Mad Scientist: The Epic Drag Racing Genius of Pete Robinson

This is the story of one of the greatest minds in the history of the sport of drag racing. Lew Russell Robinson known more widely as "Sneaky Pete" Robinson was an innovator without equal in the 1960s. He approached the sport as a trained engineer from Georgia Tech and took that education to speeds and performance unknown for his time.

He was the type of guy they write rules to slow down, to save from themselves and to prevent lesser talented people from trying to venture down avenues they have no business entering.

Robinson's 10 year run in the sport both in top gas and top fuel place him among the greatest not just of his generation, but of any generation. His use of simplicity and light weight made him the Colin Chapman of drag racing. His unique and off-the-wall ideas, rooted in aerospace engineering are the stuff of legend and don't seem real until you actually see them.

Understand that had Pete Robinson not lost his life in a 1971 crash he would have gone one to likely be an incredible drag racing crew chief, innovator in open wheel racing, and the high performance aftermarket.

This is the story of drag racing's mad scientist, "Sneaky Pete" Robinson.

[sve-liwc]

Counting Pete as a friend and mentor, he was an inspiration to continue with my schooling to a PhD level, I can add a couple of things. First that I remember to use push to stop on brake lever; ran 100pc nitro and used pill to adjust for atmospheric condition; first to use an automatic transmission with clutch (in the "red" car) with a non-magneto ignition - it did a massive wheel stand at Rockingham or Bristol (I am unsure which one); once sucked a bird into the injector and was confused by performance fall off until a total tear down - thus the plate in front of the injector housing in some photos near the end on the "blue car"; for a time put 100 pc alcohol in the first several inches of the hose leading to the fuel pump (one of my tasks) to promote staring on "pure nitro"; diagnosed and fixed problems by stopping if found something wrong and then totally concentrating efforts on solving that one problem; and more, and more, from my years of meeting him (and Sandra sometimes but not all) at a race track and being the "go fer". It was devastating to hear he had been killed. I believe that the guard rail impact split the magnesium seat and cut the lap belt so that he was thrown out and up against the roll bar at the back of his neck. His memories are with me still. Oh, and I work for Lockheed well past usual retirement because partly of the love of being an engineer inspired by Pete Robinson - my friend.

[JamesCorn-mwdn]

Being a racing fan for over 60 years this is one of the most incredible tributes I have ever heard.

[joeculpjr]

Mr Lohnes, I, we beg of you, PLEASE DONT EVER STOP DOING WHAT YOU DO !

[joesantiso]

You deserve an award for your journalism

[matthewklein]

I greatly appreciate the attention to details and complete lack of fluff. No wasted words. No music.

[russhoffman]

Absolutely phenomenal story. The man was an absolute genius who was taken from the world too soon. Thank you for providing stories like this and others about the motorsport I love the most.

[cubleathetrailerporchmonol]

As a former broadcaster and feature writer, I've acquired something of a critic's mentality over the years, and there aren't many content creators out there who can get me to regularly sit still for a half-hour plus of narration with still images as the only multimedia support. Especially impressive given that most of your subjects wouldn't normally interest me. (In fact, I can think of exactly two others on Youtube who can do that, and my taste is somewhat validated by the mid/high-six-figure viewcounts that they routinely achieve.) If I was still in this game, you'd better believe I'd be taking notes. (I'm typically far more inclined to give them.) Love your formula. love your storytelling style, love the subjects you choose to cover, and I wish there was much more back catalog to keep me entertained between drops. So glad you're doing what you're doing.

[watajob]

It is criminal that this channel doesn't have at least a 6 figure following...

[nitrochampion]

Brian, Thank you for keeping drag racing history alive. ❤

[paulpz]

You're one of the best deep-dive journalists on YT..great masculine voice with clear annunciation, no thick accent, uses fun yet simple to follow vocabulary, and a great story teller 👏

[williambarry]

Pretty amazing he could take a set of conecting rods, cut them in half, weld them back together and then spin the engine to 9000 rpm. Thats some master class welding.

[benrossbach]

Come on people hit the sub button. Can't get enough of your stories. Thanks Brian

[nsxmatt]

Have heard of him but never knew all that he accomplished. Was a very fitting tribute to a pioneer of the sport. Thank you again for honoring these legends!!

[funone]

When I click the Play button on any of your videos, there are no stops or interruptions until the Excellent work.

[bogginbrandon]

This man was an American legend. Obviously the sport of drag racing wouldn’t be what it is today without his additions to it. Had he survived there’s no telling what the sport would look like with the additions we missed out on with his demise. Thank you for putting this together Brian, I really appreciate your efforts to record this history in a way the modern world can consume it.

[dlkline]

It's amazing that I never heard of Pete Robinson before. Starting in 1962 I became a drag racing enthusiast. The first time I went to a track I took off my hubcaps, went through classification and ran my '62 Chevy. I got my doors blown off but I didn't care. I participated. I continued for a couple years before it ate too big of a hole in my wallet. Sure was fun. Great video here. Thanks.

[HotRodHoarder]

Absolutely fascinating. Please never stop doing these deep dives.

[FromMyEyesToYours]

Thank you so much for creating this piece of wonderful recognition for one of the most unique and well respected people in all of auto racing history.

[terrymusch]

Thank you Brian for such an amazing documentary. Brilliant to say the least. Sadly I was in the stands with my brother on that tragic day at Pomona in 1971. A very sad day. I had never seen that last picture. What a testimony to Pete you created. Be very proud of it. Very. The sport of Drag Racing is blessed to have you. Big Mac and Steve are smiling down on you.
🙏🏻🏁

[ridgerunnerperformance-jas]

First of class tribute!!! He stood the drag racing world on its nose with light weight sluggers!!!