Full Throttle

John Shoemaker, 65, a veteran drag racer from Sacramento, Calif., died from injuries suffered when his nostalgia Top Fuel dragster went out of control and crashed during a qualifying run Saturday at the March Meet race at Auto Club Famoso Raceway.

Shoemaker was airlifted to Kern Medical Center were he was later pronounced dead. Shoemaker had competed in a variety of high-horsepower dragsters during his 42-year drag racing career and was a prolific chassis builder.

Shoemaker was a pioneer in blown alcohol racing and made the first-ever six-second run in Pro Comp at Irwindale Raceway’s Grand Premiere in January 1975 driving one of his own creations, Gene Gilmore’s Renegade blown alcohol dragster. Shoemaker was runner-up at the Winternationals and also set the national record that year with runs of 6.78 and 6.87 at NHRA’s championship series event at Sacramento Raceway, all in Gilmore’s Renegade.

Shoemaker drove the Shoemaker Clan rear engine ‘34 Ford B-fuel coupe to a win at the 1964 Bakersfield Fuel & Gas Championships. Twenty years later in 1984 he won the Fuel & Gas Championships in his blown alcohol dragster.

That same year he, with wife Judee, began campaigning their own Shoemaker dragster throughout the west. He finished second that year in the then combined NHRA Divisions 6 and 7, with two wins, two runner-ups and two semifinal finishes. Shoemaker finished second in Division 6 points in 1987 and 1988, won the Division 6 championship in 1989 and was runner-up again in 1990.

Shoemaker began 1992 with a new Shoemaker dragster and, inspired by the Gulf War, became the “American Eagle” with Shoemaker holding up the American flag as he backed up from each burnout. The Shoemakers continued to compete through 1998 with much success both divisionally and nationally with national event wins at the Winternationals in 1994 and at the Autolite Nationals in 1998.