The Birth of M&H Racemaster: From WWII Gearheads to Drag Racing LegendsThe Birth of M&H Racemaster: From WWII Gearheads to Drag Racing Legends
In the late ’40s, America was buzzing with horsepower dreams. GIs came home from the war with mechanical know-how, adrenaline in their veins, and a need for speed. They weren’t content just to cruise — they tore into street cars and built home-grown hot rods, learning fast what it took to go quicker and faster. By the time the nation’s first drag strips opened, racers were already experimenting with ways to get more bite off the line. The problem? A true racing tire didn’t exist outside of IndyCar and circle-track racing.
Enter Harry and Marvin Rifchin. In the 1930s, Harry had opened a tire sales and recap shop in Watertown, Massachusetts. His son Marvin — a die-hard midget and stock car racing fan — worked alongside him. Marvin saw a huge gap: the recap rubber everyone was running was made for highway use, not for hanging it out sideways on dirt ovals. So Marvin did something about it. He worked with Denman Rubber Mfg. Co. of Warren, OH, to cook up a new, softer racing compound. Out of this innovation, M&H Tire Company was born — “M” for Marvin, “H” for Harry.
The new recap rubber was a hit. While passenger car and truck tire sales kept the lights on, Marvin poured his energy into racing tires. By the early 1950s, stock cars were faster than ever, and the old recaps just couldn’t keep up. Marvin pushed Denman’s president, Harry Webster, to take an old passenger-car mold, machine out most of the tread, and pour in his racing compound. The result? The first true M&H racing tires — and they quickly became the tires to run if you wanted to finish the race (and maybe even win).
But Marvin wasn’t done. When drag racing exploded in the mid-’50s, he saw a new challenge: build a tire designed purely for acceleration. By 1957, Marvin had created the first drag-specific slick — what we now simply call a “drag slick.”
At first, Marvin hadn’t even been to a drag race. That changed when his friend Bob Osiecki invited him to his strip in Chester, SC. Marvin brought a few sets of slicks with him — just in case. As luck would have it, racer Setto Postoian blew a tire that day. Marvin handed him a set of the new slicks. Setto bolted them on, made a pass, and ran 10 MPH faster than ever before. Word spread quickly, and by the end of the day, more racers were begging Marvin for a set.
Then came the breakthrough moment. In 1968, a young Don “Big Daddy” Garlits connected with Marvin. Marvin pitched him on a purpose-built tire — not a recap — using his special compound. Garlits took the gamble, mount
ed the narrow (only 6.5-inch-wide!) M&H slicks, and absolutely dominated. He blasted through the field, hit 160 MPH, and took Top Eliminator. The win put M&H on the map in a big way. Later on Garlits would use a new M&H Tire and Compond to break the 200MPH in the 1/4 mile for the first time ever.
From there, M&H became the name in drag racing tires. Racers who tried them never looked back. “The guys who ran our stuff told us exactly what worked and what didn’t,” Marvin said. “That’s how we kept getting better.” He was hands-on to the core — even personally mounting tires at events like the NHRA Winternationals if it meant getting racers the latest rubber.
By the mid-’60s, the tire wars were on. Firestone and Goodyear entered the market, but Marvin didn’t flinch. He relished the challenge, crediting that rivalry with driving major advances in tire technology. “Those tire wars were the best thing that could have happened to us,” Marvin said later.
Through the ’70s, ’80s, and ’90s, M&H stayed a force, creating tires for everything from dragsters to muscle cars. Marvin eventually built his own factory to keep production in-house and innovation moving forward. His DOT-approved wrinkle-wall race tires became a favorite for street/strip warriors.
In 2001, ready to pass the torch but keep the legacy alive, Marvin sold M&H to Warren Guidry of Interco Tire Corporation — the same man who pioneered the first purpose-built light-truck tires for use off-road and on. Marvin stayed on as a consultant until the end, still passionate about the craft that made him a legend.
Marvin Rifchin passed away in June 2009 at the age of 94, leaving behind a racing legacy that’s impossible to overstate. Today, M&H Racemaster continues to dominate nostalgia drag racing, while also serving modern muscle cars with a full line of drag radials. The brand’s impact was so profound that M&H was one of the first inductees into Hot Rod Magazine’s “Speed Parts Hall of Fame,” and Marvin himself was inducted into the SEMA Hall of Fame in 2003.
Marvin never took full credit, always pointing to the racers, engineers, and techs who helped him along the way — including legends like Tom Lorden (creator of the Ground Hawg light truck tire) and Don Jones, whose engineering skills helped shape M&H compounds for decades.
All these decades later M&H still means one thing: traction that wins races.
Note:
This story is woven together from several memorials and tributes to Marvin Rifchin, shared by those who knew and raced with him. We’ve done our best to honor Marvin’s memory and capture his incredible impact on racing, making every effort to ensure accuracy and proper context. Some portions of this story may have originated from personal accounts or published remembrances. If you were one of the people who contributed to these stories and would like to be recognized, please reach out — we’d love to give you credit for helping keep Marvin’s legacy alive. Use the Contact Us information to reach out. Any photos you may have that are available, and you’d allow us to use, we would be glad to include them.