How It All Started
For those of you who are wondering who Sled City is, or how it came about, it all started in 1957 at an old airport on Morse Rd in Columbus, Ohio. My dad, Roy, my brother, Jerry, and myself saw a much safer motor sport than oval track racing. It was called “drag racing.”
In 1958 we built a flathead Chrysler powered ’52 Plymouth coupe and won our f/gas class at the 1959 Fall Championship at Pacemakers Dragstrip in Mount Vernon, Ohio.
In 1962 NHRA changed the weight breaks and we went with a Willys body and set the old Chrysler back through the firewall and kept on winning. My brother Jerry was the main driver of the Willys, and when he got drafted into the Army dad drove it to the winners circles at Hyde Park Raceway, KilKare, National Trails Raceway, Pence Raceway, and Dragway 42.
In 1967 I took over the drivers job at the age of 15. Dad let me keep all the winnings and that’s what helped me build my first B body, a ’62 Plymouth Savoy. It was a wild sounding, super stock looking, Mopar with a Ray Christian hard shift tranny that the cops did not like. I kept on racing the flatheads till 1972 when I brought out my ’67 Belvedere 2 door sedan HEMI car that ran in ss/da.
In 1973 I purchased The Harrisburg Missile from Ray Christian which was his ss/da ’67 Plymouth HEMI car, and I slid my drive train into it.
In 1982, I bought a ’63 Dodge aluminum nosed car that Dan Dvorak had raced for a while, and picked up a good sponsor which was “The Danger Brothers Rock & Roll Band.” That’s when the “Danger Brothers Racing Team” was formed.
In 1992 I got a good deal on an old altered wheelbase ’65 Plymouth called “The Missouri Mule” which came with a fiberglass Dodge front clip.
In 1993 I decided to open up a small fiberglass company called “SLED CITY FIBERGLASS” and build the new front clip for the ’65 Plymouth. That car has been put on the back burner so many times it’s unreal. What got in the way was a ’68 HEMI Dart called “FLYING PROUD” from Danny Smith, Paul Marcum’s ’68 HEMI Cuda, Ray Christian’s HEMI Cuda, another ’63 Dodge aluminum nose Max Wedge car, and my currant project car which is a ’62 Plymouth wagon that I will race at Bonneville – of course the wagon will be outfitted from bumper to bumper with fiberglass and lexan.
Lets back up a bit to 1988 when we formed an all Mopar club called “Central Ohio Early Chrysler Product Owners” where I was instrumental in putting on 13 All Mopar Shows & Swaps and a few cruise nights. Our major sponsor was ‘Westside Dodge,” which when bought out in 2002 it took our show budget with it. Westside Dodge was bought out again in 2008 and we got back together with the new owner, “Performance Chrysler Jeep Dodge,” and did our first swap meet on January, 31 2009. It was a cold icy success and there were a lot of good deals being carried out of the two buildings. The Sled City Swap Meet will be bigger next year. Currently we are in negotiations for a couple more events for the year 2009. Look for us to grow and promote the Mopar sport.
See you soon, Larry Augenstein / SLED CITY FIBERGLASS