Just got home from the track and unsure of the mans name, but I will find out. He has ran a studebaker for a long time called the chickenhawk. He lost a motor, took out the guardrail, rolled and landed on the et stand. He was awake and responding as they were cutting him out of the car. I will get his name.

Was that the guy that was in HOT ROD a while back? A super charged Studebaker i think?

Yes, he also runs a car in pure stock. I think his first name is Ted.

Ted Harbit, is his name.

Ted Harbit is a Legend. He has been drag racing since before most of us were born and won several NHRA national events in the 60's. Hot Rod did a feature on him about 3 years ago. If you google his name, there is plenty to read.
Besides his 10 second stude the Chicken Hawk, ( which is sadley now apparently totaled), he runs a very compeetive Stude with a factory blower and a 4 speed in the Pure Stock Drags and in the F/S class at some of the F.A.S.T. events.
I have met Ted, and he is a great guy. I hope that he is OK.

I have pictures on my phone of what is left of the car, but cant figure out how to get them to my computer. The car looks a lot worse then the pictures look.


They were racing 1/8 mile because we had 30-50 mph wind gust here. He launched and to me it looked as if it may have lost a head gasket because white smoke was coming out of the right bank. He was behind the car in the other lane, crossed the center line, hit the guard rail, barrell rolled down the rail, took out the et stand and came to a rest at the base of it.
There isnt much of the chickenhawk left, which is really upsetting because he has raced it for probably 45 years. I havent heard any updates on him and I keep checking the muncie dragstrip website.

Hope everything is OK with him, thanks, and keep us updated...

prayers for the man...

legends must live on...

Let's hope he's OK

I found this on a Stude board:

Just got this from Bob Palma... The car is a loss. But at least the legend himself is okay. Hang in there Ted. We're all pullin' for ya.







I just received a call from Mary Ann Harbit and have her permission and blessing to pass along the following information:

Ted Harbit is being treated at Ball Memorial Hospital in Muncie IN for the following major injuries following his accident this evening at The Muncie Dragway. In addition to bumps, bruises, and scratches, he received one collapsed lung, a broken right scapula, and two broken lumbar bones. (They told her lumbar bones, not lumbar discs. I clarified that with her in that I had not heard of lumbar bones either.)

He never lost consciousness and was talking to her from the Emergency Room. She said it would be OK for Cari and I to come visit him tomorrow (Sunday) early afternoon after church, so that's what we will do.
As for what happened: He rolled The Chicken Hawk TEN TIMES just after completing the eighth-mile at The Muncie Dragway this evening, in that they were running only the eighth tonight.

They told her something let loose in the engine room and sprayed the underside of the car with oil. It lost traction and he lost control. It hit the guard rail hard enough to flip over the guard rail and begin rolling. It rolled so many times that he ultimately hit the sign posts holding the signs that signal the times and ETs...and the sign posts are located at the end of the quarter-mile strip!

We should not assume "the engine blew" or anything, because that is not known. It might have been something as simple as an oil line to a turbocharger letting go. I'll find out tomorrow if Ted knows what happened.

Needless to say, after 47 years of running who knows how many times at The Muncie Dragway, The Chicken Hawk has been destroyed. Ted turned 74 years of age this past weekend, and the number of times that car has blistered The Muncie Dragway drag strip surely numbers in the thousands.

Mary Ann said they plan to keep him at least a week, so if anyone wants to send a card or other well-wishes, here's the address:

Ted Harbit
c/o Ball Memorial Hospital
2401 West University Avenue
Muncie IN 47303-3428

The Chicken Hawk is/was equipped with a full roll cage, and, of course, Ted wears a professional body harness and full helmet at all times. Those and the Grace of God have enabled us to still have our friend Ted Harbit with us.

Keep him in your prayers. (For those of you on The Studebaker Drivers Club Forum, as you know, the forum has been down. But when it is up, I'll post this report.)

Good night & God Bless. Bob Palma

Amen. glad to hear he is doing good/great after watching it happen at the track.

Back in the day my dad ran a WO car for a guy out of Muncie that was scared to drive it. This was back when there was still class racing in 1967. Dad said the only car there no one wanted to race was the chickenhawk. He would say I am not kidding you I had to spot him over 11 seconds and have to run him down. We moved away from here when I was ten. I went to the track about 7 years later and Ted was running in the mid 11's then which would of made it about 1988 or so. I told Dad the Chickenhawk was now running in the mid 11's and he was

Thank God for safety equipment.

Best wishes to him for a speedy healthy recovery.

Ted is a great guy, I wish him a speedy recovery. In '83 I started going to Muncie Dragway, the ChickenHawk was always a car that guys didn't want to line up against, Ted would put you on the trailer nearly every time.
Last year at the FAST/Factory Stock Muscle Car Drag Race in Martin Michigan, my Road Runner transmission went out and was stopped just before the timing shack. Ted pulls up with his other Studebaker and offers to get his tow strap out and pull me back to the pits! Instead, I accepted a ride back to the pits with him, what a gentleman.
See you at the track soon Ted.
Dave Watt

Her is the link to Teds crash http://perfectrun.com/v-web/bulletin/bb/viewtopic.php?t=12240

"lumbar bones" = Lumbar vertebrae (ie,,,bones of the spine located in the lumbar region,,which is the lower back)

Very lucky,,,74 y/o with those injurys

Glad to hear he is OK....

I imagine he sure is sore... heres to a speedy recovery

WOW! That is a MESS!

Great, though, that his injuries aren't life-threatening!

Get well soon!

Frank just posted this update on the pure stock board:

Here's the latest from Bob Palma:


Hello again, all:

Cari and I just got back from spending an hour this afternoon with Ted, Mary Ann, and Missy in Ted's Room #7111 at Ball Memorial Hospital in Muncie. He is doing well, all things considered, but sure has enough bumps, bruises, and scrapes, in addition to three broken bones and a punctured lung, to keep the staff busy inventorying the nature and severity of each injury. None are life-threatening...but taken together, it was quite a beating for a 74-year-old man.

He was alert and conversant, entirely "with it" the entire time we were there. 'Didn't miss a beat or fail to recall anything you might expect him to know, so I'd say there is no mental damage or memory loss of any kind. The only injury to his head appears to be small scrapes at the bridge of his nose between his eyes, where his helmet must have cut him a little. They didn't even have a band-aid on the area, it was so small. Good helmet!

He's speaking fine and clear, although it hurts when he laughs. Mary Ann said, "That's OK; make him laugh, Bob."

Actually, I already had. When I got there and walked over to the bed, he was smiling and the first thing I said was, with a stern look on my face, "Now what have you done, Ted?" He got a chuckle out of that and the whole visit couldn't have been more pleasant.

OK, details: One rib apparently punctured his left lung, but sprung back and did not break. They have a tube draining that lung, which is considered collapsed until it kind of self-repairs, from what they said. The wound is not considered severe, although real and does require draining to avoid subsequent pressure on his heart, from what he was told. (I don't claim to be much of a medical authority, so if this doesn't make sense, I apologize.)

He has two broken lumbar bones in his middle lower back, but they are expected to heal themselves and no surgery is planned.

Finally, he has a broken right scapula and his right arm is in a sling to keep that steady for healing. Notable bruises include especially painful ones at the top of his right arm and on his left thigh, just above the knee. The one on the thigh is about the size of a softball, Mary Ann said. I took her word for it and did not request an examination. He said the knee itself was quite painful this morning, but that had abated by this afternoon. Other abrasions were scattered about; his right hand was bandaged up because skin was scraped off the backside. There was some scraping on the back of the left hand, but not enough to have been bandaged

They had just returned to the room from X-ray (again!) when we arrived; the techs wanted to have a second look at that upper right arm area near the shoulder, to make sure nothing else was broken. That had come back OK right away. He said lunch was unusually good, but he enjoyed it a lot more the first time he had it, if you know what I mean. He was able to get out of bed, tubes attached, to get in the wheel chair for trips to & from X-ray. No problems walking; he's unsteady due to the pain meds (morphine drip, Press Here for Pain Relief...) but otherwise ambulatory.

His spirits couldn't have been better, all things considered. But he is really distraught over having lost his companion of 48 years come this fall; The Chicken Hawk. He and Mary Ann (MA had seen pictures; I did not) agree: The car was simply demolished. There can't be a straight panel or structural member anywhere on the car.

He confirmed the following: Although the accident happened right at the eighth-mile finish line, what finally stopped the car's forward motion, tumbling and rolling and occasionally airborne down the grassy berm was slamming backwards into one of the scoreboard posts at the 1/4-mile finish line! He said he was airborne when he hit the post backwards about 20' above the ground(!), snapping off the post! Further, when the deck lid buckled, the trunk-mounted battery broke away (yes, he had a hold-down on it!) and continued on down the track another 300 feet! So, actually, the battery completed the most forward motion of any component.

Worst of all, Ted said, the car was running perfectly and he was certain -no, positive- that if they had been running the quarter-mile last night, he would have been in the nines at over 140 mph, breaking both into the 9s and 140 mph for the first time.

As it was, the car had posted excellent 1.47 60-foot times and a 6.46-second (or 6.48; he wasn't sure) eighth-mile at just over 112 mph -in the eighth- last evening. So close to the nines and 140 mph, but it was not to be.

The Dr's latest prognosis is that he will be hospitalized at least through Wednesday the 20th; they can't imagine him going home before then. Mary Ann suggested cards be sent to the house and she will be sure he gets them:

Ted Harbit
18994 North 125 East
Summitville IN 46070-9113


BTW: I wrote down and gave to them all good wishes from folks who had e-mailed back from last night's e-mails; messages received before we left for church about 8:15 AM, after which we went on over to Muncie as our church is about 1/4 of the way from our house to Muncie. I'll convey messages received since then as well.

Mary Ann said it is OK to call him on his direct line at the hospital: (765) 747-3833. But please be respectful of the fact that's it's a little much for him to talk all that long, and, especially, of time zones; we are in the easternmost time zone. He would enjoy hearing from everyone, though, so don't hesitate to call!

There had been a steady stream of visitors all day. The volunteer aide at the information desk looked up his room number and said, "He must be having quite a party; there are a lot of people up there!" They must have all left before we got to the room, though, as only MA and Missy were there. We left when two more racers from the track arrived.

That's about all for now. I hope the Studebaker Drivers Club Forum is back up soon. When it is, I'll post everything known to date under a new topic: Last Flight of The Chicken Hawk!

Please keep the whole family in your prayers. It looks like our friend Ted will be OK all around, but certainly a little worse for wear, bless his heart.

Cheers and best. Bob Palma

Sounds to me like some pretty serious injuries, epecially considering that an older body heals slower.
I hope that Ted recovers fully and quickly. Joel

Best wishes to him for a speedy recovery.

wow...thats terrible news, I have known Ted and the Chickenhawk for over 25 years...I am glad he is ok, I am saddened about the car though..as all have said, it was a legend.....the very last pass I ever made in the roadrunner was against Ted and the 'Hawk

Ted is a super guy. I ran him a couple of times in stock eliminations at Bunker Hill in 69-70. I had a bronze '68 Sports Satellite that I ran in G/Stock. I think Ted ran maybe ran V/Stock. I was with Uncle Sam and worked across the street from the dragstrip. Grissom, AFB. Hope he mends real quick.
Lynn Dillingham

Sorry to hear and I hope he comes around w/little or no major issues. Every pass I make I pray it goes well and smoothly for myself and everyone else who`s racing.........

It was also a memorial night at the track for a fellow racer that had been killed in a street accident a few months prior. I am glad to hear Ted is doing well from what I have seen Hemi Joel reported.