Keith Black

Keith Black (June 25, 1926 – May 13, 1991), born Robert Keith Black, was an American producer of high performance drag racing engines, often used in Top Fuel and Tractor pulling applications.

Racing Black first made a name for himself in the mid-1940s in boat racing. He set a world record in his second time out at Salton Sea. People liked his engines, and he quickly started a business out of his garage.

He opened Keith Black Racing Engines (KBRE) in 1959. By 1961, his boat racing exploits included nearly 50 international and national records. Hawaiian dragster with Keith Black engine in Museo Nazionale dell'Automobile in Turin. Drag racing teams heard about his boat racing engines, and he was convinced by friend Tommy Greer to build a drag racing motor for the Greer-Black-Prudhomme Top Fuel dragster. In 1962 and 1963, the team won over 250 rounds to less than 25 losses. Black spent time in the late 1960s with Roland Leong's Hawaiian Top Fuel dragsters, and in the early 1970s with the Plymouth Barracuda Funny Car campaigned by "Big John" Mazmanian.