NHRA national champion Melvin Heath passes away at 94
Melvin Heath, who in 1956 became just NHRA’s second national champion, passed away Feb. 17. He was 94.
After graduating from Oklahoma State University with a bachelor's degree in Animal Science, Heath embarked on a lifelong journey as a respected farmer and rancher and spent his entire life living and working on his family farm, where he raised everything from peanuts, alfalfa, watermelons, and wheat to cattle, as well as his three sons. According to the family, he served for more than 50 years on the Grady County Soil Conservation Board, several of which as the Chair, contributing significantly to the well-being of the community and was always willing to help a neighbor in need with his time and talents. He had an ingenious mind and a unique ability to take ideas and make them into practical machinery to use on his farm.
Those skills translated well onto the dragstrip, where his homebuilt dragster was a big winner. It first appeared on the drag racing scene in 1954 when Heath raced at the first Drag Safari event in Caddo Mills, Texas, where he finished first in Open Gas and was runner-up in Top Eliminator.
Heath and his wife, Betty, spent the next three months improving their race car, which featured a 331-cid Chrysler Hemi with six Stromberg carbs running on nitro. After a disappointing 1955 Nationals in Great Bend, Kan., it came alive in 1956.
Heath and his wife, Betty, spent the next three months improving their race car, which featured a 331-cid Chrysler Hemi with six Stromberg carbs running on nitro. After a disappointing 1955 Nationals in Great Bend, Kan., it came alive in 1956.
Prior to the Nationals, held in Kansas City, Mo., in 1956, Heath had won both the Southwest and Missouri Valley regionals. He made his presence known in time trials at the Nationals with eight 10-second blasts at a best of 10.22, ahead of reigning national champ Calvin’s Rice 10.33 and Bob Alsenz's "Miss Fire II," which had run a best of 10.39.
In the Dragster class eliminations, Heath defeated Rice, while Alsenz chased down Ed Cortopassi's flathead-powered "Glass Slipper" Bob Rodgers, and his Olds-engined wingtank dragster drew the bye.
Heath then bested Rodgers with a 10.26, while Alsenz soloed to the final with a 10.42, where Heath won in a photo finish for the right to advance to the Top Eliminator shootout between the four quickest class champions.
Heath then bested Rodgers with a 10.26, while Alsenz soloed to the final with a 10.42, where Heath won in a photo finish for the right to advance to the Top Eliminator shootout between the four quickest class champions.
In the opening round of Top Eliminator, Heath dispatched "B" Modified Roadster champ Jim Noble with a 10.48, and Don Little, in the Reath & Mailliard "B" Competition coupe-winning entry, ousted "A" Hot Rod Roadster class winner Don Morgan with an 11.78.
Heath, a known holeshot artist, then defeated Little wire to wire with a 10.49 to become NHRA's second national champion.
Heath’s home-built dragster is proudly displayed in the Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum located in Pomona, Calif.
Heath’s home-built dragster is proudly displayed in the Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum located in Pomona, Calif.
Heath is survived by his loving wife of 72 years, Betty; sons Brian, Darrell, and Mike; grandchildren Jason, Zachary, Delaney, Trevor, and Audrey; and extended family members Carl Scott, Mark Stringfellow and wife Monica, Dee Anne Nelson, and numerous nieces and nephews.
Viewing will be held 1-7 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 23, at the Callaway-Smith-Cobb Funeral Home in Rush Springs, Okla., followed by services Monday, Feb. 24, at the Southern Baptist Church in Rush Springs. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that you consider making a donation to The Melvin Heath Ingenuity Scholarship at FNBT to honor his legacy.
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