NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

Dode Martin was a drag racer at early Southern California tracks when he met Jim Nelson at Paradise Mesa Drag Strip, where Nelson was an NHRA tech inspector. They became partners and created Dragmaster to build race-ready machines. Their first race car, a streamlined slingshot dragster, for Masters Auto Supply, where Nelson was the machine shop manager, was dubbed the Masters Dragliner, and won Best Engineered honors at the 1957 Nationals which put them on the map.

With Nelson promoting the company, Martin building the cars, and Nelson’s brother, Tom, building engines, they created a virtual assembly line of winning cars, heading up the popular Dragmaster Dart model that was easy to build and easy to drive and was championed by some of the top names in the sport including Roland Leong, Mickey Thompson, and Pete Robinson.