Ted Cyr and original partner,
Bill Hopper were one of the most successful teams in the country
during the late 1950s and early 1960s. The Escondido, California-based
Cyr got his name in lights when he won the Top Eliminator title
at the 1958 NHRA Nationals with a blown gas dragster, and really
cemented his reputation by winning Top Fuel at the Bakersfield
March Meet in 1960. As testimony to his prowess, the first Drag
News Top Fuel top 10 list (May 1960) had the Cyr & Hopper
dragster No. 2 trailing only Don Garlits. In late 1960 Ted had
a racing accident and was hurt pretty bad.
When he recouped, Cyr built "The
Lincoln" that was strictly his deal and it really ran well
winning it's share of races on about 50% nitro.
After Cyr quit racing "The
Lincoln" he parked it in the back of his shop and basically
forgot about it. Aside from his involvement with Flip Schoefield
in the 70s, Cyr has been a very good business man and has done
extremely well financially. With some urging from some friends,
in 2000 he dusted the old girl off and brought her out to play
in the very first Cacklefest.