For Beanes Family Racing, Life is A/Gas

In the annals of drag racing, certain vehicles are regarded as iconic.Most are vintage and first entered the scene as either Gassers or Altereds. These include pre-war Willys coupes, ’40 Ford coupes, ’32 Ford roadsters and coupes, Anglia coupes, post-war Fiats, Thames panels and the Henry J.

Drag racing memories flood the cranium with straight axle Gassers and wild, torque twisting, short-wheel Altereds. These creations competed in classic rivalries involving colorful cars and even more colorful drivers. In recent years, the NHRA has revived these golden days with its Hot Rod Heritage Series, focused on nostalgic and vintage-style machines. These meets have become some of the most popular events on the drag racing calendar. Reliving the past has brought new life to old venues and resurrected names, places and cars that would have otherwise only raced on the quarter-mile lanes that lie between the ears, tattered publications or on yellowed 8mm film. It is at these races where the Beanes Family Racing efforts excel.

The Beanes’ path to living in the past began a decade ago, long before the idea of “vintage” drag racing was ever a thought. In the garage of a normal, everyday Southern California home, Dave and Nydia Beanes helped their son Chris prepare for the first stage of motorsports competition, go-karting. It didn’t take long for the pre-teen to capture a Junior Championship for the San Fernando Kart Club. Living in the center of the Southern California car culture, Chris found that little single-seat racers held a limited amount of allure. As he got closer to legal driving age, it was street performance that got further under his skin. “Chris got it in his head that he wanted a ’55 Chevy. When he was 15, we found one at the Pomona Swap Meet. I made a deal with him to go partners on the car. He cashed in his savings bonds and emptied his back account from his paper route days and we bought the car,” Dave recalled. After nearly a year of work on the father/son project, the car was road ready. The day Chris turned 16, with new driver’s license in hand, he started driving the bad-ass ’55 to high school. Over time the car progressed from a mild street machine to a dedicated quarter-mile beast sporting a blown, race-prepped Chevy small-block. The next step in the quest for speed was a blown big-block. His driving skills progressed as quickly as the car until the two were in sync to a low E.T. of 9:25 at 147 mph.

Physics has proven that a brick can only be thrown so fast. With the ’55 going on nine years of track time, the Beanes family made a decision, move from one iconic car type to another, one with just as memorable potential but with better aerodynamic properties. The first idea was a Willys coupe or Anglia. However, with the advent of fiberglass replicas, those shapes were not all that uncommon and only slightly more slippery. What Dave, Nydia and Chris were looking for was something more unique. The answer came in an old-fashioned classified ad. “I came across an ad for a Henry J Pro-Street project. This was exactly what the family was looking for. A rolling chassis without an engine, tranny, interior,” added Dave. After extensive work, including a slight top chop and installation of a blown small-block, the car competed in B/Gas with Chris at the wheel. After a few seasons, upgrades were made that elevated it to A/Gas.

The Henry J was a fan favorite. It was, however, still basically like throwing a brick through the air. Dave and Chris made the bold move to build a new A/Gas car incorporating more modern design innovations but keeping with the Henry J’s original styling elements. The result is the current Beanes Family Motorsports ’51 Henry J.

The goal of the new Henry J was to build a car capable of busting into the seven-second-time slot. It started with a unique Henry J fiberglass mold created by Gary Newton of Newport Beach, California. The Beanes collaborated with Eric Barker to fabricate a double frame rail chassis to qualify for a 25-1E certification. This was a complete ground-up, one-off job since no pre-fab kits or components existed.

As the chassis was coming together, Dave hooked up with Orange, California body man Chuck Morris to make the Henry J’s exterior more aerodynamic. The process was by no means a short-term affair, and throughout the next 36 months elements were crafted 50 miles apart.

The new body needed to maintain the familiar profile but cheat the wind, which required raising the rear quarter panels a tad over the stock beltline. This was done in a very subtle fashion so as not to create the appearance of a Pro Mod or cartoonish Henry J. The front section of the car was pie-cut to give the profile a more compact appearance without taking away its classic features. In theory, the wedge shape would cut into the air rather than plow through it. The other major challenge was that this new body was going to be set on an extended 110-inch wheelbase chassis, 11 inches longer than a stock Henry J.

The Beanes’ new-look Henry J took on a 380-ci small-block Chevy engine built by Dustin Lee Racing Engines in nearby Lancaster. The Donovan aluminum block with Brodix heads was engineered to support a Blower Shop-built (Simi Valley, California) GMC 10-71 blower, fed by mechanical Gorr-designed fuel-injection system.

The engine’s power is routed though a two-speed Powerglide built by Mike’s Transmissions, also of Lancaster. Holding the power to the pavement is a 9.5-inch rearend sporting Mark Williams (MW) axles. MW also created the driveshaft.

Lamb components help Chris keep the car in the proper lane after the hammer comes down. In addition to the ’chute, Lamb four-wheel, carbon fiber discs with multi-piston calipers were charged with the task of slowing the beast down. The final items came via Goodyear tires with classic American Racing wheels up front and 15×5 Weld beadlocks in back.

For several seasons the body was painted in stealth satin black. However, recently the car was treated to a deep classic gloss black applied by Legacy Autobody in Mission Viejo, California. Dave and Chris then transported the J to Steve Vandemon in nearby Orange for the flames by master striper Dave Zatezalo.

Since 2008, the Beanes Family Motorsports’ Henry J was been one of the cars to beat in the competitive western circuit. Chris has piloted the A/Gasser to three Hot Rod Heritage Championships (2011, 2013 and 2014) and runner-up in 2009.

Taking into account this is a 7.60 index class, consistent runs of 180-mph are not uncommon. So what’s this trick J’s true potential? At an exhibition pass during the 2014 NHRA World Finals, Chris and crew Will and Matt Covey, along with the family crew of Lauren Beanes-Covey, Bob Beanes and Christina Dorobiala, prepped the car for one maximum effort that resulted in a 7.21 at 189.95 mph.

As the Heritage Series enters into its eighth season, it’s clear by way of attendance and participation that racing inspired by the past will play a major role in the sport’s future. The cars and the people who build and campaign them are a true throwback to the formative days of drag racing when friends and family worked side-by-side to achieve maximum on-track results. It appears the Beanes family has created a blueprint for success that will be followed by others for years to come.

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