Birth of the Juggers
In the summer of 1953, a few of the local drive-in commandos discussed forming a car club. The original club was formed in the backyard of Jerry Batista’s home.
Founding members were Jim Hensel (’29 Chevy sedan with a 235 6-cylinder) nicknamed “the House”, Jerry Batista (’49 Olds with a V8), Bob Gilmore (’41 Chrysler with a straight 8), Rich Nordt (Chopped ’32 Ford pick-up), Milt Noie (’46 Plymouth with a Chrysler 6-cylinder), John Blanchard (Channeled ’32 Ford 5-window channeled coupe with a loaded flathead), Bruce Erickson (’40 Ford coupe), Vern Fisher and Rick Ames.
Youtube Video of Beginning the Juggers Racing Team
After much discussion of possible names for the club, they decided on Juggers of San Mateo. Harold Hungerford said the club got its name because when a car pulled up with a closed hood, guys would say “how many jugs you got under there?” referring to the carbs. The official logo was a three carburetor manifold with jugs (xxx) pouring alcohol into the carbs. The same logo was used on blue and white jackets and on the plaques which were displayed on the street rods.
At that time, the only drag strips around were at Lodi, Salinas, Madera and the 5th mile behind San Carlos Airport (near the bay).
In 1956 some of the members formed the Juggers Racing Team within the Juggers of San Mateo, for the guys who were serious about drag racing. That same year, Harold Hungerford joined the club. They rented a 4-car garage in Burlingame, in an alley between Primrose and Lorton Avenues. In 1957, they moved to a 2800sq. ft. shop on Hatch Lane in Burlingame, that became their home for 16 years.
In 1957, the Tri-County Hot Rod Association was formed. It was an association of Hot Rod Clubs in San Francisco, San Mateo and Santa Clara Counties. Its main function was to bring together the hot-rodders and the local citizens. The Association was backed by the Elks Club and the local police. The Association was looking for places to hold sanctioned drag races. One place being the unopened Candlestick Causeway that was under construction. The San Mateo County Board of Supervisors approved a one-time only trial drag race on April 5, 1957 at the Half Moon Bay Airport. It was sanctioned by the National Hot Rod Association. Al Caldwell was the General Manager, Tom McDonald of the Jungle Cruisers Car Club was Operating Manager and Jim Hensel was the Chief Tech Inspector. The San Francisco Examiner reported on the event presented on 7 April 1957. “They drag raced, but safely”, reported the article in The Examiner. Featured were Jim Hensel’s ‘29 Chevy running on fuel, with Tom McDonald’s 12 port GMC and Harold Hungerford and Burns ‘32 Ford Fuel Flat Head.
The first drags were so successful that the Tri-County Hot Rod Association ran Half Moon Bay Drag Strip for a year and a half, and then it was run under the private enterprise of McClennan and Smith of Champion Speed Shop.
In the spring of 1958, the Juggers displayed cars at the Oakland National Roadster Show. Cars shown included: Joe Carboni’s sports car chassis and Mike Sharp’s ‘32 Ford Coupe. They also entered car shows at the San Mateo Auto Show, which featured the whole club, and at the Cow Palace. The Juggers at this time had eighteen members and a “Good Neighbor” policy of making it a point to help motorists in trouble.
Over the next few years the club continued to race and set records throughout California. The Juggers Racing Team had a reputation of being the ones to beat. The cars were black and bad and many of the latest trends were on their cars. The club had set out to find a respectable and safe place to race and accomplished those goals.
Around 1975 the club took a short hiatus to raise kids and earn a living.
Around 1982, we saw the start of a new craze, “Nostalgic Drag Racing.” This effort was led by Tom Prufer and Ken Foster. Of course this sparked a new interest in some of the original Juggers. As the dust was being cleaned off the old cars a few of the originals plus new car buddies decided to get the Juggers Racing Team up and running strong again. Harold Hungerford became the president with 6 original members and 25 new members to carry the torch. Members, all from Northern California, raced in drags, Bonneville, roundy round, road course tracks and sand drags.
Meetings were held at the Round Table Pizza in San Carlos. They were fun, loose, with lots of bench racing. Sometime along the way, the Juggers bought a tree in The Grove at Famoso Raceway. It has become our tribute to the Juggers who have “Traveled The Raceway To Heaven.” Every year at the March Meet we have a ceremony at the tree to honor our Juggers who are no longer with us and to add new name plaques as required, so that no Jugger is ever forgotten.
Membership grew as more and more racers came out of the woodwork. Since many of the members weren’t able to socialize at the races, the annual picnic became the place for all members to get together and celebrate being Juggers. The club has supported many organizations and has given monies to charities and groups in need.
Currently the Juggers are supporting a High School Race program at Sonoma Raceway. We help the kids learn how to race legally and safely. Once a year, we give a scholarship to a deserving Teen racer to help them further their education or trade.
The club has continued to race very competitively. The highlight of the year is always the March Meet. It starts the year of racing and gives us a chance to test out the improvements made during the winter months. During final rounds of racing, you will frequently see Juggers accepting trophies in the winner’s circle.
The Juggers Racing Team celebrated its 70th Anniversary in 2023 with 157 members. We kicked off the celebration at the March Meet at Famoso Raceway. As part of our year of celebration we held our First Annual Juggers Car Show. The Show was such a success that we have planned our Second Annual Car Show for August 25, 2024. In addition, the Juggers will be spotlighted at the San Mateo County Fair for the second year in a row.
Currently the Juggers Racing Team is going strong with over 200 members.