(forwarded by Jeff Rice.... GO TED!)

http://www.theheraldbulletin.com/local/local_story_362162626.html

Published December 28, 2006 04:26 pm - SUMMITVILLE - A $30 clunker found in
a rural Anderson farm field has turned into a lifetime passion for former
Frankton High School teacher Ted Harbit.
That's how much Harbit paid for his drag-race winning 1951 Studebaker
Commander Starlite Coupe - since nicknamed "Chicken Hawk" - when he bought
it in 1961.

Saving Chicken Hawk
Rebuilding old clunker leads to national award

By SHAWN MCGRATH

SUMMITVILLE - A $30 clunker found in a rural Anderson farm field has turned
into a lifetime passion for former Frankton High School teacher Ted Harbit.

That's how much Harbit paid for his drag-race winning 1951 Studebaker
Commander Starlite Coupe - since nicknamed "Chicken Hawk" - when he bought
it in 1961.

"I found it in a field near Anderson," he said. "And I found some change in
the back seat, so I had less than $30 in it."

Harbit and the Chicken Hawk have won 11 stock-car National Hot Rod
Association drag-racing championships and has been racing for about 50 years
in cars he's restored himself.

In June, he and six others will be honored by the National Hot Rod
Association at the fifth annual National Hot Rod Reunion in Hebron, Ohio,
outside of Columbus. The event is June 15, 16 and 17.

"I feel very honored to be selected as an honoree knowing there are
literally hundreds of worthy racers out there," Harbit said.

But despite the latest recognition, he said the Chicken Hawk being picked
one of the 50 cars invited to celebrate the 50th anniversary NHRA
championship drag racing was a crowning moment.

Harbit grew up on a farm between Elwood and Frankton, went to Ball State
University and taught business and physical education at Frankton High
School from 1957 to 1974. He coached the school's basketball team from 1970
to 1974.

Harbit, 71, even met his wife of 37 years, Mary Ann, at Frankton. She was an
English teacher at the school.

Harbit left Frankton in 1974 to become reserve basketball coach for
Madison-Grant High School, and ultimately retired from education in 1993.

But the love of the distinct bullet-nosed Studebaker is something he's
carried with him since childhood. And he's always been a racer.

"My dad bought a '51 when I was in high school for the family car," he said,
"and people don't realize how well built they are. They're built like a
tank, really."

The Chicken Hawk, which was given the snarky name by Harbit's friend Dave
Closser, has been featured in several magazines, including Hemmings Muscle
Machines, Hot Rod and AMCAR, a Norwegian glossy magazine for fans of
American muscle cars.

In the early 1960s, when Harbit raced the Chicken Hawk stock, it had about
120 horsepower and got up to about 87 mph on a quarter-mile track. Now,
Harbit said, the car's outfitted with a 700 horsepower turbo-charged engine
that gets up to about 138 mph on the quarter-mile.

"It's just going in a straight line for a quarter-mile, so it's really not
that dangerous," he said. "I don't care to go any faster than that. I guess
it would get up to 200 mph if you gear it right."

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rebuilding old clunker leads to national award

By SHAWN MCGRATH

Bill Groak, a spokesman for the Pomona, Calif.,-based Wally Parks NHRA
Motorsports Museum, said the hot rod reunion in June is a way of honoring
those for a lifetime of achievement.

"Basically it's a mixture of nostalgic drag racing and honoring racers of
the past," he said. "(The) guys that were successful, but were never the
huge, huge names in racing."

Museum officials create a panel to decide who will be honored, Groak said,
and they'll be given a "Wally" - the trophy named after NHRA founder Wally
Parks - and a plaque at a reception during the reunion weekend.

"It's pretty emotional because these guys haven't been involved in racing in
20 years," he said. "They're just overwhelmed. It's really sweet to see
these folks in their 60s, 70s and 80s to be honored."

And Harbit's initial $30 investment in the Chicken Hawk has reaped several
dividends. He earned enough to buy a washer, dryer and carpet part his home
after winning a race in the early 1970s.

But he'd never consider selling the hot rod, which he estimates is worth
about $50,000. He and Mary Ann will likely eventually donate it a few other
Studebakers the couple owns - including one he drives daily - to the
National Studebaker Museum in South Bend.

"I've had offers from people," Harbit said. "It's pretty much part of the
family now after all these years. So it's not for sale."