NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

The Stone, Woods & Cook Willys Gasser of the 1960s, one of the most popular machines in drag racing history, is the subject of this week’s Night at the NHRA Museum.

The team – consisting of Fred Stone, Leonard and Tim Woods, and driver Doug "Cookie" Cook – fielded many versions of this car but gained the most fame in the AA/Gas Supercharged Wars against "Big John" Mazmanian and driver Robert "Bones" Balogh and "Ohio George" Montgomery in the mid-1960s with its famed Swindler A '41 Willys, which was powered by a gasoline-burning supercharged Chrysler engine.

In an era before A/FXers, Funny Cars, and Pro Stockers, the A/Gas Supercharged cars were the fastest street-type cars out there, the equivalent of today's Pro Mod cars, which led to huge popularity and immense followings.

The story of the Stone, Woods & Cook team is one of a surprisingly fast rise to stardom in a partnership that lasted just six years, from about September 1961 to September 1967, but the group packed a lifetime of racing, winning, and fan memories into that time.