The most famous engineer you’ve never heard of
Charles D. Strang, Jr. lived a long and vibrant life filled with an obsession for technical innovation and a passion for racing. He produced milestones in marine, automotive and aerospace development, and although his accomplishments have touched nearly all of us, he remains unheralded even after his quiet passing on March 11 at the age of 96.
Such was the humble demeanor of the man born in Brooklyn in 1921. A natural competitor, young Charlie participated in organized motorboat racing from the age of 15, holding the title of New York State Champion for several years. Later, as a mechanical engineering student at the Polytechnic University of Brooklyn, he won the last contested Intercollegiate Championships in Class C Hydroplane. As the competition class ended with the onset of World War II, Strang remains the uncontested champion of that division to this day.
Strang enlisted in the United States Army Air Corps during the war and was assigned to Wright Aeronautical Corporation in New Jersey as a test engineer for aircraft engines. After about a year, he was transferred to the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (now known as NASA) where he worked on experimental turbojet aircraft engines until 1947.
Following that, he became a Research Associate in Mechanical Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. While considering a career in academia, he was discovered by a brash industrialist named Carl Kiekhaefer and was hired away to become Director of Research at outboard motor manufacturer at Kiekhaefer (Mercury) Marine.
Strang had barely settled into the job when he was told by Kiekhaefer that the company was going to participate in the 1951 Pan American Road Race in Mexico. Utilizing two brand-new 1951 Chrysler Saratogas, the engineering department at Mercury was turned upside-down in a mad scramble to prepare the cars for the race only three weeks away. Strang’s first task at his new job would diverge from marine engineering to designing a dual-quad intake manifold for a Chrysler FirePower V8 engine.
As the new team’s first major racing effort, there was much to learn. The 4,000-mile drive from the company’s Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, headquarters to the event’s starting line took a toll on man and machine, with breakdowns of both occurring en route. Nonetheless, at the hands of stock car champion Tony Bettenhausen and sports car champion John Fitch, the Kiekhaefer Chryslers finished an impressive third, behind only the exotic Ferrari factory-sponsored cars.
Thus began Kiekhaefer’s flirtation with automotive competition that would dominate and elevate early stock car racing and establish Mercury as a boutique tuner of Detroit iron for decades to come. Frustrated with perceived rule inequalities in the Mexican road race, Mercury turned their attention to NASCAR, winning an unprecedented string of team victories in 1955 and securing two Grand National championships in 1955 and 1956.
Under Strang, the Mercury team brought professionalism to NASCAR. The racing program introduced choreographed pit stops, uniformed team members, spotless team transporters and well-paid drivers, all of which contributed to the model that NASCAR uses today.
More importantly, this success was achieved by an unflinching dedication to playing within the rules in a sport that was famous for skirting them. That dedication led Strang to being named national commissioner for NASCAR in 1998, a position he held for a decade. During his tenure, he oversaw the investigation of the 2001 accident that killed superstar driver Dale Earnhardt. Numerous safety improvements were introduced in the aftermath of the tragedy.
Email This Page