the Bonneville Speedway. Racing After the war, the California Roadster Association (CRA) was formed to run auto races with roadsters that raced on oval track and attempted land speed records on dry lakes. After World War II, the CRA began sanctioning sprint car races. In 1946, Edelbrock decided to expand his involvement into midget car racing, purchasing a car made by Frank Kurtis. In addition to racing the car, he wanted a test bench for the racing products he was developing. Edelbrock's team toured the dirt track racing circuit of Southern California with flathead guru Bobby Meeks tuning the cars. Many famous drivers were part of the Edelbrock team, including Walt Faulkner (first rookie to win pole at the Indy 500), Bill Vukovich (Indy 500 winner in ’53 and ’54), Rodger Ward (Indy 500 winner in ’59 and ’62), Cal Niday, Perry Grimm, Danny Oakes, Harry Stockman and Bill Zaring. A major claim to fame for Edelbrock was beating all the Offenhauser-powered midget cars that had dominated midget car racing for several years; a remarkable feat because Offenhausers had a significant power advantage over all the other engines. Using his Kurtis Kraft V8-60 "shaker" midget car powered by a secret blend of 20% nitromethane (disguised with the scent of orange oil), Rodger Ward made history on August 10, 1950, when his Edelbrock-powered #27 car broke the winning streak of the "Offy"-equipped midget cars at Gilmore Stadium, the track that originated midget car racing. This was the only V8-60 to ever beat the Offys in the Gilmore 386-Race history. The same car raced at the Orange Show Stadium in San Bernardino the following night, again beating the Offenhauser cars. This feat was never duplicated in the history of midget racing. Edelbrock was not the only racer in that era to experiment with nitromethane; fellow racers Joaquin Arnett and Tony Capanna had tried it in their hot rods, as well. Edelbrock, however, is generally considered to be the one who pulled it all together and made the volatile fuel work. Turning points Until 1955, Edelbrock made parts only for Ford, Mercury and Lincoln. Few things affected the company (as well as the development of the hot rod market) more than the development of the Chevrolet small-block engine (also known as the Gen I) in 1955. Chevrolet delivered three Gen I engines to Edelbrock for experimentation. He used one engine for testing on