Chet was an amazing man with vision who lived outside the box, dedicated to research and perfection.
My first Chevrolet, about 1961 or '62, was built by Dale Allen and ran in Bob Solesbe's roadster. At the time, I had the fastest "D" roadster around the 1/4 mile, but a bit short on ETs, running six Stromberg 97s on a 300 inch Desoto. Most everyone was running 115-16 mph in the quarter, we were running 122 mph, but breaking lots of con rods. Bob sold the roadster and I ended up storing the Chevy engine for a time. I finally decided that the Desoto was time for replacement, five sleeves from breaking rods and the last sleeve did not seal out the water adequately so we put the Chevy in.
Dale's 300 cu. in. Chevy had a Herbert Cam and Hilborn Injection. Their best time was around 116 mph at the 1/4. Dale and I took the car to Fontana on a Saturday night and ran 116 mph. The next weekend, I had convinced Dale to drop the gear and as a result we ran 129 mph, breaking the national record. However, the record went to a roadster from Half Moon Bay that ran 129 mph also and they backed up the speed at another strip before we did. Never the less, That started my love affair with the 300 cu in Chevy. I have never run anything else since.
Some where I read a story about Chet some time back. Sort of a bio. As I remember, he married and shortly contacted polio because of swimming in a canal in Arizona. It seems that he also lost his wife. Can't remember the order of events. Does any one know where I can find the story.
