Features Have you ever run a car down a drag strip or an oval track?

Are the statue of limitations up yet? If so, what little raceing I did wasn't on the strip. But usually on a couple local straight stretches of country road.lol This was a long time ago. I raced my Vette a few times at the Eastside Dragstrip in the early 70's. And my old 38 Chevy coupe at the Old Dominion Dragstrip. But it was just for fun. I did get to play in the mud on the dirt track at the Jalopy Showdown with the LOW UFO. I also got to drive all of my Hot Rods around the Charlotte Motor Speedway. That was when the Goodguys had their event there. My wife, and I drove our Vette around the Daytona Motor speedway once too. I've never owned a race car. But we've had lot's of fun playing with our old Hot Rods. Pictures are from the Goodguys event.

 

I remember they stopped racing for a plane to land. circa 1956

 

Yes did both. No pictures of strip just the Rockford Illinois Speedway 1973. 1964 olds then the rambler to finish out season

 

Me and the A at a Fast run

 

Ahhhh, seems like only yesterday. My bro and I wanted to race. What, we didn't quite know. We were weighing the pros and cons of a joint venture drag car vs. kart racing. This was in the late 70's and we were farther down the drag racing option at the outset. We found a 428 Fairlane that was in pretty rough shape, a great candidate for conversion to the strip. Then I attended a kart race, quickly bought a used race kart and the sickness was systemic.
Fortunate to have raced on the old Riverside Raceway 9-turn setup, Laguna Seca before the "inner course", Willow Springs main track, Sears Point/Infineon/Sonoma or whatever it's called now. Pretty lucky to have all those world class tracks within 4 hours drive of home. Quit in the mid/late 80s and miss it more than one would imaging.
I did run some bracket racing in a street car at Famoso. Hard to stay on the number as the desert climate cooled from mid day to evening to night time. The cooler air definitely made guessing the ET difficult. Fun stuff. Considering some track time this year at the High Performance Driving Experience events in Calif.

 

Sometimes drag racing consumes me, keeps me thinking young and love the building and improving the cars to drag race almost as much as driving em, lol
Its also great to BS and race with a bunch of likeminded people, I've raced Saltflats and I think Slayer here on the hamb and keep looking forward to getting things ready for the next race.

Had a perfect reaction time on first run one morning, partying with Salty till 1 am

 

I'm itching to see yourself and/or Mr Flats race the Drag Snake. Mebbe 2024?

Cheers,
Harv

 

Yes, I took a stab at drag racing in the mid/late 70's, actually with two different cars, one I can show, a 1965 Malibu street/bracket car, the other was an OT ex Pro Stock car.

I bought the Malibu as a roller, it didn't come with these tires and wheels, I put a 12.5/1 355 inch small block and a B-W Super T-10 in it, the car already had theOlds/Pontiac rear with 5.38 gears.
A couple little storys, note the leaf springs, the guy said they were Dodge Coronet, but what he failed to tell me was that they had not fully tightened the U-bolts on the rearend, of course, being young and excited, I too failed to check such trivial things.
It was a good thing I did a test in the driveway before going to the track as on launch the rearend pivoted breaking the u-joint and spit the driveshaft into the driveway.
Got that fixed and drove it to Portland International Raceway for some bracket racing, first pass (at night), went for second gear and the recliner lock on the Porsche bucket seat came loose and all of a sudden, all I can see is the headliner, run aborted.
Some clean underware were my next order of business then put mufflers back on and drive the fourteen miles back home, did I mention it had 5.38 gears.

 

I remember that night, think we got tired of looking for a cooler that had beer in it.
Was that the weekend that the Nebraska family ( having trouble remembering the names, it was 4 generations of family ) was there with the Ranchero and the short block I hooked them up with?

 

The coupe and I have made over 200 passes down the drag strip over the years with 4 different engines, all SBC. Then I built the blown 406. Short wheel base lots of power and torque, and light makes her a hand full at times. She is crazy, will give you 3 nice straight passes, hooked up perfect and then a wild one. LOL. That's all part of the fun I guess. I now do not race near as much as I used to, just a few of my favorite events. I want to drive and enjoy the car more without tearing her apart all the time and fixing broken shit. I am getting old I suppose and the expense is getting a little out of hand. She will however always be a street strip machine. This car has spent decades on the track dating back to the early 60's. I have run at Beaver Springs, Atco, Mason Dixon, Maple Grove, Numedia, and South Mountain.

 

Hay Norb, I think i would facing off with you. I think you woud have given me a nice view of your tail lights.

 

I'll be looking at your tail lights for this year,
Kept my engine and transmission from my drag car and sold it as a roller to finish building my late buddy's 56 chevy gasser, ran her for 18 years with a best of 10.33 at the 2018 Fall Out Drags

Still having fun running the more street driven 64 the two seasons now with a best of 13.29, it takes care of my drag racing fix for now, trashed 3 used stock 700r4s in 5 trips to the track.
Ready to put back in a HD 700r4 with all the good stuff from the builder when it warms up.
Maybe we can run at the W.I.R. Ghost Rods event this spring
Best to race me before the 56 is done, lol
It might be ready for the Fall Out Drags this fall

 

Drag raced at alot of the NHRA divsional and some national events in the northeast from '85-'13. Always ran C/Dragster in competition eliminator. After taking some time off, put the car back together and went to a couple races last year. Just as fun as it ever was.

 

Yes and Yes

 

My son and I ran TAFC div 6 and 7

 

1971. Supermodified I built. Driver and a friend insisted I drive the car in a heat race. Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. The track is FLAT. A 1/4 mile hairpin. 5" of tire stagger. You have got to stand on the gas. I started in the back. I stood on the gas for 2 laps and was looking good and then I slowed down. I was getting sandblasted. I forgot to put my googles down. When I slowed down I was all over the place. Picture. John Rank driver.

 

That is true as far as the actual run goes but the run is only a small part of the big picture. I race an off topic NHRA Stocker. The enjoyment for me is trying to improve my car so it will run faster than the competition. It takes an incredible amount of time, dedication, thought, and testing to coax every hundredth from your car.
But the best part of drag racing...the people you hang with waiting for that next run become friendships that last a lifetime!
If it wasn't for the people or if I was just making fun runs, I would have quit a long time ago.

 

Quarter Midgets National Champion
Full midgets Vintage class dirt and paved
Drag racing every track in Ca. NHRA recortd 6 years straight.
El Mirage 2 and 4 wheels Gas coupe and sedan class records
Bonneville 2 and 4 wheels. Class records on 2 and 4 wheels

 

Man you nailed it with this post that is exactly what kept me coming back to the track. And those hundredths COUNT I won a couple of races by .002 and .003.

 

I have been very fortunate in that my whole life has revolved around 4 spinning wheels. I have made passes at Milan and Detroit when I was in HS in the mid 70's. Then moved to NC when I was 18 and have ran at Farmington, Piedmont, Sanford, Mooresville and Rockingham . I never drove round track but my BIL did and we built a car for a local Street stock type deal and one the first 4 or 5 races. We would get protested and you had a hour to pull one head and the cam all the while some crew is standing there with crowbars wanting to crack your head. That was not for me. Here is one of my favorite pics leaving an IHRA National event in my hauler after me and probably 10 or 15 of my buddies camping there for the weekend. Oh to be young again !

 

As a side note I must say, I have met some of the nicest people I have ever known through drag racing. Many have become my friends for many many years now. I enjoy meeting people in the pits almost as much as blasting down the strip.

 

At the HAMB Drags years ago.

 

Maybe a dragstrip or two..

ironandsteele.com​

 

Dragstrips--yes, several with different cars.
Oval track-no, Superspeedway (2 mi. oval)--YES. The top thrill of my car life, in an original Grand Sport Corvette once driven by Roger Penske. 3 laps, rank ass below rookie driver, 178 mph on final lap. Money couldn't buy the memory.

 

Hi Norb. You ran me once at one of The Meltdown Drags. It was in 2015. A GREAT time. Yeah... I got a good look at your taillights.

 

I drag raced my 55 a couple of times in the 1980's. Have been "Vintage" drag racing it each year since Melt Down Drags #2. Currently run it at "The Glory Days Meet" in Byron ILL. and "The Out-A-Sight Drags" at Union Grove Wis. Still has the same drivetrain that it had in high school. Sure, seems like it was A LOT faster in high school, though. LOL!

 

running on and off since 1969.

 

That 4 door hardtops one of my favorite tri fives around. You guys got some nice cars.

 

I raced my '33 coupe at Lions. On Saturdays they classed it as a B/A due to no fenders. Later I raced my 327 powered MGB. I tried bracket racing but it wasn't for me, so I stuck to grudge racing on Wednesdays. I quit when bracket racing became "the thing" on Saturdays. Both cars were driven daily and ran mid to low 12s. When I made them go faster, the tech guys wanted more safety stuff like roll bars, so I stayed in the 12s until I got bored.
It was mostly a friendly, grudge/social thing with my buddies running too, I was never a very good driver.

The '33, ex-lakes car. Aluminum floor and firewall, basic single hoop roll bar, 396 w/Muncie 4 spd & 3.55 Vette IRS. Best ET; 11.78 118 mph.


Featured in PHR Feb. 1972, I eventually swapped the TH400 for a Muncie 4 spd. Penney's cheater slicks would hook up fine with the automatic but not very consistent with the 4 spd. With the automatic it would run 12.20s all day long. More fun with the Muncie. I want another one....

A burnout behind the Hedman Hedders warehouse in Culver City, Ca
I was never attracted to circle track, autocross or the lakes for some reason.

 

First trip down the 1/4 was at Sears Point in 1986. Did Sacramento Raceway a few times in the 90’s, LACR in the mid 2000’s and last time was Willow Springs drags a few years ago. Used to do the road course on rice rocket bikes at Willow too, but never cars.