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William Tyler Jenkins (December 22, 1930 – March 29, 2012), nicknamed "Grumpy" or "The Grump", was an engine builder and drag racer. Between 1965 and 1975, he won a total of thirteen NHRA events.〔(Biography ) at the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America, Retrieved December 26, 2007〕 Most of these wins were won with a four-speed manual transmission. In 1972 he recorded 250 straight passes without missing a shift.〔 He was formally trained as a mechanical engineer at Cornell University, and he used his training and skills to build engines.〔(No. 8: Bill Jenkins ); National Hot Rod Association, Retrieved December 26, 2007〕 He has been inducted in numerous motorsports halls of fame for his engine building skills in the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) Pro Stock division. His innovations include drag racing's first kickout oil pans, Pro Stock strut-style front suspension, and dry sump oiling system, and cool cans, electric water pump fan, gas port pistons, and slick-shift manual transmissions.〔 Considered the "Father of Pro Stock", Jenkins-built engines were used to win five NHRA Pro Stock championships and three American Hot Rod Association (AHRA) championships.〔(CUP: Three NASCAR Legends Lead IMHOF Class ); Tom Jensen, SPEED TV, December 10, 2007, Retrieved December 27, 2007〕 He was nicknamed "Grumpy" for having a no-nonsense attitude at races.〔 The Motorsports Hall of Fame of America said: "his continual search for improved performance left little time for idle chatter with his racing colleagues."〔 ==Career== Born Philadelphia, Jenkins grew up in Malvern, Pennsylvania.〔 He started working on motors on his neighbor's tractor engine.〔 He began drag racing in a 1955 Chevrolet convertible at Berwyn, Pennsylvania before going off to college at Cornell University for engineering.〔 He left college in his third year.〔 He became nationally known after helping to build 30 cars that set national records.〔 He became known in national circles as the engine builder for Dave Strickler in the early 1960s. Jenkins teamed with Strickler to win the 1963 Little Eliminator Nationals with an A/FX 427 Chevy.〔 He drove hemi-powered Dodges in 1964 and 1965 after Chevy left drag racing early in the 1963 season. His first driving victory was at the 1965 WinterNationals in a Hemi-powered Plymouth Belvedere named "Black Arrow." In 1964 Jenkins and Strickler travelled to England, as part of the U.S. Drag Racing team, to take part in the First International Drag Festival, a series of six events held that fall. Jenkins couldn't agree on terms with Chrysler for 1966, so he decided to run a Chevy independently by making his own Chevy engine package.〔 Without factory support, Jenkins developed his first ''Grumpy's Toy'', a 327 cubic inch / 350 horsepower Chevy II. When he found the compact car was to be placed in the same class as the 426 Hemi-powered / 425 horsepower Dodge and Plymouth muscle cars, he commented it "looked like a pretty good gimmick at the time".〔 The lower displacement engine in the smaller car, hence lighter minimum weight, enabled it to outrun the larger-engined but heavier cars. He set a class record with an 11.66 second pass.〔 He was added to Chevrolet's team in 1967. He became known as the premiere normally aspirated drag race engine builder after his Super Stock victory at the 1967 Nationals.〔 He entered Pro Stock when NHRA started it in 1970, and won the first two events of the year (the Winternationals and Gatornationals) in a 1968 Chevrolet Camaro.〔 After going winless in 1971, NHRA changed the 1972 rules to allow drivers with a small block wedge engine to run a lighter car. Jenkins used a small block-based in a Chevrolet Vega fitted in the division's first tube chassis,〔 which debuted at the 1972 Winternationals. He had a subpar 9.90 second pass in the untested Vega, qualifying 17th of the 32 entries at the season-opening event. After tuning the chassis, the car clocked low-9.6 second passes on race day and Jenkins won the event.〔 Jenkins used the car to win five of the first eight events of the season (some of them regionals) and six of eight nationals.〔〔 Jenkins earned a total of $250,000 that year, including event and manufacturer support.〔 He matched Wilt Chamberlain as the professional athlete with the highest salary in the United States.〔 That year he was featured in ''Time'' magazine, the first drag racer to experience mainstream national coverage.〔 Jenkins built a Vega in 1974 (dubbed ''Grumpy's Toy XI'') that had several firsts which impacted future drag racing cars. Innovations still standard equipment on bodied drag cars include the first dry sump oiling system and a MacPherson strut front suspension.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Bill Jenkins (drag racer)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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