NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

Don’t laugh if anyone ever tells you that a ’53 Studebaker does not make a fine starting point for a race car. Truth be told, nearly seven decades after its introduction, the Studebaker still has aerodynamic properties that compare favorably with those of a new Corvette. That is just one of the reasons why Ken Ratzloff decided to go with the Studebaker when he decided to build a new race car.

"There is a little bit of a story that goes with this car,” said Ratzloff. “We used to race in the Nostalgia series. I started there in the 1990s and ran Hot Rod and then B/Gas. I had a ’38 Chevy that got crashed. That was the last car we built, and I learned a few things about aerodynamics. When we started looking to build a new car, I came across this Studebaker body. I thought it was perfect for what we were doing. For aerodynamics, it was as good as a Camaro or Corvette, but it was also something different.” 

A retired Captain from the El Monte, Calif., Fire Dept., who now lives in Idaho Falls, Idaho, Ratzloff is a devout do-it-yourselfer, so when it came time to build his unique racer, he kept almost everything in-house. With the help and support of his wife, Sandy, Ratzloff built the chassis himself, starting with only a tubing kit and an unfinished body. The project began in 2002 and took 11 months to complete. Since then, the car has undergone several upgrades, but the chrome moly chassis remains the same. The car’s 780-cid engine was originally built by Sunset Race Craft Engines in Texas and has propelled the car to high six-second runs at more than 200 mph without the use of a power adder. 

“When you build a car, there are always challenges, but I was able to learn a lot from the ’38 Chevy that we had before this car,” said Ratzloff. “We built a jig so we could make the car as straight as possible, and since it’s TIG welded, all of the joints have to be as straight as possible. You can’t have any gaps. We didn’t have a blue print for this car, but we knew what to do. I still don’t know what [chassis builder] Jerry Bickel knows, but I’m happy that we have a home-built car that can compete with all the Pro cars out there.”

Ratzloff is a former champion in the A/Gas class in the NHRA Hot Rod Heritage Racing Series, but more recently, he’s focused on racing in the Top Sportsman presented by Racing RVs class. Last year, he won his first national event title in Sonoma, using a clutch .004 reaction time in the final to stop fellow veteran Ted Kellner in the final. At the recent Pomona season opener, Ratzloff ran a personal best 6.85 at more than 202 mph and made it to the quarterfinals before losing a tough battle against Doug Crumlich. Ratzloff did his part behind the wheel, including a near-perfect .001 reaction time in round two.

“We had our big engine in for Pomona, and it obviously makes more power, so we had to work on the chassis,” said Ratzloff. “I only got down the track once during qualifying, but we learned a lot and managed to go a few rounds in eliminations. We finally got the car where we wanted it to be, but then I lost on a breakout. Overall, I’m very happy with the car. Last winter, we had Premier Collision Center [Pocatello, Idaho] change the color from silver to orange, and we’re really happy with the way it turned out.”

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