Page 6 - Nitro Madness Magazine Fall 2021

Billy next to the fueler. Billy suited up.
also proud armed forces veterans. Billy and Bobby
were in the Marines and Matt in the Navy. After
they were discharged they went their separate ways.
They eventually got back together and opened a body
shop in Brooklyn. They all started working on cars
and decided that they wanted to try their hand at
drag racing. In 1960 they collaborated on a 32 Ford
roadster with a Chrysler hemi engine for power. They
experimented with carbs and fuel injection induction
systems. They tried it out at Westhampton Dragway
in Westhampton, Long Island. They had moderate
success there even setting a national record in B/A. In
1963 it was retired and turned into a show car.
Billy had the urge to go faster after the success
with the roadster. Top Fuel racing was bandied about
but the danger factor was always in the back of his
mind. Maybe baby steps were in order, so in 1965
Billy decided to enter the Top Gas category. Around
the same time, Billy’s friend and fellow racer Red
Lang bought a Ron Scrima built ex-Goob Tuller Top
Fuel dragster and promptly stored it in his garage.
The car ran at Bakersfield with Walt Stevens driving,
eventually taking the runner up spot. Billy saw it and
asked Red if he could buy it and Red agreed. Billy
6 NITRO MADNESS MAGAZINE | FALL 2021
would then convert it to compete in Top Gas. At this
point in time, March 22, 1966 to be exact, New York
National Speedway opened for business. Among the
sellout crowd in the stands and overwhelming amount
of racers in the pits were the likes of Jack Merkel with
his lime green metal flake 33 Willys gasser, Red Lang
in his dragster and Billy with his newly converted Top
Gas entry. The Lynch brothers then took their car up
and down the east coast over the next couple of years
with moderate success.
The next chapter of the saga led Billy to the Top Fuel
category. Coincidentally at the same time, Billy’s good
friend Mike Sforza was running a Top Fuel dragster
but was very busy building engines for customers. He
had little time to run the car so he would always ask
Billy to drive it for him. Billy always said “no”. It was
always the same reasoning too - “Top Fuel racing is
just too dangerous”. Little has changed in Top Fuel
racing over the past 60 years with the danger aspect.
They were 1500 H P, 7 second hand grenades then
and today despite their 11,000 HP engines they’re a
shade under 4 second hand grenades. It’s easy to see
Billy’s reluctance. However this didn’t deter Mike
from constantly hammering Billy about driving. Right