Cloyce always maintained a low profile, but anyone who ever raced at the popular Lions Drag Strip in Long Beach, California, knew “Pappy” Hart as the track manager. He’d remained active in drag racing for many years after retiring from Lions, serving as one of the team members on the NHRA Safety Safari—a tribute to his spirited stamina. You could say he invented drag racing as it is today. He organized the first commercial drag race on June 19, 1950, on a runway at the Orange County Airport in California.

Robert “Rob” Petersen started Hot Rod magazine in 1948 with $400.  The Petersen empire grew to become the largest and most successful publishing enterprise in the west.  Hot Rod, Motor Trend and dozens of other Petersen titles packed the racks of newsstands throughout the U.S.  At their peak, Petersen magazines reached nearly 80 million readers a month.

In the 1950s, new cars were sold with automatic transmissions. But the “slush shift” “trannies” had to be modified. Bob designed transmission kits so automatics could handle the hopped-up engines in hot rods and street-driven modified cars. The company he founded, B&M, flourishes today as a supplier of street rod gear, superchargers and shifters. Throughout the 1960s, B&M earned a reputation as the premier racing automatic transmission company. In 1961, the Hydro Stick became the only patented four-speed automatic racing transmission in history.

“As reps go, there were few who could match the knowledge and integrity of Jim,” said an industry veteran about Jim Vaughn, a popular sales representative. He was an innovator, well known and well liked.

Chuck operated one of the midwest’s most successful warehouse distributor operations, CB Sales, based in Chicago, during the heyday of speed equipment distribution. Chuck was a “doer” in the truest sense of the word, known for being reliable and dedicated to his company’s manufacture and wholesale clients.

A prominent professional drag racer who is credited with innovations such as the rear-engine dragster design, Donald Glenn "Don" Garlits is a legend of the quarter-mile acceleration sport, a driver whose following of fans remains virtually unmatched in automotive racing sports. He won his first NHRA race in 1955, turned pro three years later and amassed a career total of 144 national event wins and 17 championships. In 1957, he was the first drag racer to go faster than 170 mph, the first faster than 180 in 1958, and the first to the 200-mph mark in 1964.

Joe and his brother Tom were drag racers in the early 1960s (back-to-back NHRA champions in 1961 and 1962), who got the idea that they could win more races if they could improve the seal between the headers and their engines. Joe hit on a durable gasket recipe and tested it successfully on his own cars. Earliest prototypes were built in his home basement. As it happens in the racing world, word got around to other drivers, and soon Joe was literally “Mr. Gasket,” selling the popular sealers, at first under the Speed Specialties name, then as Mr. Gasket Co.

Jack was a pioneer of what is known today as a sales representative or sales agent—a rep in today’s automotive industry jargon. He was an innovative planner and marketer, one whose successful career was founded on honesty, integrity and trustworthiness.

Considered an innovator, Kenny was the founder of Harman Collins, a producer of high-performance distributors and related ignition components for the Ford flathead V8. The Harman Collins units were used extensively in early-days circle track competition and drag racing, and can be found today on the engines of nostalgia race cars. He also had a shop that focused on motorcycle camshafts, called K-H Cams. Kenny’s background included racing Muroc and Rosamond dry lakes.

Appropriately lauded as the patriarch of the entire performance industry, Wally was the first editor of Hot Rod magazine and the founder and CEO of the NHRA, which he founded in 1951, and for which he also served on its Board of Directors. The beginning of hot rodding and drag racing spurred the start of an industry to serve a growing population of passionate, hands-on enthusiasts, the industry today guided by SEMA. As a proponent of safety in drag racing, he also helped organize the Safety Safaris.