Photos from the Hemmings Muscle Machines archives.
If you grew up following doorslammer racing on the East Coast, you knew who Jack Werst was. He was a Mopar hero from the Pennsylvania-New Jersey area with a Plymouth pedigree. Jack was known as Mr. 5 and 50, the legend his Hemi Plymouths carried, a reference to his side career as a regional warranty manager in the Philadelphia area. He died the day before Christmas Eve in Langhorne, Pennsylvania. His daughter Kimberly Werst told us that Jack had been suffering with dementia in recent years.
Born in Scranton, Pennsylvania, Jack bought his first car at 15 and immediately began winning impromptu drag races held in the infield of the dirt oval at the Allentown Fairgrounds. He soon graduated to a GMC-urged Chevrolet coupe and then a 1958 Chevrolet with tri-power. But Jack’s quarter-mile career really took off when he went to work for Charlie Duke Chrysler-Plymouth in Willingboro, New Jersey, in 1964 as a marketing specialist for high-performance Mopars. He started running a dealer-backed Max Wedge car in the local Super Stock wars, facing off against regional stars such as Bill Jenkins, Dave Strickler and Bobby Harrop.
Offered a job as a Chrysler management trainee, Jack earned his moniker when the regional sales manager named him Mr. 5 and 50 after a Chrysler warranty promotion. Now armed with an A-990 Plymouth Hemi, Jack gained national attention by going deep in Super Stock eliminations at the U.S. Nationals in both 1965 and 1966. That led to him receiving one of the first flyweight Hemi Barracudas built by Hurst Performance. He had a long career, making the transition to Pro Stock before retiring from driving in 1972.
Services will be held at Fitzgerald-Sommer Funeral Home in Yardley, Pennsylvania. Calling hours will be on Sunday, December 28, from 3 to 5 p.m. The funeral service will be on Monday, December 29, at 11:30 a.m.
from Hemmings Daily - News for the collector car enthusiast http://ift.tt/1t5uBsg
Sourced by CA DMV registration services online. Renew your registration online in only ten minutes. No DMV, no lines, no hassles, and no appointments needed. Visit Quik, Click, pay, and print your registration from home.
0 comments:
Post a Comment