Hey folks , looking for some info on street racing in your area . Could use some info on locations in the city , streets and roads , " known racers " , money races , stories , you name it .... thanks in advance to for any help on this guys .
I can't help much, but before Interstate 79 was finished, we used to race from the Canonsburg entrance to the finish line, Central av bridge. when 79 did open, I can remember guys stopping traffic so we could race. there also is a great straight stretch on Rt 18 near Prosperity that was a used quite a bit for racing. my dad used to un-wind his tri-power 57 StarChief there on his way to Greene Co.
Many thanks for your input Mr . Chevrolet ... every little bit helps ! Got a question tho , what time period was all this happening ...
probably real late sixties or early 70s for the I79 racing. that stretch on 18 was used 50s-70s. someone from Washington pa. would know more about that.
Houston, Pa about 20 miles southwest of Pittsburgh was a big street racing town. We used to race on I-79 from the Houston entrance to the overp*** at Mitchel Road, summer of 1969. Pike street in Houston was known as HID, (Houston International Dragway), lots of races went down on that street, 1970's. Another race site was state route 136 at SR 519, 84, Pa., no homes couple of businesses that were closed by the time we would race. Went to a couple races at the chemical plant on SR 837 West Elizabeth, PA. I went to some races at what was called 51-31, which was an intersection of SR 51 & SR 31 (now 136 I think) Rostraver, PA. The first time I saw trailered cars at a street race was at 51-31 that was in 1965 or 1966, just plain crazy. Man we had a lot of fun in those days.
great info ... thanks Jibs ... what I found most interesting was your mention of trailered cars in the mid 60s . In Canton Ohio I dont remember seeing trailered or flat towed cars until about 73-74 when a few guys started coming down from Akron looking for money races and even at that , not on a regular basis . They would park behind the drug store across from the main hangout on Cleveland Avenue , walk over and set up races . Also the only races I ever saw spectators at . But Canton was , and is a fairly small town , guess we were behind the times . I would agree , those were great times indeed .
Might be out of line here but thought I would throw this in the mix. Way back in the early 50s we would meet @ the Hickory ,Pa drive inn (shopping center now) & line up a race or two & head south to the swamp road by Wheatland or down Hi-way 18. I had a 48 ford 3/4 race vert then later got a 50 chevy with a 270 jimmy. My buddy had a 49 pontiac with a 50 olds rocket from the junk yard & my other bud had a 50 merc with a columbia two speed. It was fun to see the look on the other guys face when he wou ld shift out of 2nd doing about 80. I worked a 2nd job @ a Texaco & always kept a bottle of ether & 50 wt.Castrol brand motor oil under the Nehi pop cooler.. That station smelled like a hospital. Don't know if that helped any but we thought it did. Saturday night was always the big race night & the Crashes from Greenville ,Pa would come down looking to get beat .ha ha .usually a $ 100.00 was at stake. Lots of money in those days. Jeez there are a lot of memories there, always the the good times but ended too soon as Uncle Sam said you are cordially invited to spend the next two years(54-56) with us. when I returned times & things had hanged & never were the same.
Out of line ??? ... hell Bob , to me this is gold dust stuff ! While my era was the late 60s -mid 70s , these days I always love to hear stories about the days before my time and I dont get many back this far . I knew a fella , now since p***ed , that told me a few stories about his racing days down in a one light town on the West Va - Ohio border . I dont remember many of them these days as I was young ( 16-18 ) when he told them to me but id like to share one of the ones he told me that I remember ..... He told me Friday nights was for racing and just for kicks a pair of them would line up just outside of town and race thru town , blowing right thru the light if it was red . They had one cop in this town , who knew all these guys personally of course , and he'd sit there and wait for them on a side street . When they blew past him the chase would be on . Now if the cop caught you , you went to jail for the night , paid a small fine and let go the next morning . If you got away from him , all was forgiven till the next time he spotted you racing . Told me the cop didnt catch many of them , the cop car was dead slow ! I thought this a great insight into how things were back in the late 40s - early 50s . So you can tell all the stories on this thread you want Bob , you got at least one pair of eyes here that will read every line you post ... Many thanks for your post . By the way , enjoyed the photos as well
OK thanks but the ol brain kinda strips the rememberer gear,most of the time. I'll type something taday & remember the rest of it tamarraw. heh heh he anyway the Hickory drive Inn was where the Hermitage Mall is today & the drive in theatre was just across the street. My 48 ford had the shift lever pointing in the 12 0'clock position from speed shifting. Race Saturday night strip the cluster gear & spend all week under the old oak tree installing a new(junk yard one) then back to Hickory next Saturday. Lucky I worked @ Westinghouse Electric in Sharon ,Pa as did my dad & I would ride to work with him. Hell we even worked in the same dept F-10 & we both ran a shear. One morning while heading to work we noticed the top of some pines broken off. The old man sez "probably some of your friends didn't make the curve last night" I just let it slide. Later that week I found out it was my bud Bill Wygant & his 50 merc that had the accident. You see as you went into Sharon from Ohio (where I lived) there was a pretty good sized hill & the road curved at the top so you had to make a pretty good right hander. Well I guess Bill had a boilermaker or two too many & didn't quite make it. He loved my 48 so bought himself a 46 vert. I think of more later as I wrecked just about every car I had back then. When I got out of Uncle Sams care in 56 I went to Hickery & hell now of the ol gang was around or raced like we had before ,so one night I told the group I was looking companions to head to California where there were some real hotrods,all the *****s declined so I packed my 51 chev hdtp & headed to So Cal where I lived a block off the beach in Belmont Shore & pretty much saved my life I think. I had just totaled my 51 caddy coupe de ville a month or two earlier. Fell asleep on night & stuck it up a hugh oak tree about 8' up. When I came to the head lights were shinning thru the top of the tree & I remember trying to start it but it wouldn't. Caught a ride to my sisters & laid up for a day or so to heal up let things around home cool off a bit.Insurance paid me off & canceled my membership,imagine that. Pic is the caddy.
Finally found a pic of me & Wygant .That be me on the left. Check out the cuffs & loafers. Man this windows don't co-operate with me at all.
No it is in Mercer county,Pa. just east of Sharon,Pa. Go here; Sharon satellite map - online map of Sharon, Mercer County ... Intersection of 62 & 18 but they have moved the roads a bit.
For me , the memory doesnt function well either at times ... the funny part is , I remember the old days pretty well , but dont ask me what I had for lunch today ! It gets any worse and im gonna have to wear a name tag to remember my name ! While reading your post I was either smiling or laughing out loud . You were quite the wild hair back in the days ... Im surprised the insurance company let you wreck that many cars before they canceled you ... damn shame on that Caddy , a beautiful car there . And I gotta tell ya , that took some serious balls to just up and leave and head out west . I wanted to do that Many times in my youth and for the same reasons , thats where the action was !!! But I never made it and these days it wouldnt be the same . But I did make it to Washington state in 99 and I like it out here a lot . Now I see you mentioned Rt . 62 earlier and im guessing that was US 62 . US 62 ran straight thru Canton , Oh and was a main thru road there . I used 62 for just about everything , commuting to work , getting on the interstate , and back in the day , it was the way to get to the Avenue action and of course a place to street race . Back then it was 4 lane divided all the from Canton into Alliance Oh . It also has the distinction of being the road that ive been going the fastest ive ever been . Sorry to say , not my car and I wasnt driving , but man what a ride ... which brings on the start of a story of course . The older fella I mentioned above bought a brand new Hemi Road Runner in 1969 and he had road gears in it since he was more a top end guy than a drag racer . Used to tell us youngins the real fun began at 120 . So one Sunday morning early I was driving by , I had a 67 GTO at that time which I thought was fast of course , and saw him out working on the RR and I stopped and he asked me if I wanted to go out for a little road test with him . And of course I said yes ... So we head out 62 and ran it out quite away and he does a u turn and said , snug up your belt , we are gonna go fast . And then he mashed the pedal . This thing could really set you back in the seat , even at a 60 MPH roll . And that Hemi started roaring and he just kept in it . I watched the speedo top out at 120 and this thing is still pulling like a frieght train and pushing me back in the seat and I thought he was never gonna let off the gas . The road lines became a single blur and the trees and telephone poles were whizzing past us at a rate id never encountered and you could feel the front end starting to get light . I was freaking scared to death and thrilled to death , all at the same time ... He finally let it back off slowly and after we got back to normal speed , I asked him how fast we were going . He estimated over a 140 at least . Now I dont know for sure , but it damn sure felt that fast . I can tell you this much , years later , I had my 427 Vette doing an indicated 135 by the speedo and it didnt feel near as fast . Its a ride ive never forgotten . At 18 years old , this was BIG time excitement ... Enjoying your stories Bob , post as many as you feel ... I'll be reading ....and I know what you mean when you talk about windows ... never had a more love/hate relationship with any other machine in my life ... :-0 Ps .. im going to send you a private message .. look for it ... ok
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