Willie Borsch

Willie Borsch (February 19, 1930 - October 1, 1991) was an American AA/FA and funny car drag racer.

History

Borsch started in Altereds in 1960 with Winged Express, built by Borsch and partner Al "Mousie" Marcellus,^[1] assisted by Howard Johansen (Howard's Cams), Don Reynolds, Phil Johnson, Dale Young, and Jerry Hyatt.^[2] The car's 392 hemi was built by Jim Harrell (of Jim's Auto Parts).^[3]

He raced Winged Express for ten years, winning AA/FA at the NHRA Winternationals in 1967 and 1968.^[4]

Since AA/FA was not recongized as a class by NHRA until 1967, Borsch was never credited with a national title.^[5]

Borsch qualified for the 1968 NHRA Winternationals, a 32-car field in Top Fuel, setting an AA/FA record elepsed time of 7.29 seconds, only to have the rest of the field refuse to race him, for fear of the ill-handling Winged Express fuel altered. It turned out they were right:  in Round One of Super Eliminator, Borsch went from guardrail to centerline, in a wild ride, captured, and made famous, by phtographer Bob McClurg; it "became one of the most famous drag racing photos of all time".^[6]

After getting a deal with model kit maker Revell for royalties,^[7] Borsch took the wheel of the new Wild Man Dodge Charger funny car. Because he had become famous for driving Winged Express one-handed, he created a dummy arm, which he attached to the left window of the new funny car; this was also a feature of the Revell kit.^[8]

Borsch died in October 1991 at 61.^[9]

He was named to Car Craft Magazine's All-Star Drag Racing team six years in a row, starting in 1967.^[10] He was inducted into the International Drag Racing Hall of Fame in 1992.^[11] He was also rated as one of NHRA;s 50 greatest drivers.^[12]

Notes