TOM HOOVER:
An Inventory of His Drag Racing Papers at the Minnesota Historical Society
Manuscripts Collection
OVERVIEW
| Creator: | Hoover, Tom, creator. | |
| Title: | Tom Hoover Drag Racing Papers. | |
| Dates: | 1957-2016 (bulk 1957-1999). | |
| Language: | Materials in English. | |
| Abstract: | Papers of a Minnesota drag racer and racing enthusiast. Includes clippings and publicity files; photographs of cars, crews, and races; racing publications featuring Hoover and the family's racing cars; news clippings; and posters and original drawings. The collection contains information about the development of Chrysler's Hemi engine by Tom Hoover (1929-2015) and his colleagues. | |
| Quantity: | 2.70 cubic feet (1 box, 12 folders in 1 partial box, 1 oversize folder in 1 partial box, and 1 oversize folder, unboxed). | |
| Location: | See Detailed Description for shelf locations. |
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
Tom Hoover was the son of George and Ruth Hoover, who owned the Hoover Wheel Alignment shop in Minneapolis.
Tom Hoover purchased his first dragster in 1960, with the financial help of his parents. He competed in his first national event in 1965 and continued to race locally until 1969, when he was approached by an automobile dealer who wanted to start a high-profile funny car racing team. Although this first racing team disbanded in 1973 Hoover continued to race funny cars into the late 1990s. Several members of his family were on his team.
Hoover retired from driving in 1998, after which he continued in the sport as a funny car team owner.
ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION
Availability:
The collection is open for research use.
Preferred Citation:
[Indicate the cited item and/or series here]. Tom Hoover Drag Racing Papers. Minnesota Historical Society.
See the Chicago Manual of Style for additional examples.
Accession Information:
Accession number: 17,417
Processing Information:
Processed by: David B. Peterson, February 2022.
Catalog ID number: 9989810839304294
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
| Box | |||||||||||
| 144.K.16.8F | 1 | Biographical and family information. | |||||||||
| 40 years of drag racing in Australia event and speech, 2005. | |||||||||||
| Car and trailer designs, 1995-1998. | |||||||||||
| Clippings and publicity, undated, 1964-1970. 7 folders. | |||||||||||
| Clippings scrapbooks, 1969-1980. 5 folders. | |||||||||||
| Letter from Sports Illustrated magazine and racing results, undated, 1965. | |||||||||||
| Photograph albums: | |||||||||||
| Early days dragsters, 1963-1969. | |||||||||||
| Fishbowl car, 1966-1967. | |||||||||||
| Early funny cars, undated, 1970s. | |||||||||||
| Later funny cars, undated, approximately 1980s-1999. | |||||||||||
| Photographs, undated, approximately 1985-2000. | |||||||||||
| Photographs of Hoover, races, and records set, 1957-1964. 1 volume. | |||||||||||
| Pioneer Electronics and Showtime team partnership, 1997-1999. | |||||||||||
| Racing publications featuring Hoovers and/or their drag racing cars, 1965-1982. 3 folders. | |||||||||||
| Box | |||||||||||
| 129.J.12.2F | 2 | Racing publications featuring Hoovers and/or their drag racing cars, 1983-1995, 2006-2007, 2015-2016. 4 folders. | |||||||||
| Box | |||||||||||
| 138.J.9.7B-2 | 3 | Oversize photographs, undated, approximately 1975-1990. | |||||||||
| Box | |||||||||||
| +357 | Folder 1 | Posters and original drawings, undated, approximately 1970-1990s. | |||||||||
CATALOG HEADINGS
This collection is indexed under the following headings in the catalog of the Minnesota Historical Society. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons or places should search the catalog using these headings.
- Topics:
- Automobile engineers.
- Automobiles--Motors.
- Drag racers.
- Drag racing.
- Dragsters.
- Funny cars.
- Hemi engine.
- Persons:
- Hoover, Tom, 1929-2015.
- Hoover, George, 1906-2003.
- Hoover, Ruth, 1906-1992.
- Document Types:
- Photographs.
Collapse
All