Drag racer, engine builder, pilot

He started his career in motorsports in drag racing with inductee Darryl Greenamyer, then, after opening Dave Zeuschel Racing Engines, became a leader in building race-winning engines on land, sea and in the air.  Zeuschel met Greenamyer in 1965. The 1997 inductee in the Aviation category had built a Hemi-powered top fuel dragster. Soon he introduced Zeuschel to the newly revived sport of Unlimited Class Air Racing, where Zeuschel helped air racer Dick Weaver with the Merlin engine on his P-51 Mustang. From those beginnings Zeuschel would build Dave Zeuschel Racing Engines into one of the leading experts in making horsepower from either a Rolls-Royce Merlin or Griffon engine, securing Unlimited Class victories in the Griffon-powered RB-51 Red Baron or Merlin-powered Jeannie or Stiletto. His career was cut short by the crash of his F-86 Sabre at an airshow at Shafter, CA. Zeuschel was a pioneer in making large volumes of horsepower from Rolls-Royce engines.