It happened to the best, when Connie Kalitta failed to successfully navigate the turn after a push start at the 1969 Winternationals and wrecked his top fueler
Bunker Hill Drag Strip in Indiana did not have hot-car staging and track owner Jim Hullinger figured there had to be a better way of getting the cars lit and staged.
He was an industrious guy, having previously developed his own track lighting (using car headlights) and had built his own scoreboards, and he is generally credited with developing the first roller starters for his track in 1964.
He placed them in the staging lanes so that a driver could fire his car right there and then drive into right into the burnout box.
Hullinger continued to tinker with his designs, which he then sold under the Safe-Start brand name, and which were deployed at as many as three dozen tracks, primarily those in the Midwest, including Indy and Bowling Green. You could buy them for one or two cars: $3,377 and $5,495, respectively. All were equipped with 283-cid Chevy engines and transmissions
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