I raced at E-Town for the first time in 1966. The pits were still all dirt and only on one side. They were on what is now the spectator side. The staging area had trees and little divider islands areas. Whatever year the first WCS event was held there was when we were there. I believe it was 1966. We were rejected in tech by Greg X. for some fairly minor items. We were missing some chrome trim and other items. To much clearance around the headers where they exited the fenders. We went to a junkyard down the road. Got the chrome trim that was missing and made some patch pieces for the fenders..... We were so lo-buck....that we had to use some things off our tow car which was also a '57 Chevy wagon at the time, to race.......I swapped the parts at every race we went to that year. We flat towed and had no tow hubs....We removed the driveshaft and changed tires at every race. There was no major interstae type highway to either of the tracks we raced at. Towing time took much longer and the roads were usually backed up with Sunday traffic on the way home.....We bought fresh Sunoco 260 every week and drained it as we drove to the track by opening a petcock on the tank and driving away!!!......what can I say we were young and stupid.......I have lots of stories from those days and some are a lot worse as far as doing stupid and dangerous things.....
For anyone interested, this was posted up on the H.A.M.B this morning. NE Ohio Drag Racers Geezers Gathering [FONT=Arial,Arial][FONT=Arial,Arial]Noon - Sunday January 30, 2011 [/FONT][/FONT][FONT=Arial,Arial] [/FONT][FONT=Arial,Arial][FONT=Arial,Arial]Valley Inn, 15004 Portage St, Doylestown, OH. [/FONT][/FONT][FONT=Arial,Arial] [/FONT][FONT=Arial,Arial][FONT=Arial,Arial]Featuring Larry Miller, Dragway 42 Photographer 1961-1974 [/FONT][/FONT][FONT=Arial,Arial] [/FONT][FONT=Arial,Arial][FONT=Arial,Arial]Larry will narrate a slide show of his photos (1970-1974) [/FONT] [FONT=Arial,Arial]Come and see your friends and rivals from the 60s, 70s, & 80s. [/FONT] [FONT=Arial,Arial]Bring any old videos of the local racing action to play. [/FONT] [FONT=Arial,Arial]Scheduled to attend: Tim Arfons, Arlen Vanke, Dave Koffel, Otie Smith, Don Cole and many more old racers!![/FONT] [FONT=Arial,Arial]$5.00 Cover goes to a 50/50 Drawing. [/FONT] [/FONT][FONT=Arial,Arial][FONT=Arial,Arial]Valley Inn 330-658-9859 [/FONT][/FONT][FONT=Arial,Arial] [FONT=Arial,Arial]Questions Call Paul Suloff 330-644-4459 viperakron@aol.com[/FONT] [/FONT] <!-- / message -->
Hey there Brian (a.k.a. Running Bear) Like I said before--- Weird stuff that wouldn't happen today. That car of your father's sure stirs up the pot whenever I talk about it. Do you have any idea where it might be today? And, will you be at the "Indoor Nationals" at Timonium this weekend? If so, stop and say "Hi". Until next time..... Dave.
69tincanfairlane, Thanks for the post 69' Fairlane 500 convertible 428/335 HP wt. #3760 11.22 wt/hp May have been the best car for I/SA.
Another of those "myth" vehicles? There was not suppose to be anything over 400 cubes in an "A" body -- but yet there always pops up stories about 65 Cutlass 442 showing up with a 425. There was also stories of those 425 equipped cars also being delivered with the TH400 3speed automatic too. And, according to the books, Cutlass or 442 could only come with a 2speed automatic, 3 speed manual, or 4 speed manual. So, as you said earler, some of those weird pre-67 combinations did "escape" the factory. I've got a picture of a 65 442 that raced in B/SA in 65 with a 425 and 3speed TH400 automatic. NHRA eventually "tossed" him and that combination because Oldsmobile denied ever producing that combination from factory. He raced it all year at local tracks by claiming a 345HP 400 cu in as listed in tech book. Then got DQ'd later in year when issue of TH400 automatic was ruled out! Heres a pic from 1965. Point here is that these "funky" combinations were known to exist in the earlier years but it became almost "non-existent" after 67 in Oldsmobile line. As far as a lot of us are concerned, until proven beyond a doubt, there NEVER was a W-31 1970 Rallye 350 Tweety-Bird car produced. Back to those "funky" combinations for a second! Back in those days, getting cars off the production line was the primary goal of the assembly line superintendents - they would do everything in their power to not have to let cars sit for the lack of certain parts. They would authorize "anything they had on hand" to go into a unit just to get it "out the door". This is the reason that those 425's showed up in some 65 Cutlass" -- If the car came down the line and was supposed to get a 400 motor with an automatic - and they happened to be out of supply of 400 motors -- the boss would tell em to go "over there" and grab one of those 425's with automatic and "throw it in" that car - and the car then goes out the door! This stuff did happen up until 67 when that practice was halted! Anyway - these stories always make good "conversation pieces"!! Enjoy -- Tweed
ref. to post # 8219 --to DAVE --what year was your INDY win ? what engine & h.p. ? also e.t. & m.p.h. thanks JAKE
67 W-30, Didn't those Buick guys slide in the 425 Wildcat engine from the Riviera GS in the 65's too.
I wonder if the 3rd picture of the 56 was taken at McGuire AFB in NJ. I used to pedal my bike up there on the weekend. You could see them race from the fence and as they came out of the pits on the way to Acto in NJ.
This was posted on another site and it was driven this day by a guy named Johnny Leach hence the name Johnny Mouse. Johnny is the owner of Delran Auto Body. This came from his brother Nick Leach. Johnny didn't last long drag racing and ended up runing dirt modifeds and still owns and particaptes to this day in dirt racing.
Howard Barskey's name is on the door of this '56 as well... Here's Howards current ride. A '57 - 210 2dr. Wagon running SS/NA... damn hard to get this stuff outta your blood. Larry
my dad's had a 2-speed jet a way,,, with 3:42 posi rear,,, he always had the switch pitch set in the loose mode,, that car would fly,,,
Anyone that has any info on these drivers/race cars. Please post. Chuck Johnson (68 Ford) NHRA Division 1 Frank Catone (68 Ford) NHRA Division 1 Thanks.
69tcf,i will post photos of both those ford racers shortly! Remember claridge lincoln-mercury(montclair,nj!! Go essex county!)-downing&ryan,bob o'brian......spending hours at ed merkles kitchen meetings in livingstein,nj(lol)talking s-s/s drag racing....with at least four ford racecars in his driveway!! Btw-check my post with pic of pat riccardi-you will see a nazy-crate-nate cohen(shalom...baby) ad. Another ford racer icon in n.e.d. Also will post some skip asay pix from rpn- trying to figure out how to post better pix.stand by
Thanks for the posts Lew! The Nazy Crate ad definitely had a Ford Muscle Parts theme to it... and an ample supply of hard to get 427 parts!!!
Hey Larry... Did you figure out your 15x7 rear wheel dilemma on your Joe Allread Junior Stock tribute project?
We had a '65 Cutlass 330/4bbl, forget the hp just now, but that car would switch pitch so hard that the tires would chirp. Those were great converters!! COuldn't make 'em live in a Pontiac like I wanted...
Ron Sanders old SD Tri Power stocker? It was never that clean when being raced back in the day....LOL.
supposedly that is the same car. Now runs a 455 Pontiac allegedly built by Scott Tiemann. It sounds like there is documentation to back up the claims.
Problem posting message-heres some rpn ford pix requested.cottone johnson-exact perf bill appel-tom atkins blfd,nj duster is ss/ia car of blom&wilson,willingboro ,nj racewaypark news e-townvol 4#28 and vol. 5 #1
MATTY Found!....working with his son Frank at his Model company,in DeLand ,Florida.Said the Hornet was sold and restored to Stock, complete with its Nascar Legal options -Twin Carbs-functional Hood Scoop -cam-heads. Heres all the latest info to date we have on him: http://www.doverdragstrip.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=2450 There's Pops Olds in the background
Hey Terry, "Rapid" Ron Sanders and his lovely wife, Carol should be in our neck of the woods in January. We generally go out to Manasota Key for dinner and a B.S. session. I'll make sure he see's the photos!
Hey Guys, Dig this----I was judged "Best Nostalgia Drag Car" over this past weekend at the "East Coast Indoor Nationals". Got a real nice plaque and a nice check, too. The "Anderson Olds '69 W31" is now going in for a long winter's nap. Until next time..... Dave.
Cool old Hudson. I had heard about this car and the owner but never seen a picture of it until now. I have to tell you guys that this is actually a 1954 Hornet Special Brougham. this 2door long roof Brougham body style was not available on the standard Hornet line, only the Hornet Special. The Hornet Special line was quite a bit lighter than the standard Hornet. Most of the difference was the interior items like manual vent windows in the front on the Hornet Special instead of crank out on the regular Hornet. The Hornet Special was basically a stripped down Hornet. About 100-200 lbs lighter because of this and had the rear window moved back about 2 feet towards the back side of the rear end. I bet these two issues may have played a part in being chosen to be a drag car. My coupe weighs 3420lbs without me in it. It has 2250lbs on the front end. Compared to a same year Brougham the weight would shift towards the rear wheels by over 100lbs. Been there and weighed both at IRP's scales before they became ORP. One thing for sure it would give the driver the option of better focusing weight where they want it. PaceRacer50
Awesome!!! I'd like to see your car... How's about sharing some photos of it. and the plaque too. Congrats!! Larry
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