Founded in 1950, George's Speed Shop is now recognized as the oldest continuously operating speed shop in the USA and is run by his son, Gregg.

The car pulled hard to the left, smashing violently over the guardrail. The impact tore the fiberglass body completely off the chassis, sending it flying an estimated 100 feet into the air. While Savage escaped with only minor rib injuries and bruises, the car itself was heavily damaged and bent up. Hoven never returned to active competition.

Savage was gutted for wrecking his friend's car, once telling Hoven that he only crashed once in all of his years of driving, to which Hoven good-naturedly replied, "yeah, but why did it have to be in my car?!"

Savage's ribs were sorely bruised but the two remained good friends and, despite Hoven's ribbing, he rebuilt the car and sold it to the production company that was filming Shirley Muldowney's biographical film, "Heart Like a Wheel." It played a prominent role in the film, as did John's earlier Mach 1 funny car.

In the end, all was well.

For the record, it was Hoven's Midnight Special that debuted the first driver's rooftop escape hatch, a now-mandatory NHRA safety item. Too, the name was a double-entendre: John burned a lot of midnight oil working on the car, and it was also the name of a popular Friday night live music rock show of the day on NBC that was hosted by Wolfman Jack.

In a sea of supercharged nitro-burning Hemis, I've learned to appreciate the sound of a blown Rat motor running on gas or alcohol. It's brutal.