Art Chrisman

Henry Arthur Chrisman died on july 12, 2016 at the age of 86. He was a driver, fabricator, race engine builder and pioneer in post-world war ii speed tests and drag racing. 

- Fergus Ogilvy

Based at Chrisman and Sons garage in Compton, California, and working with his father, Everett, and his brother, Lloyd, he was renowned for three cars: his racy coupe for Bonneville competition and for contests on dry lake beds, his number 25 dragster and later his Hustler I. All were liveried in his signature golden-brown tones with contrasting white added to the Hustler.

During the late-’40s and throughout the ’50s, he campaigned a series of highly competitive race cars. His name was synonymous with the development of the Top Fuel dragster at a time when nitro methane fuel revolutionized the class. His Hustler 1 dragster, which he co-owned with Leroy Neumeyer, claimed the first U.S. Fuel and Gas Championships in a 64-car field at the March Meet at Bakersfield in 1959. His résumé as a driver included multiple wins and speed records at the highest levels in a career that lasted around 12 years. Chrisman’s innovations led many to recognize him as drag racing’s first statesman.

Greg Sharp, curator of the NHRA Motorsports Museum, said upon his induction into the Motorsports Hall of Fame, “Art Chrisman is truly a renaissance man. Rarely can one man build a racing chassis from the ground up, do the metalwork, paint it, build the engine that supplies the power for the record-breaking performance, tune it to its maximum potential, and drive the results of his handiwork to a hard-fought win. Art did all this and more.”

Chrisman started competing on California dry lake beds in the late-’40s and went on to Bonneville in the ’50s. He was one of five charter members of the Bonneville 200 MPH Club after driving Chet Herbert’s Beast streamliner past the double-century mark, reaching 235 mph in 1952. Eventually, he switched to drag racing where he left his most indelible mark.