek & Dodge “Tasmanian Devil” has already won the Mirabella “Best Original” award at the 2010 Funny Car Reunion and Nostalgia Summer Nationals in Englishtown, NJ and the “Best in Show-Altered” at the 2010 East Coast Drag Times Hall of Fame Reunion and Car Show in Henderson, NC. The car is a testament to the knowledge, teamwork and talent behind the build, and the level of friendships that these drag racers have. As for its fans, the car is a nitro-burning, full-sensory, thunderous, experience that transports them right back to the year 1965.
More info about The Pacers can be found at the official Pacers Auto® websites.
See: www.pacersauto.com and www.pacersauto.typepad.com or find us on facebook.
For a special tribute to Charlie Dodge by his daughter Nancy, see: www.charliedodge.com.
The following is a photographic journey through the history of The Pacers’ Snizek & Dodge Racing Team. Snizek & Dodge Racing Team Slideshow: http://video214.com/play/Lg5X5xHAJd0lyFyq3PtA8w/s/dark
See: www.pacersauto.com and www.pacersauto.typepad.com or find us on facebook.
For a special tribute to Charlie Dodge by his daughter Nancy, see: www.charliedodge.com.
The following is a photographic journey through the history of The Pacers’ Snizek & Dodge Racing Team. Snizek & Dodge Racing Team Slideshow: http://video214.com/play/Lg5X5xHAJd0lyFyq3PtA8w/s/dark
(Fantastic Scott! I have seen the car in person twice – and it is stunning and one of the loudest beasties I have ever heard and felt! ) Pete