Art Ward moved to Colorado from Oklahoma in 1958 at age 18. Soon after, he became a feared street racer behind the wheel of his two hot ‘57 Chevys. He and his friends would hang out at drive-ins looking for races. In 1959 Ward graduated from the streets to a track in Scottsbluff, Neb. There, he won his class and the “King of the Hill” shoot-out against a dragster in his ‘57 Chevy, which he then drove at Continental Divide Raceway and Thunder Road for the rest of the year.

In 1962, Art teamed up with owner and former driver Roger Guzman and starting in 1963 the two set record after record at a number of drag strips with a 1951 Anglia and then a 1939 Willies in the B/Gas class. 1966 was the year when Art first sat behind the wheel of the Guzman 1968 MG, powered by a blown, big clock Chevy named “Assassination.” Competitors called the car “Killer Car” because of the car itself and Ward’s driving talents. Ward won the Indy NHRA Nationals in 1966. The following year, Ward posted a 95 percent win record while setting a National record of 9.44 seconds, 139 miles per hour for the quarter mile. “Assassination Too,” a 511 cubic inch supercharged Corvair Funny Car came on the scene in 1968. Guzman provided Ward with a car he would drive to back to back wins in California, winning the Nitro Championships and setting track records almost everywhere he went.

Ward took 1969 off, returning the next year to drive the “Avenger” Funny Car Mustang, when he partnered with Jack Bradley. In the next few years he set several track records, became the Rocky Mountain Funny Car champion and won the AHRA Funny Car Nationals at Century 21 Speedway, topping 204 miles per hour on one of his runs. In 1975, Ward again joined with Guzman and in 1976 won the NHRA Division 5 Funny Car Championship. He tried his hand at driving a top fuel car in 1977 before retiring in 1978.

During his drag racing career he had run against the best there was taking his share of victories. Unfortunately, several years ago, Ward lost his battle against his toughest opponent of all, cancer.

Mark Williams began a lifetime involvement with drag racing in the late 1950s owing and driving an Olds-powered ’34 Ford coupe. By 1960, he built and drove his first dragster primarily made out of old drive shafts. A trained machinist, Mark worked for John Bandimere, Sr., developing new products, but decided that building race cars was what he really wanted to do. He joined forces with friend Ron Bement and built a contemporary dragster which was sold to Hall of Famer, Roy Golightly. He took the profits from building that car and invested in the equipment needed to open up a race car building operation of his garage in 1963.

Mark built many cars that dominated their classes in NHRA Division Five events. His cars run by Bill Rice and Larry Frazier won numerous races and championships. Perhaps the most famous of the cars he built was the rear engine top fuel dragster campaigned by the Kaiser brothers in the early 1970s. This was considered to be the blueprint for rear-engine revolution of today’s top fuel cars. In 1985, the last race car to come out of the Williams’ shop was a top Alcohol Dragster owned by Vern and Brian Raymer. By this time, Mark had built an estimated 150 cars.

Today, Mark Williams Enterprises sells blueprints and component kits for a variety of drag racing machines. The best known of the products he manufacturers and sells are forged, hi-torque racing axels, first used by Hall of Famer Judy Lilly. Other products include disc brakes and drive shafts. His manufacturing processes are technically the best available and he has an extensive research and development department.

Windy Windholz was born in Kansas in 1923, the youngest of 15 children. In 1943, he was drafted into the Army Air Corp. and was sent to Aviation Mechanic School. One of Windy’s World II assignments was to work on a top secret aircraft later to become known as the B-29 bomber.

Discharged in 1946, he came to Denver to find employment and a co-worker took him to the track in Brighton to see a hot rod race. That was all that was need to start Windy on the track to a long and successful race car owner career. By September 1946, he finished building his first race car, a 1930 Model A Roadster powered by a twin ignition, six cylinder Nash engine, known as the “Go Nash number 30.” Married in 1947, his wife Sandy would become a constant companion and supporter of his racing endeavors. When Englewood Speedway opened the same year Windy was there with his hot rod, one of his drivers was Don Codner, whose father, Charlie, would later buy the track.

Windholz ran hot rods until the late 1940s. He then partnered with Curt Stockwell and they would field Pikes Peak Hill Climb cars for 16 years as well as sprint cars until the mid-1960s. When Colorado National Speedway opened Windy decided to run late models on the dirt. Unable to get his favorite number 30 he decided to run number 101 on his car and that number along with the color purple became his signature. Windy’s cars appeared at opening races at Englewood Speedway, Century 21 Speedway, Raceland Speedway, Rocky Mountain National Speedway and Colorado National Speedway. He won championships in 1970, ’71 and ’72 at Colorado National Speedway and 2005 at Rocky Mountain National Speedway.

For over six decades, Windholz has fielded hot rods, Hill Climb cars, late models and modifieds. He was a founding member of the BCRA and a member of the RMMRA and CARC. Allen Batt, Paul Garrison, Ken Lowe and Eric Pfiff are just some of the talent to have driven his cars.

Windy passed away in 2010.