[1] In the 1960s and 1970s, Mazmanian became a well-known name in Southland racing circles, largely due to his promotions for gasser and funny car competitions at local drag strips every weekend.
[2] In "Billy the Mountain," a song rich with inside jokes about Southern California, Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention mention a Mazmanian funny car competition held at the Irwindale Speedway.
After the attack on Pearl Harbor, he enlisted in the Navy and served in the Pacific, where he sustained shrapnel wounds during the battle for Leyte Gulf.
[4] He began his journey in car building before he was even old enough to drive, reconstructing a 1932 Ford into a “highboy roadster” for an auto shop class when he was just 14.
[6] As he advanced to funny cars, high-powered vehicles fueled by a potent blend that includes nitroglycerin, producing a massive cloud of burnt rubber smoke from their large back tires at the start of a drag race.