ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I would like to thank all the members of the Central Coast hot rod community who granted me access to their photograph collections and, more importantly, to their memories. Special thanks go to veteran race car driver, hot rodder, and true gentleman Lee Hammock for patiently sitting through the many hours of my relentless questioning. Thanks also go to Santa Maria Drag Strip founder Jerry Gaskill, my friends Jack Chard and Frank Viera, Don Lanning, Barry Atsatt, Fred Dannenfelzer, Ruben Martinez, Don Edwards, Hunter Self, Betty Roach, Jerry Williams, Walt Williams, Ambrose Little, Jesse Torres, and Willard Partch. For the chapter on the Baldwin Specials, I would like to thank Stephen Payne for generously providing a wealth of research material and valuable input, Stu Hanssen for his contributions to the Baldwin story and helping to get the whole project started, and Bill and Vicki Baldwin. Thanks also go to Mark Mendenhall for use of the archive at the Mendenhall Museum and for his time and help. For their invaluable work in the production of this book, I would like to thank Desiree Gonzales, text and layout editor, and Ryan Rush, image editor. For use of their excellent facilities, I would like to thank my close friends Adam Randall and Tiffanie Wright of the Squashed Grapes Wine Bar and Jazz House. For his continued support, thanks again go to my old friend Harry Mishkin. And thanks also go to my son, Thomas. Last but not least, many thanks go to Jeff Ruetsche and Elizabeth Bray at Arcadia Publishing for getting me started, and to Jared Nelson, Suzanne Lynch, and the rest of the staff at Arcadia. I have worked hard to make this pictorial history as accurate as possible, but please forgive the inevitable errors that will occur. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed putting it together.