A long-term portrait project

A legend is only a legend as long as their stories are told, and society remembers. As a motorsport fan who came to realize my passion for these legends a bit later in my life, I have found that the Groundbreakers, Daredevils and, yes, Legends who have paved the way for what we enjoy today are very slowly fading from public view – and this, I believe, is a huge loss for us all. Making timeless, formal portraits of the faces of these incredible individuals on to let generations experience and tell stories for many more years to come is my goal.

There are two sides to the legend of “TV” Tommy Ivo. You can discern one just from his name as he was an in-demand actor appearing in TV and movies from the 40’s-60’s. But then drag racing happened–in a big way. It began as a hobby to fill in time between motion pictures but became much more as he found racing success and set multiple world records–at least until he was grounded from driving while he was co-staring in a TV series called Margie in 60/61. So, when the series was over, he kissed the silver screen goodbye and pressed on with his newly acquired passion for drag racing–and the rest as they say, is history.

Born on April 18th, 1936, in Denver, Colorado, Mr. Ivo’s story and legacy is one of following one’s dreams and living life to the fullest. Tommy built and raced more than 36 cars, including one, two, and four-engine gas dragsters, front and rear engine fuel dragsters, funny cars, and jet cars. Tommy took his motion picture background and fame and applied them to his trend setting endeavors and took to the road–becoming the first professional touring drag racer capable of making his living strictly from drag racing. He also conceived and made the famous big rig truck carrying two side-by-side dragsters enclosed in glass side panels and a Corvette push car carried on the roof.

 "TV" Tommy Ivo was inducted into the first-annual International Drag Racing Hall of Fame in 1991 and was the very first recipient of the NHRA Lifetime Achievement Award at the California Hot Rod Reunion in Bakersfield in 1992 and in 2005 was inducted into the prestigious Motor Sports Hall of Fame of America. 

Harry and older brother Pete were born in Northern California. Growing up in the Sacramento area exposed them to the Thunderbolt Car Club members and the thirst for building hot rods and racing began. Working at the neighborhood gas station as teenagers gave them the opportunity to learn and immerse themselves in car and racing culture. When Harry lost his license because of too many street racing tickets the brothers decided to build a car just for racing so they built the first of their famed short wheelbase altered coupes and roadsters with Pete doing the paint and body work and Harry the engine and chassis work.

After crashing the original '34 Ford coupe “The Flying Fox” at his first race Pete officially handed driving duties to Harry. From the 60’s – 70’s the brothers built and raced with much success through the years, finally calling it quits in 1973. Through the 70’s Harry moved on to build boat engines in the Sacramento area, retiring to travel by sea and by motorhome in 1997. Sadly, brother Pete passed away in 1999. In 2007 Harry and his nephew/partner Robert Reel bought the legendary restored Fiat and they have been showing and Cackling all over California.

While fighting a severe case of the flu, the previously “unknown” Oklahoma City native and TV repairman surprised the world by winning Top Fuel Eliminator at the 1974 US Nationals. Dubbed Marvin “Who?” by the press, he continued his winning ways in drag racing’s elite class with three additional NHRA national event wins, as well as AHRA and PDA victories. Marvin earned the #3 ranking in the 1975 NHRA Points Championship. He finished 4th in 1981. Following the 1981 season, he retired from drag racing, to pursue a 30 career in the film industry – primarily driving camera cars. He served as technical advisor for the 1983 movie, "Heart Like a Wheel”, while also having an acting role in the film. He retired in 2014.

Marvin “Who” Graham was inducted into The International Drag Racing Hall of Fame in 2009.

The Washington State native seeded his love for drag racing in the 1960’s at the Bremerton Raceway. Quitting his full-time job at a Chevrolet dealership to focus on his auto glass business allowed him to go racing full time. Shortly after his debut in ’69 in Pomona, Petersen partnered with Sam Fitz for the famed Petersen and Fitz era with much success, beginning with a front-engine car and then moving on to rear-engine in ’72. 1973 started as a great year with a Top Fuel win at the Gatornationals but came to a hard pause on July 21, 1973, in Orange County, CA when a mechanical failure caused a horrendous crash that caused third and fourth degree burns on more than 50% of his body. Against the odds, Herman not only lived but returned less than 7 months later to race again. Even while enduring multiple reconstructive surgeries and the very difficult recovery process The Northwest Terror returned and drove again to more success even earning the Division 6 championship in ‘74. In 1976 after another close call, he’d finally had enough and walked away from driving for good. Herm Petersen was inducted into The International Drag Racing Hall of Fame in 2004.